Top 5 film industries in India – The Indian film industry has been around for more than a century and is the second oldest film industry globally. Because of the volume of films made each year, it is also renowned as the world’s largest film industry.
For example, the Indian film industry generates around 2000 films every year, whereas Hollywood produces about 800 films per year.
Dadasaheb Phalke, a veteran director-producer, is regarded as the “Father of Indian Cinema” for his 1913 film Raja Harishchandra. It was the first full-length silent feature film made in India.
The Indian film industry has significantly benefited from the multilingual culture. Regional films have achieved regional commercial success and have also dominated the Indian film industry.
In this article, I have listed out Top 5 film industries in India and some other prominent film Industries in India.
List of Top 5 Film Industries in India
Bollywood – Hindi Film Industry
We’ve grown up watching movies, most of which are in Hindi, and Bollywood is the popular name for the Hindi film Industry. Mayanagari Mumbai is the center of Bollywood and is a mashup of Bombay (the last name of Mumbai) and Hollywood.
Bollywood is one of the world’s largest film industries in terms of the number of people employed and the number of films produced. So it becomes no 1 film industry in India.
The genres of Bollywood films are broad, including romance, action, thriller, horror, drama, and humor. Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, and other legendary performers have served as the best actors of all time.
Sholay, Mughal-e-Azam, Mother India, Salaam Bombay, and more films have helped build the Indian cinema industry into a massive entertainment conglomerate.
Tollywood – Telugu Film Industry
Tollywood known as Telugu Cinema produces films in the Telugu language. It is based in Film Nagar, a neighborhood of Hyderabad, India. Recently Tollywood got international acclaim, because of the popularity of the Baahubali franchise.
Tollywood has a separate fan base for its unique storylines/plots, which is why they are often remade in other languages. An example is Arjun Reddy, which is remