Cinema of India

Cinema of India
Alam Ara poster, 1931
No. of screens	10,020 (2010)
• Per capita	0.9 per 100,000 (2010)
Produced feature films (2005–2009)
Total	1,178 (average)
Number of admissions (2010)
Total	2,706,000,000
Gross box office (2011)
Total	₹68.8 billion (US$820 million)

The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic cultures of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout Southern Asia, the Greater Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the former Soviet Union. The cinema as a medium gained popularity in the country as many as 1,000 films in various languages of India were produced annually.

Expatriates in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States garnered international audiences for Indian films of various languages. Dadasaheb Phalke is the Father of Indian cinema. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, for lifetime contribution to cinema, was instituted in his honour, by the Government of India in 1969, and is the most prestigious and coveted award in Indian cinema.

In the 20th century, Indian cinema, along with the Hollywood and Chinese film industries, became a global enterprise. At the end of 2010 it was reported that in terms of annual film output, India ranks first, followed by Nollywood, Hollywood and China. Indian film industry reached overall revenues of $1.86 billion (Rs 93 billion) in 2011. This is projected to rise to $3 billion (Rs 150 billion) in 2016. Enhanced technology paved the way for upgrading from established cinematic norms of delivering product, altering the manner in which content reached the target audience. Visual effects based, super hero and science fiction films like Enthiran, Ra.One, Eega, and Krrish 3 emerged as blockbusters. Indian cinema found markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened.

Directors such as Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G. Aravindan, B. Narsing Rao, Aparna Sen, Girish Kasaravalli and Shaji N.Karun have made significant contributions to Parallel Cinema and won global acclaim. Other filmmakers such as Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair, Nagesh Kukunoor, and Deepa Mehta have found success overseas. The Indian government extended film delegations to foreign countries such as the United States of America and Japan while the country's Film Producers Guild sent similar missions through Europe. Sivaji Ganesan, and S. V. Ranga Rao won their respective first international award for Best Actor held at Afro-Asian Film Festival in Cairo and Indonesian Film Festival in Jakarta for the films Veerapandiya Kattabomman and Narthanasala in 1959 and 1963.

India is the world's largest producer of films. In 2009, India produced a total of 2961 films on celluloid, that include 1288 feature films. The provision of 100% foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market attractive for foreign enterprises such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Bros.. Indian enterprises such as Sun Network's Sun Pictures, Zee, UTV, Suresh Productions, and Adlabs also participated in producing and distributing films. Tax incentives to multiplexes have aided the multiplex boom in India. By 2003 as many as 30 film production companies had been listed in the National Stock Exchange of India, making the commercial presence of the medium felt.

The South Indian film industry defines the four film cultures of South India as a single entity. They are the Kannada, the Malayalam, the Tamil and the Telugu industries. Although developed independently for a long period of time, gross exchange of film performers and technicians as well as globalisation helped to shape this new identity.

The Indian diaspora consists of millions of Indians overseas for which films are made available both through mediums such as DVDs and by screening of films in their country of residence wherever commercially feasible. These earnings, accounting for some 12% of the revenue generated by a mainstream film, contribute substantially to the overall revenue of Indian cinema, the net worth of which was found to be US$1.3 billion in 2000. Music in Indian cinema is another substantial revenue generator, with the music rights alone accounting for 4–5% of the net revenues generated by a film in India.

History

Advertisement in The Times of India of 25 May 1912 announcing the screening of the first feature film of India, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne

Following the screening of the Lumière moving pictures in London (1895) cinema became a sensation across Europe and by July 1896 the Lumière films had been in show in Bombay (now Mumbai). In the next year a film presentation by one Professor Stevenson featured a stage show at Calcutta's Star Theatre. With Stevenson's encouragement and camera Hiralal Sen, an Indian photographer, made a film of scenes from that show, namely The Flower of Persia (1898). The Wrestlers (1899) by H. S. Bhatavdekar showing a wrestling match at the Hanging Gardens in Mumbai was the first film ever to be shot by an Indian. It was also the first Indian documentary film.

The first Indian film released in India was Shree pundalik a silent film in Marathi by Dadasaheb Torne on 18 May 1912 at 'Coronation Cinematograph', Mumbai. Some have argued that Pundalik does not deserve the honour of being called the first Indian film because it was a photographic recording of a popular Marathi play, and because the cameraman—a man named Johnson—was a British national and the film was processed in London.

A scene from Raja Harishchandra (1913) – The full-length motion picture.

producer-director-screenwriter Dadasaheb Phalke, the Father of Indian cinema.

The first full-length motion picture in India was produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, Dadasaheb is the pioneer of Indian film industry a scholar on India's languages and culture, who brought together elements from Sanskrit epics to produce his Raja Harishchandra (1913), a silent film in Marathi. The female roles in the film were played by male actors. The film marked a historic benchmark in the film industry in India. Only one print of the film was made and shown at the Coronation Cinematograph on 3 May 1913. It was a commercial success and paved the way for more such films.

The first Indian chain of cinema theatres was owned by the parsi entrepreneur Jamshedji Framji Madan, who oversaw production of 10 films annually and distributed them throughout the Indian subcontinent starting from 1902. He founded Elphinstone Bioscope Company in Calcutta. Elphinstone merged into Madan Theatres Limited in 1919 which brought many of Bengal's most popular literary works to the stage. He also produced Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra in 1917, a remake of Phalke's Raja Harishchandra (1913).

Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu was an Indian artist and a pioneer in the production of silent Indian movies and talkies. Starting from 1909, he was involved in many aspects of Indian cinema's history, like travelling to different regions in Asia, to promote film work. He was the first to build and own cinema halls in Madras. The Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu Award is an annual award incorporated into Nandi Awards to recognise people for their contributions to the Telugu film industry.

During the early twentieth century cinema as a medium gained popularity across India's population and its many economic sections. Tickets were made affordable to the common man at a low price and for the financially capable additional comforts meant additional admission ticket price. Audiences thronged to cinema halls as this affordable medium of entertainment was available for as low as an anna (4 paisa) in Bombay. The content of Indian commercial cinema was increasingly tailored to appeal to these masses. Young Indian producers began to incorporate elements of India's social life and culture into cinema. Others brought with them ideas from across the world. This was also the time when global audiences and markets became aware of India's film industry.

In 1927, the British Government, to promote the market in India for British films over American ones, formed the Indian Cinematograph Enquiry Committee. The ICC consisted of three British and three Indians, led by T. Rangachari, a Madras lawyer. This committee failed to support the desired recommendations of supporting British Film, instead recommending support for the fledgling Indian film industry. Their suggestions were shelved.

Ardeshir Irani released Alam Ara which was the first Indian talking film, on 14 March 1931. H.M. Reddy, produced and directed Bhakta Prahlada (Telugu), released on 15 September 1931 and Kalidas (Tamil) released on 31 October 1931. Kalidas was produced by Ardeshir Irani and directed by H.M. Reddy. These two films are south India's first talkie films to have a theatrical release. Jumai Shasthi was the first Bengali talkie. Following the inception of 'talkies' in India some film stars were highly sought after and earned comfortable incomes through acting. Actor of the time, Chittor V. Nagaiah, was one of the first multilingual film actor, singer, music composer, producer and director's in India. He was known as the Paul Muni of India in the media.

In 1933, East India Film Company has produced its first Indian film Sati Savithri Shot in Calcutta on a budget of ₹ 75 thousand, based on a noted stage play by Mylavaram Bala Bharathi Samajam, the film was directed by C. Pullaiah casting stage actors Vemuri Gaggaiah and Dasari Ramathilakam as Yama and Savithri, respectively. The blockbuster film has received an honorary diploma at Venice Film Festival. The first film studio in South India, Durga Cinetone was built in 1936 by Nidamarthi Surayya in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. As sound technology advanced, the 1930s saw the rise of music in Indian cinema with musicals such as Indra Sabha and Devi Devyani marking the beginning of song-and-dance in India's films. Studios emerged across major cities such as Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai as film making became an established craft by 1935, exemplified by the success of Devdas, which had managed to enthrall audiences nationwide. 1940 film, Vishwa Mohini, is the first Indian film, depicting the Indian movie world. The film was directed by Y. V. Rao and scripted by Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi.

Bombay Talkies came up in 1934 and Prabhat Studios in Pune had begun production of films meant for the Marathi language audience. Filmmaker R. S. D. Choudhury produced Wrath (1930), banned by the British Raj in India as it depicted actors as Indian leaders, an expression censored during the days of the Indian independence movement. Sant Tukaram, a 1936 film based on the life of Tukaram (1608–50), a Varkari Sant and spiritual poet, was screened at the 1937 edition of Venice Film Festival and thus became the first Indian film to be screened at an international film festival. The film was subsequently adjudged as one of the three best films of the year in the World. In 1938, Gudavalli Ramabrahmam, has co-produced and directed the social problem film, Raithu Bidda, which was banned by the British administration in the region, for depicting the uprise of the peasantry among the Zamindar's during the British raj.

Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar in Achhut Kanya (1936).

The Indian Masala film—a slang used for commercial films with song, dance, romance etc.—came up following the second world war. South Indian cinema gained prominence throughout India with the release of S.S. Vasan's Chandralekha. During the 1940s cinema in South India accounted for nearly half of India's cinema halls and cinema came to be viewed as an instrument of cultural revival. The partition of India following its independence divided the nation's assets and a number of studios went to the newly formed Pakistan. The strife of partition would become an enduring subject for film making during the decades that followed.

After Indian independence the cinema of India was inquired by the S. K. Patil Commission. S.K. Patil, head of the commission, viewed cinema in India as a 'combination of art, industry, and showmanship' while noting its commercial value. Patil further recommended setting up of a Film Finance Corporation under the Ministry of Finance. This advice was later taken up in 1960 and the institution came into being to provide financial support to talented filmmakers throughout India. The Indian government had established a Films Division by 1948 which eventually became one of the largest documentary film producers in the world with an annual production of over 200 short documentaries, each released in 18 languages with 9000 prints for permanent film theatres across the country.

The Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), an art movement with a communist inclination, began to take shape through the 1940s and the 1950s. A number of realistic IPTA plays, such as Bijon Bhattacharya's Nabanna in 1944 (based on the tragedy of the Bengal famine of 1943), prepared the ground for the solidification of realism in Indian cinema, exemplified by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas's Dharti Ke Lal (Children of the Earth) in 1946. The IPTA movement continued to emphasize on reality and went on to produce Mother India and Pyaasa, among India's most recognizable cinematic productions.

Golden Age of Indian cinema

Apu and Durga running to catch a glimpse of a train, a famous scene of the famous Bengali film Pather Panchali

File:Chandralekha .film.jpg

A dance scene from the Tamil movie Chandralekha (1948)

Following India's independence, the period from the late 1944s to the 1960s are regarded by film historians as the 'Golden Age' of Indian cinema. Some of the most critically acclaimed Indian films of all time were produced during this period. This period saw the emergence of a new Parallel Cinema movement, mainly led by Bengali cinema. Early examples of films in this movement include Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar (1946), Ritwik Ghatak's Nagarik (1952), and Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zameen (1953), laying the foundations for Indian neorealism and the "Indian New Wave". Pather Panchali (1955), the first part of The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959) by Satyajit Ray, marked his entry in Indian cinema. The Apu Trilogy won major prizes at all the major international film festivals and led to the 'Parallel Cinema' movement being firmly established in Indian cinema. Its influence on world cinema can also be felt in the "youthful coming-of-age dramas that have flooded art houses since the mid-fifties" which "owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy". The cinematographer Subrata Mitra, who made his debut with Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy, also had an important influence on cinematography across the world. One of his most important techniques was bounce lighting, to recreate the effect of daylight on sets. He pioneered the technique while filming Aparajito (1956), the second part of The Apu Trilogy. Some of the experimental techniques which Satyajit Ray pioneered include photo-negative flashbacks and X-ray digressions while filming Pratidwandi (1972). Ray's 1967 script for a film to be called The Alien, which was eventually cancelled, is also widely believed to have been the inspiration for Steven Spielberg's E.T. (1982). Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak went on to direct many more critically acclaimed 'art films', and they were followed by other acclaimed Indian independent filmmakers such as Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mani Kaul and Buddhadeb Dasgupta. During the 1960s, Indira Gandhi's intervention during her reign as the Information and Broadcasting Minister of India further led to production of off-beat cinematic expression being supported by the official Film Finance Corporation.

Commercial Hindi cinema also began thriving, with examples of acclaimed films at the time include the Guru Dutt films Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and the Raj Kapoor films Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955). These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with working-class urban life in India; Awaara presented the city as both a nightmare and a dream, while Pyaasa critiqued the unreality of city life. Some epic films were also produced at the time, including Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam (1960). V. Shantaram's Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) is believed to have inspired the Hollywood film The Dirty Dozen (1967). Madhumati (1958), directed by Bimal Roy and written by Ritwik Ghatak, popularised the theme of reincarnation in Western popular culture. Other mainstream Hindi filmmakers at the time included Kamal Amrohi and Vijay Bhatt.

Ever since Chetan Anand's social realist film Neecha Nagar won the Grand Prize at the first Cannes Film Festival, Indian films were frequently in competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for nearly every year in the 1950s and early 1960s, with a number of them winning major prizes at the festival. Satyajit Ray also won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for Aparajito (1956), the second part of The Apu Trilogy, and the Golden Bear and two Silver Bears for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival. Ray's contemporaries, Ritwik Ghatak and Guru Dutt, were overlooked in their own lifetimes but had belatedly generated international recognition much later in the 1980s and 1990s. Ray is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema, with Dutt and Ghatak. In 1992, the Sight & Sound Critics' Poll ranked Ray at No. 7 in its list of "Top 10 Directors" of all time, while Dutt was ranked No. 73 in the 2002 Sight & Sound greatest directors poll.

A number of Indian films from different regions, from this era are often included among the greatest films of all time in various critics' and directors' polls. At this juncture, Telugu cinema and Tamil cinema experienced their respective golden age and during this time the production of Indian folklore, fantasy and mythological films like Mayabazar, listed by IBN Live's 2013 Poll as the greatest Indian film of all time, and Narthanasala grew up. A number of Satyajit Ray films appeared in the Sight & Sound Critics' Poll, including The Apu Trilogy (ranked No. 4 in 1992 if votes are combined), The Music Room (ranked No. 27 in 1992), Charulata (ranked No. 41 in 1992) and Days and Nights in the Forest (ranked No. 81 in 1982). The 2002 Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll also included the Guru Dutt films Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool (both tied at #160), the Ritwik Ghatak films Meghe Dhaka Tara (ranked #231) and Komal Gandhar (ranked #346), and Raj Kapoor's Awaara, Vijay Bhatt's Baiju Bawra, Mehboob Khan's Mother India and K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam all tied at #346. In 1998, the critics' poll conducted by the Asian film magazine Cinemaya included The Apu Trilogy (ranked No. 1 if votes are combined), Ray's Charulata and The Music Room (both tied at #11), and Ghatak's Subarnarekha (also tied at #11). In 1999, The Village Voice top 250 "Best Film of the Century" critics' poll also included The Apu Trilogy (ranked No. 5 if votes are combined). In 2005, The Apu Trilogy and Pyaasa were also featured in Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies list.

Modern Indian cinema

Some filmmakers such as Shyam Benegal continued to produce realistic Parallel Cinema throughout the 1970s, alongside Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Gautam Ghose in Bengali cinema; Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shaji N. Karun, John Abraham and G. Aravindan in Malayalam cinema; Nirad Mohapatra in Oriya cinema; K. N. T. Sastry and B. Narsing Rao in Telugu cinema;and Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, Ketan Mehta, Govind Nihalani and Vijaya Mehta in Hindi cinema. However, the 'art film' bent of the Film Finance Corporation came under criticism during a Committee on Public Undertakings investigation in 1976, which accused the body of not doing enough to encourage commercial cinema.

The 1970s did, nevertheless, see the rise of commercial cinema in form of enduring films such as Sholay (1975), which solidified Amitabh Bachchan's position as a lead actor. The devotional classic Jai Santoshi Ma was also released in 1975. Another important film from 1975 was Deewar, directed by Yash Chopra and written by Salim-Javed. A crime film pitting "a policeman against his brother, a gang leader based on real-life smuggler Haji Mastan", portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan, it was described as being "absolutely key to Indian cinema" by Danny Boyle. 1979 Telugu film, Sankarabharanam, which dealt with the revival of Indian classical music, has won the Prize of the Public at the Besancon Film Festival of France in the year 1981. 1987 Kannada film, Tabarana Kathe, which dealt with the inadequate governance, was screened at various film festivals including Tashkent, Nantes, Tokyo, and the Film Festival of Russia.

Long after the Golden Age of Indian cinema, South India's Malayalam cinema of Kerala regarded as one of the best Indian film genres experienced its own 'Golden Age' in the 1980s and early 1990s. Some of the most acclaimed Indian filmmakers at the time were from the Malayalam industry, including Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G. Aravindan, T. V. Chandran and Shaji N. Karun. Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who is often considered to be Satyajit Ray's spiritual heir, directed some of his most acclaimed films during this period, including Elippathayam (1981) which won the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival, as well as Mathilukal (1989) which won major prizes at the Venice Film Festival.

Shaji N. Karun's debut film Piravi (1989) won the Camera d'Or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, while his second film Swaham (1994) was in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. Commercial Malayalam cinema also began gaining popularity with the action films of Jayan, a popular stunt actor whose success was short-lived when he died while filming a dangerous helicopter stunt, followed by Mohanlal, whose film Yodha was acclaimed for its action sequences and technical aspects.

Commercial Hindi cinema further grew throughout the 1980s and the 1990s with the release of films such as Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981) Mr India (1987), Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Tezaab (1988), Chandni (1989), Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Baazigar (1993), Darr (1993), Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), many of which starred Sridevi, Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan.

In the late 1990s, 'Parallel Cinema' began experiencing a resurgence in Hindi cinema, largely due to the critical and commercial success of Satya (1998), a low-budget film based on the Mumbai underworld, directed by Ram Gopal Varma and written by Anurag Kashyap. The film's success led to the emergence of a distinct genre known as Mumbai noir, urban films reflecting social problems in the city of Mumbai. Later films belonging to the Mumbai noir genre include Madhur Bhandarkar's Chandni Bar (2001) and Traffic Signal (2007), Ram Gopal Varma's Company (2002) and its prequel D (2005), Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday (2004), Rahul Dholakia's "Parzania", Irfan Kamal's Thanks Maa (2009), and Deva Katta's Prasthanam (2010).

Other art film directors active today include Mrinal Sen, Mir Shaani, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Gautam Ghose, Sandip Ray, Aparna Sen and Rituparno Ghosh in Bengali cinema; Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shaji N. Karun, Santosh Sivan and T. V. Chandran in Malayalam cinema; Nirad Mohapatra in Oriya cinema; Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, Ketan Mehta, Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal, Mira Nair, Nagesh Kukunoor, Sudhir Mishra and Nandita Das in Hindi cinema; Mani Ratnam in Tamil cinema; Pattabhirami Reddy, K. N. T. Sastry, B. Narsing Rao, and Akkineni Kutumba Rao in Telugu cinema. Deepa Mehta, Anant Balani, Homi Adajania, Vijay Singh and Sooni Taraporevala garnered recognition in Indian English cinema.

Global discourse

Indians during the colonial rule bought film equipment from Europe. The British funded wartime propaganda films during the second world war, some of which showed the Indian army pitted against the axis powers, specifically the Empire of Japan, which had managed to infiltrate into India. One such story was Burma Rani, which depicted civilian resistance offered to Japanese occupation by the British and Indians present in Myanmar. Pre-independence businessmen such as J. F. Madan and Abdulally Esoofally traded in global cinema.

Indian cinema's early contacts with other regions became visible with its films making early inroads into the Soviet Union, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and China. Mainstream Hindi film stars like Raj Kapoor gained international fame across Asia and Eastern Europe. Indian films also appeared in international fora and film festivals. This allowed 'Parallel' Bengali filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray to achieve worldwide fame, with his films gaining success among European, American and Asian audiences. Ray's work subsequently had a worldwide impact, with filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, James Ivory, Abbas Kiarostami, Elia Kazan, François Truffaut, Steven Spielberg, Carlos Saura, Jean-Luc Godard, Isao Takahata, Gregory Nava, Ira Sachs and Wes Anderson being influenced by his cinematic style, and many others such as Akira Kurosawa praising his work. The "youthful coming-of-age dramas that have flooded art houses since the mid-fifties owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy". Subrata Mitra's cinematographic technique of bounce lighting also originates from The Apu Trilogy. Ray's film Kanchenjungha (1962) also introduced a narrative structure that resembles later hyperlink cinema. Since the 1980s, some previously overlooked Indian filmmakers such as Ritwik Ghatak and Guru Dutt have posthumously gained international acclaim.

Many Asian and 'South Asian' countries increasingly came to find Indian cinema as more suited to their sensibilities than Western cinema. Jigna Desai holds that by the 21st century, Indian cinema had managed to become 'deterritorialized', spreading over to the many parts of the world where Indian diaspora was present in significant numbers, and becoming an alternative to other international cinema.

Indian cinema has more recently begun influencing Western musical films, and played a particularly instrumental role in the revival of the genre in the Western world. Baz Luhrmann stated that his successful musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001) was directly inspired by Bollywood musicals. The critical and financial success of Moulin Rouge! renewed interest in the then-moribund Western musical genre, subsequently fuelling a renaissance of the genre. Danny Boyle's Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008) was also directly inspired by Indian films, and is considered to be a "homage to Hindi commercial cinema". Other Indian filmmakers are also making attempts at reaching a more global audience, with upcoming films by directors such as Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Jahnu Barua, Sudhir Mishra and Pan Nalin.

Indian Cinema was also recognised at the American Academy Awards. Three Indian films, Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay! (1988), and Lagaan (2001), were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Indian winners of the Academy Awards include Bhanu Athaiya (costume designer), Satyajit Ray (filmmaker), A. R. Rahman (music composer), Resul Pookutty (sound editor) and Gulzar (lyricist).

Influences

Victoria Public Hall, is a historical building in Chennai, named after Victoria, Empress of India. It served as a theatre in the late 19th century and the early 20th century.

Prasads IMAX Theatre located at Hyderabad, is the world's largest 3D-IMAX screen, and also the most attended screen in the world.

Ramoji Film City located in Hyderabad, holds Guinness World Record as the World's largest film studio.

PVR Cinemas in Bangalore is one of the largest cinema chains in India

There have generally been six major influences that have shaped the conventions of Indian popular cinema. The first was the ancient Indian epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana which have exerted a profound influence on the thought and imagination of Indian popular cinema, particularly in its narratives. Examples of this influence include the techniques of a side story, back-story and story within a story. Indian popular films often have plots which branch off into sub-plots; such narrative dispersals can clearly be seen in the 1993 films Khalnayak and Gardish.

The second influence was the impact of ancient Sanskrit drama, with its highly stylised nature and emphasis on spectacle, where music, dance and gesture combined "to create a vibrant artistic unit with dance and mime being central to the dramatic experience." Sanskrit dramas were known as natya, derived from the root word nrit (dance), characterising them as spectacular dance-dramas which has continued in Indian cinema. The Rasa method of performance, dating back to ancient Sanskrit drama, is one of the fundamental features that differentiate Indian cinema from that of the Western world. In the Rasa method, empathetic "emotions are conveyed by the performer and thus felt by the audience," in contrast to the Western Stanislavski method where the actor must become "a living, breathing embodiment of a character" rather than "simply conveying emotion." The rasa method of performance is clearly apparent in the performances of popular Hindi film actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, nationally acclaimed Hindi films like Rang De Basanti (2006), and internationally acclaimed Bengali films directed by Satyajit Ray.

The third influence was the traditional folk theatre of India, which became popular from around the 10th century with the decline of Sanskrit theatre. These regional traditions include the Yatra of West Bengal, the Ramlila of Uttar Pradesh, Yakshagana of Karnataka, 'Chindu Natakam' of Andhra Pradesh, and the Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu. The fourth influence was Parsi theatre, which "blended realism and fantasy, music and dance, narrative and spectacle, earthy dialogue and ingenuity of stage presentation, integrating them into a dramatic discourse of melodrama. The Parsi plays contained crude humour, melodious songs and music, sensationalism and dazzling stagecraft." All of these influences are clearly evident in the masala film genre that was popularised by Manmohan Desai's films in the 1970s and early 1980s, particularly in Coolie (1983), and to an extent in more recent critically acclaimed films such as Rang De Basanti.

The fifth influence was Hollywood, where musicals were popular from the 1920s to the 1950s, though Indian filmmakers departed from their Hollywood counterparts in several ways. "For example, the Hollywood musicals had as their plot the world of entertainment itself. Indian filmmakers, while enhancing the elements of fantasy so pervasive in Indian popular films, used song and music as a natural mode of articulation in a given situation in their films. There is a strong Indian tradition of narrating mythology, history, fairy stories and so on through song and dance." In addition, "whereas Hollywood filmmakers strove to conceal the constructed nature of their work so that the realistic narrative was wholly dominant, Indian filmmakers made no attempt to conceal the fact that what was shown on the screen was a creation, an illusion, a fiction.

However, they demonstrated how this creation intersected with people's day to day lives in complex and interesting ways." The final influence was Western musical television, particularly MTV, which has had an increasing influence since the 1990s, as can be seen in the pace, camera angles, dance sequences and music of recent Indian films. An early example of this approach was in Mani Ratnam's Bombay (1995).

Like mainstream Indian popular cinema, Indian Parallel Cinema was also influenced also by a combination of Indian theatre (particularly Sanskrit drama) and Indian literature (particularly Bengali literature), but differs when it comes to foreign influences, where it is more influenced by European cinema (particularly Italian neorealism and French poetic realism) rather than Hollywood. Satyajit Ray cited Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948) and French filmmaker Jean Renoir's The River (1951), which he assisted, as influences on his debut film Pather Panchali (1955). Besides the influence of European cinema and Bengali literature, Ray is also indebted to the Indian theatrical tradition, particularly the Rasa method of classical Sanskrit drama. The complicated doctrine of Rasa "centers predominantly on feeling experienced not only by the characters but also conveyed in a certain artistic way to the spectator. The duality of this kind of a rasa imbrication" shows in The Apu Trilogy. Bimal Roy's Two Acres of Land (1953) was also influenced by De Sica's Bicycle Thieves and in turn paved the way for the Indian New Wave, which began around the same time as the French New Wave and the Japanese New Wave. Ray known as one of the most important influences to Parallel Cinema, was depicted as an auteur (Wollen). The focus of the majority of his stories portrayed the lower middle class and the unemployed (Wollen). It wasn’t until the late 1960s that Parallel Cinema support grew (Wollen).

Multilinguals

Some Indian films are known as "multilinguals," having been filmed in similar but non-identical versions in different languages. This was done in the 1930s. According to Rajadhyaksha and Willemen in the Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (1994), in its most precise form, a multilingual is

a bilingual or a trilingual [that] was the kind of film made in the 1930s in the studio era, when different but identical takes were made of every shot in different languages, often with different leading stars but identical technical crew and music.

Rajadhyaksha and Willemen note that in seeking to construct their Encclopedia, it they often found it "extremely difficult to distinguish multilinguals in this original sense from dubbed versions, remakes, reissues or, in some cases, the same film listed with different titles, presented as separate versions in different languages.... it will take years of scholarly work to establish definitive data in this respect."

Regional industries

Table: Break-up by languages
Break-up of 2011 Indian feature films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification sorted by languages.
Language	No. of films
Hindi	206
telugu	192
Tamil	185
Kannada	138
Bengali	122
Marathi	107
Malayalam	95
Bhojpuri	74
Gujarati	59
Oriya	38
Punjabi	8
Assamese	7
English	6
Rajasthani	5
Haryanvi	3
Dakhani	2
Others	1 each
Total	1255

Assamese cinema

Main article: Cinema of Assam

First Assamese motion picture – Joymati filmed in 1935

The Assamese language film industry traces its origins works of revolutionary visionary Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala, who was also a distinguished poet, playwright, composer and freedom fighter. He was instrumental in the production of the first Assamese film Joymati in 1935, under the banner of Critrakala Movietone. Due to the lack of trained technicians, Jyotiprasad, while making his maiden film, had to shoulder the added responsibilities as the script writer, producer, director, choreographer, editor, set and costume designer, lyricist and music director. The film, completed with a budget of 60,000 rupees was released on 10 March 1935. The picture failed miserably. Like so many early Indian films, the negatives and complete prints of Joymati are missing. Some effort has been made privately by Altaf Mazid to restore and subtitle whatever is left of the prints. [3] Despite the significant financial loss from Joymati, the second picture Indramalati was filmed between 1937 and 1938 finally released in 1939.

Although the beginning of the 21st century has seen Bollywood-style Assamese movies hitting the screen, the industry has not been able to compete in the market, significantly overshadowed by the larger industries such as Bollywood.

Assamese cinema has never really managed to make the breakthrough on the national scene despite its film industry making a mark in the National Awards over the years

Bengali cinema

Satyajit Ray, Bengali filmmaker.

A scene from Dena Paona, 1931 – first Bengali talkie

Main article: Cinema of West Bengal

The Bengali language cinematic tradition of Tollygunge located in West Bengal has had reputable filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen among its most acclaimed. Recent Bengali films that have captured national attention include Rituparno Ghosh's Choker Bali, starring Aishwarya Rai. Bengali filmmaking also includes Bengali science fiction films and films that focus on social issues. In 1993, the Bengali industry's net output was 57 films.

The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890s, when the first "bioscopes" were shown in theatres in Kolkata. Within a decade, the first seeds of the industry was sown by Hiralal Sen, considered a stalwart of Victorian era cinema when he set up the Royal Bioscope Company, producing scenes from the stage productions of a number of popular shows at the Star Theatre, Calcutta, Minerva Theatre, Classic Theatre. Following a long gap after Sen's works, Dhirendra Nath Ganguly (Known as D.G.) established Indo British Film Co, the first Bengali owned production company, in 1918. However, the first Bengali Feature film, Billwamangal, was produced in 1919, under the banner of Madan Theatre. Bilat Ferat was the IBFC's first production in 1921. The Madan Theatres production of Jamai Shashthi was the first Bengali talkie.

In 1932, the name "Tollywood" was coined for the Bengali film industry due to Tollygunge rhyming with "Hollywood" and because it was the center of the Indian film industry at the time. It later inspired the name "Bollywood", as Mumbai (then called Bombay) later overtook Tollygunge as the center of the Indian film industry, and many other Hollywood-inspired names. The 'Parallel Cinema' movement began in the Bengali film industry in the 1950s. A long history has been traversed since then, with stalwarts such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and others having earned international acclaim and securing their place in the history of film.

Bhojpuri cinema

Main article: Bhojpuri cinema

Bhojpuri language films predominantly cater to people who live in the regions of western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. These films also have a large audience of like in the cities of Delhi and Mumbai due to migration to these metros from the Bhojpuri speaking region. Besides India, there is a large market for these films in other bhojpuri speaking countries of the West Indies, Oceania, and South America. Bhojpuri language film's history begins in 1962 with the well-received film Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo ("Mother Ganges, I will offer you a yellow sari"), which was directed by Kundan Kumar. Throughout the following decades, films were produced only in fits and starts. Films such as Bidesiya ("Foreigner," 1963, directed by S. N. Tripathi) and Ganga ("Ganges," 1965, directed by Kundan Kumar) were profitable and popular, but in general Bhojpuri films were not commonly produced in the 1960s and 1970s.

The industry experienced a revival in 2001 with the super hit Saiyyan Hamar ("My Sweetheart," directed by Mohan Prasad), which shot the hero of that film, Ravi Kissan, to superstardom. This success was quickly followed by several other remarkably successful films, including Panditji Batai Na Biyah Kab Hoi ("Priest, tell me when I will marry," 2005, directed by Mohan Prasad) and Sasura Bada Paisa Wala ("My father-in-law, the rich guy," 2005). In a measure of the Bhojpuri film industry's rise, both of these did much better business in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar than mainstream Bollywood hits at the time, and both films, made on extremely tight budgets, earned back more than ten times their production costs. Although a smaller industry compared to other Indian film industries, the extremely rapid success of their films has led to dramatic increases in Bhojpuri cinema's visibility, and the industry now supports an awards show and a trade magazine, Bhojpuri City.

Chhattisgarhi Cinema

Main article: Chhollywood

Chhollywood was born in 1965 with the first Chhattisgarhi film Kahi Debe Sandesh ("In Black and White") directed and produced by Manu Nayak was released. It was a story of intercaste love and it is said that former Indian Prime minister Indira Gandhi watched the movie. Dr Naidu wrote the lyrics for the film, and two songs of the movie were sung by Indian singer Mohammad Rafi. Then came the next, Niranjan Tiwari's directed Ghar Dwar in 1971, produced by Vijay Kumar Pandey. However, both movies did not do well at the box office, and disappointed the producers. No movie was produced for nearly 30 years thereafter.

Gujarati cinema

Main article: Gujarati cinema

The film industry of Gujarat started its journey in 1932. Since then Gujarati films immensely contributed to Indian cinema. Gujarati cinema has gained popularity among the regional film industry in India. Gujarati cinema is always based on scripts from mythology to history and social to political. Since its origin Gujarati cinema has experimented with stories and issues from the Indian society. Furthermore, Gujarat has immense contribution to Bollywood as several Gujarati actors have brought glamour to the Indian film industry. Gujarati film industry has included the work of actors including Sanjeev Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Bindu, Asha Parekh, Kiran Kumar, Arvind Trivedi, Aruna Irani, Mallika Sarabhai, Naresh Kanodia, Mahesh Kanodia and Asrani.

The scripts and stories dealt in the Gujarati films are intrinsically humane. They include relationship- and family-oriented subjects with human aspirations and deal with Indian family culture. Thus, there can be no turning away from the essential humanity of these Gujarati cinema. The first Gujarati movie, Narasinh Mehta, was released in the year 1932 and was directed by Nanubhai Vakil. The film starred Mohanlala, Marutirao, Master Manhar, and Miss Mehtab. It was of the `Saint film` genre and was based on the life of the saint Narasinh Mehta who observed a creed that was followed centuries later by Mahatma Gandhi. The film was matchless as it avoided any depiction of miracles. In 1935, another social movie, Ghar Jamai was released, directed by Homi Master. The film starred Heera, Jamna, Baby Nurjehan, Amoo, Alimiya, Jamshedji, and Gulam Rasool. The film featured a `resident son-in-law` (ghar jamai) and his escapades as well as his problematic attitude toward the freedom of women. It was a comedy-oriented movie that was a major success in the industry.

Gujarati films thus proceeded with several other important social, political as well as religious issues. The years 1948, 1950, 1968, 1971 moved in a wide variety of dimensions. The Gujarati movies such as Kariyavar, directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi, Vadilona Vank directed by Ramchandra Thakur, Gadano Bel directed by Ratibhai Punatar and Leeludi Dharti directed by Vallabh Choksi brought immense success to the industry. The problems of modernisation are the underlying concern of several films. The movies like Gadano Bel had strong realism and reformism.

Hindi cinema

Main article: Bollywood

The Hindi language film industry of Mumbai—also known as Bollywood—is the largest and most popular branch of Indian cinema. Hindi cinema initially explored issues of caste and culture in films such as Achhut Kanya (1936) and Sujata (1959). International visibility came to the industry with Raj Kapoor's Awara and later in Shakti Samantha's Aradhana starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. Hindi cinema grew during the 1990s with the release of as many as 215 films. With Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Hindi cinema registered its commercial presence in the Western world.

In 1995 the Indian economy began showing sustainable annual growth, and Hindi cinema, as a commercial enterprise, grew at a growth rate of 15% annually. The salary of lead stars increased greatly. Many actors signed contracts for simultaneous work in 3–4 films. Institutions such as the Industrial Development Bank of India also came forward to finance Hindi films. A number of magazines such as Filmfare, Stardust, Cineblitz, etc., became popular.

The audience's reaction towards Hindi cinema is distinctive with involvement in the films by audience's clapping, singing, reciting familiar dialogue with the actors.

Kannada cinema

Main article: Kannada cinema

File:Raj statue.jpg

Statue of Rajkumar at KG Road (near Santosh theatre) in Bengaluru

Kannada film industry, also referred as Sandalwood, is based in Bengaluru and caters mostly to the state of Karnataka. Rajkumar was eminent in Kannada film industry. In his career, he performed versatile characters and sung hundreds of songs for film and albums. Other notable Kannada and Tulu actors include Vishnuvardhan, Ambarish, Ravichandran, Girish Karnad, Prakash Raj, Shankar Nag, Ananth Nag, Upendra, Darshan, Sudeep, Ganesh, Shivaraj Kumar, Puneet Rajkumar, Kalpana, Bharathi, Jayanthi, Pandari Bai, Tara, Umashri and Ramya.

Film directors from the Kannada film industry like Girish Kasaravalli, P.Sheshadri have garnered national recognition. Other noted directors include Puttanna Kanagal, G. V. Iyer, Girish Karnad, T. S. Nagabharana, Upendra, Yograj Bhat, Soori. G.K. Venkatesh, Vijaya Bhaskar, Rajan-Nagendra, Hamsalekha, Gurukiran, Anoop Seelin and V. Harikrishna are other noted music directors.

Kannada cinema, along with Bengali and Malayalam films, contributed simultaneously to the age of Indian parallel cinema. Some of the influential Kannada films in this genre are Samskara (based on a novel by U. R. Ananthamurthy), Chomana Dudi by B. V. Karanth, Tabarana Kathe, Vamshavruksha, Kadu Kudure, Hamsageethe, Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu, Accident, Maanasa Sarovara, Ghatashraddha, Tabarana Kathe, Mane, Kraurya, Thaayi Saheba, Dweepa. Munnudi, Atithi, Beru', Thutturi, Vimukthi, Bettada Jeeva, Bharath Stores

Konkani cinema

Main article: Konkani cinema

Konkani language films are mainly produced in Goa. It is one of the smallest film industries in India with just 4 films produced in 2009. Konkani language is spoken mainly in the states of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka and to a smaller extent in Kerala. The first full length Konkani film was Mogacho Anvddo, released on 24 April 1950, and was produced and directed by Jerry Braganza, a native of Mapusa, under the banner of Etica Pictures. Hence, 24 April is celebrated as Konkani Film Day. Karnataka is the hub of a good number of Konkani speaking people. There is an immense Konkani literature and art in Karnataka. Several films have been noted among the Karnataka Konkani folks. Kazar (English: Marriage) is a 2009 Konkani film directed by Richard Castelino and produced by Frank Fernandes. Konkani Movie 'Ujvaadu' – Shedding New Light on Old Age Issues. The director and producer of the Konkani film "Ujvaadu", Kasaragod Chinna, whose stage name is Sujeer Srinivas Rao. The pioneering Mangalorean Konkani Film is Mog Ani Maipas. It was well appreciated among the Karanataka film makers.

Malayalam cinema

Main article: Cinema of Kerala

Shaji N.Karun, Malayalam film director

The Malayalam film industry, (some film magazines call Mollywood), is based in Kerala. It is considered to be the fourth largest among the film industries in India. Malayalam film industry is known for films that bridge the gap between parallel cinema and mainstream cinema by portraying thought-provoking social issues with top notch technical perfection but with low budgets. Filmmakers include Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shaji N. Karun, G. Aravindan, K. G. George, Padmarajan, Sathyan Anthikad, T. V. Chandran and Bharathan.

Vigathakumaran, a silent movie released in 1928 produced and directed by J. C. Daniel, marked the beginning of Malayalam cinema. Balan, released in 1938, was the first Malayalam "talkie". Malayalam films were mainly produced by Tamil producers till 1947, when the first major film studio, Udaya Studio, was established in Kerala. In 1954, the film Neelakkuyil captured national interest by winning the President's silver medal. Scripted by the well-known Malayalam novelist, Uroob, and directed by P. Bhaskaran and Ramu Kariat, it is often considered as the first authentic Malayali film. Newspaper Boy, made by a group of students in 1955, was the first neo-realistic film in India. Chemmeen (1965), directed by Ramu Kariat and based on a story by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, went on to become immensely popular, and became the first South Indian film to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film.

The period from late 1980s to early 1990s is popularly regarded as the 'Golden Age of Malayalam Cinema' with the emergence of actors Mohanlal, Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Murali, Thilakan and Nedumudi Venu and filmmakers such as I.V. Sasi, Bharathan, Padmarajan, K. G. George, Sathyan Anthikad, Priyadarshan, A. K. Lohithadas, Siddique-Lal, TK Rajeev Kumar and Sreenivasan. In 2012, the total number of Malayalam movies released where 128 out of which about 40 movies managed to break even.

Marathi cinema

Main article: Marathi cinema

Marathi cinema is the films produced in the Marathi language in the state of Maharashtra, India. Marathi Cinema is one of the oldest industry in Indian Cinema. In fact the pioneer of cinema in Union of India was Dadasaheb Phalke, who brought the revolution of moving images to India with his first indigenously made silent film Raja Harishchandra in 1913, which is considered by IFFI and NIFD part of Marathi cinema as it was made by a Marathi crew.

The first Marathi talkie film, Ayodhyecha Raja[1] (produced by Prabhat Films) was released in 1932, just one year after "Alam Ara" the first Hindi talkie film. Marathi cinema has grown in recent years, with two of its films, namely "Shwaas" (2004) and "Harishchandrachi Factory" (2009), being sent as India's official entries for the Oscars. Today the industry is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, but it sprouted and grew first from Kolhapur and then Pune.

There are many marathi movies, the list of best films in Marathi will be very big very few can be named like 'Sangate Aika','Ek Gao Bara Bhangdi,'Pinjara' of V. Shantaram,'Sinhasan', 'Paathlaag' 'Jait Re Jait' 'Saamana', Santh Wahate Krishnamai','Sant Tukaram','Shyamchi Aai' by Acharya Atre, based on Sane Guruji's best novel Shamchi Aai, and so on. Maharashtra has immense contribution to Bollywood as several Maharashtrian actors have brought glamour to the Indian film industry. Marathi film industry has included the work of actors including, Nutan, Tanuja, V Shantaram, Dr. Shriram Lagoo, Ramesh Dev and Seema Dev, Nana Patekar, Smita Patil, Madhuri Dixit, Sonali Kulkarni, Sonali Bendre, Urmila Matondkar , Reema Lagoo, Lalita Pawar, Mamta Kulkarni, Nanda, Padmini Kolhapure, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Sachin Khedekar, Durga Khote, and Others

Oriya cinema

Main article: Oriya cinema

The Oriya Film Industry is the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack based Oriya language film industry. Sometimes called Ollywood a portmanteau of the words Oriya and Hollywood, although the origins of the name are disputed. The first Oriya talkie Sita Bibaha was made by Mohan Sunder Deb Goswami in 1936. Shreeram panda, Prashanta Nanda, Uttam Mohanty, Bijay Mohanty started the revolution in the Oriya film industry by not only securing a huge audience but also bringing in a newness in his presentation. His movies heralded in the golden era of the Oriya commercial industry by bringing in freshness to Oriya movies. Then the first color film was made by Nagen Ray and photographed by a Pune Film Institute trained cinematographer Mr. Surendra Sahu titled " Gapa Hele Be Sata"- meaning although its a story, its true. But the golden phase of Oriya Cinema was 1984 when two Oriya films 'Maya Miriga' and 'Dhare Alua' was showcased in 'Indian Panorama' and Nirad Mohapatra's 'Maya Miriga' was invited for the 'Critics Week' in Cannes. The film received 'Best Third World Film'award at Mannheim Film Festival, Jury Award at Hawaii and was shown at London Film Festival.

Punjabi cinema

Main article: Punjabi cinema

K.D. Mehra made the first Punjabi film Sheila (also known as Pind di Kudi). Baby Noor Jehan was introduced as an actress and singer in this film. Sheila was made in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and released in Lahore, the capital of Punjab; it ran very successfully and was a hit across the province. Due to the success of this first film many more producers started making Punjabi films. As of 2009, Punjabi cinema has produced between 900 and 1,000 movies. The average number of releases per year in the 1970s was nine; in the 1980s, eight; and in the 1990s, six. In 1995, the number of films released was 11; it plummeted to seven in 1996 and touched a low of five in 1997. Since the 2000s the Punjabi cinema has seen a revival with more releases every year featuring bigger budgets, home grown stars as well as Bollywood actors of Punjabi descent taking part. Manny Parmar made the first 3D Punjabi film, Pehchaan 3D, which released in 2013.

Sindhi Cinema

Main article: Sindhi cinema

Though Striving hard to survive, mainly because not having a state or region to represent, Sindhi film industry has been producing movies in intervals of time. The very first Sindhi movie produced in India was 1958 film Abana which was a success throughout the country. In the later time Sindhi cinema has seen the production of some Bollywood style films like Hal ta Bhaji Haloon, Parewari, Dil Dije Dil Waran Khe, Ho Jamalo, Pyar Kare Dis: Feel the Power of Love and The Awakening. There are a numerous personalities from Sindhi descent who have been and are contributing in Bollywood G P Sippy, Ramesh Sippy, Nikhil Advani, Tarun Mansukhani, Ritesh Sidhwani, Asrani and many more.

Tamil cinema

Main article: Tamil cinema

1931 Kalidas was the first Tamil talkie

Pre-release advertisement for Kalidas

The Tamil language film industry, also known as Kollywood, is among India's three largest film industries in terms of number of films produced annually. It is based at Kodambakkam in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Tamil films are distributed to various parts of Asia, Southern Africa, Northern America, Europe and Oceania. The industry has inspired Tamil filmmaking in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada. Tamil cinema and Dravidian politics have heavily influenced each other.

In 1985, the Tamil film industry made its peak, with a net output was 236 films..

Some female Bollywood actress have their origin from Tamil, even though some of them not had their initial debut in Tamil cinema. It includes Vyjayanthimala, Hema Malini, Sridevi and Meenakshi Sheshadri, were also considered "Numero Uno actresses" of Hindi cinema.

Telugu cinema

Main article: Cinema of Andhra Pradesh

File:S V Ranga Rao.jpg

S. V. Ranga Rao

Telugu Film industry is the second largest film industry in the country, in terms of Annual film production and revenue. In the years 2005, 2006 and 2008 the Telugu film industry produced the largest number of films in India exceeding the number of films produced in Bollywood, with 268, 245 and 286 films in each year respectively. As of 2012, the Telugu film Industry produced the second highest number of films in the country.

Ramoji Film City, which holds the Guinness World Record for the world's largest film production facility, is located in Hyderabad, India. Hyderabad is the only city in India which has six functional Film studios. The Prasad's IMAX located in Hyderabad is the world's largest 3D IMAX Screen and it is the most attended screen in the world. The state of Andhra Pradesh has the most number of Cinema Theaters in India

N. T. Rama Rao, S. V. Ranga Rao, Kanta Rao, Bhanumathi Ramakrishna, Savitri and Sobhan Babu are the actors who received the Rashtrapati Award for best performance in a leading role, and Sharada, Archana, Vijayashanti and P. L. Narayana are the actors to receive the National Film Award for best performance in acting from this industry. Bomireddi Narasimha Reddy, Paidi Jairaj, L. V. Prasad, B. Nagi Reddy, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, and D. Ramanaidu have won Dadasaheb Phalke Award from this industry.

Play back singer S. P. Balasubramanyam holds the Guinness World Record of having sung the most number of songs for any male playback singer in the world. In 2002, the Guinness Book of Records named Vijaya Nirmala as the female director with most number of films; she made 47 films. In a career spanning approximately two decades, she acted in over 200 films with 25 each in Malayalam and Tamil. She also produced 15 films. Telugu actor Brahmanandam holds the Guinness World Record for acting in the most number of films in a single language. Movie producer D.Rama Naidu holds the Guinness World Record as the most prolific producer with 130 films. Highest number of theaters in India is Andhra Pradesh 2809 out of 10167

Genres and styles

Masala films

Main article: Masala (film genre)

Masala is a style of Indian cinema, especially in Bollywood, Cinema of West Bengal and South Indian films, in which there is a mix of various genres in one film. For example, a film can portray action, comedy, drama, romance and melodrama all together. Many of these films also tend to be musicals, including songs filmed in picturesque locations, which is now very common in Bollywood films. Plots for such movies may seem illogical and improbable to unfamiliar viewers. The genre is named after the masala, a mixture of spices in Indian cuisine.

Parallel cinema

Main article: Parallel Cinema

Parallel Cinema, also known as Art Cinema or the Indian New Wave, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content of realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the social-political climate of the times. This movement is distinct from mainstream Bollywood cinema and began around the same time as the French New Wave and Japanese New Wave. The movement was initially led by Bengali cinema (which has produced internationally acclaimed filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, and others) and then gained prominence in the other film industries of India. Some of the films in this movement have garnered commercial success, successfully straddling art and commercial cinema. An early example of this was Bimal Roy's Two Acres of Land (1953), which was both a commercial success and a critical success, winning the International Prize at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. The film's success paved the way for the Indian New Wave.

The neo-realist filmmakers were the Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray, closely followed by Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Shaji N.Karun, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Girish Kasaravalli Ray's films include The Apu Trilogy, consisting of Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and The World of Apu (1959). The three films won major prizes at the Cannes, Berlin and Venice Film Festivals, and are frequently listed among the greatest films of all time.

Film music

See also: Filmi

Music in Indian cinema is a substantial revenue generator, with the music rights alone accounting for 4–5% of the net revenues generated by a film in India. The major film music companies of India are Saregama, Sony Music etc. Commercially, film music accounts for 48% India's net music sales. A typical Indian film may have around 5–6 choreographed songs spread throughout the film's length.

The demands of a multicultural, increasingly globalised Indian audience often led to a mixing of various local and international musical traditions. Local dance and music nevertheless remain a time tested and recurring theme in India and have made their way outside of India's borders with its diaspora. Playback singers such as Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar drew large crowds with national and international film music stage shows. The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st saw extensive interaction between artists from India and the western world. Artists from Indian diaspora blended the traditions of their heritage to those of their country to give rise to popular contemporary music.

Awards

This section lists the most important film awards given for Indian cinema by national and state authorities.

Award	Year of Inception	Awarded by
Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards	1937	Government of West Bengal
National Film Awards	1954	Directorate of Film Festivals, Government of India
Maharashtra State Film Awards	1963	Government of Maharashtra
Nandi Awards	1964	Government of Andhra Pradesh
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards	1967	Government of Tamil Nadu
Karnataka State Film Awards	1967	Government of Karnataka
Orissa State Film Awards	1968	Government of Odisha
Kerala State Film Awards	1969	Government of Kerala

Below are the major non-governmental (private) awards.

Award	Year of Inception	Awarded by
Filmfare Awards Filmfare Awards South	1954	Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd.
Screen Awards	1994	Screen Weekly
Zee Cine Awards	1998	Zee Entertainment Enterprises
IIFA Awards	2000	Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd
Stardust Awards	2003	Stardust
Apsara Awards	2004	Apsara Producers Guild
South Indian International Movie Awards	2012	South Indian Film Industry

Film Institutes in India

Several institutes, both government run and private, provide formal education in various aspects of filmmaking. Some of the prominent ones include:

• L V Prasad Film & TV Academy, Chennai
• Annapurna International School of Film and Media, Hyderabad
• Asian Academy of Film & Television
• Madras Film Institute, Chennai
• Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata
• Whistling Woods International
• Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
• Matrikas Film School
• National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad [2]
• Regional Government Film and Television Institute (RGFTI), Guwahati.
• City Pulse Institute of Film & Television, Gandhinagar, Gujarat
• Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
• Indian Film and Television Institute (IFTI), Meerut
• Govt. Film and Television Institute, Bangalore
• Arya Film and Television Academy, Jaipur
• AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
• Biju Pattanaik Film and Television Institute, cuttack
• Centre for advanced media studies, Patiala
• Department of Culture & Media studies, Central University of Rajasthan
• Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka

See also

• International Film Festival of Kerala
• Kolkata International Film Festival
• International Film Festival of India
• List of cinema of the world

References

• Suresh Chabria; Paolo Cherchi Usai (1994). Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema, 1912–1934. Wiley Eastern. ISBN 978-81-224-0680-1.
• Stanley A. Wolpert (2006). Encyclopedia of India. ISBN 978-0-684-31350-4.
• Desai, Jigna (2004). Beyond Bollywood: The Cultural Politics of South Asian Diasporic Film. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-96684-9.
• K. Moti Gokulsing (2004). Indian Popular Cinema: A Narrative of Cultural Change. Trentham Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-85856-329-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Gulzar, Govin Nihalanni, & Saibel Chatterjee. Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema New Delhi: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2003. ISBN 8179910660.
• Khanna, Amit (2003), "The Business of Hindi Films", Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema: historical record, the business and its future, narrative forms, analysis of the medium, milestones, biographies, Encyclopædia Britannica (India) Private Limited, ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5.
• Gopal, Sangita; Moorti, Sujata (2008). Global Bollywood: Travels of Hindi Song and Dance. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-4578-7.
• Narweker, Sanjit, ed. Directory of Indian Film-Makers and Films. Flicks Books, 1994. ISBN 0948911409
• Stanley A. Wolpert (2006). Encyclopedia of India. ISBN 978-0-684-31351-1.
• Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey (1996). The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford University Press, US. ISBN 978-0-19-811257-0.
• Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1999). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-57958-146-6.
• Stanley A. Wolpert (2006). Encyclopedia of India. ISBN 978-0-684-31351-1.
• Velayutham, Selvaraj (2008). Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-39680-6.
• Watson, James L. (2009), Globalization, Encyclopædia Britannica.
• Gopal, Sangita; Moorti, Sujata (2008). Global Bollywood: Travels of Hindi Song and Dance. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-4578-7.

External links

• DearCinema.com - Indian website that covers Indian cinema from an international perspective

Further reading

• Report of the Indian Cinematograph Committee 1927–1928. Superintendent, The Government Press, Madras. 1928.
• Dwyer, Rachel; Patel, Divia (2002). Cinema India: The Visual Culture of Hindi Film. ISBN 978-0-8135-3175-5.
• Culture and Representation: The Emerging Field of Media Semiotics/J A H Khatri/Ruby Press & Co./ISBN 978-93-82395-12-6/ 2013. www.rubypressco.com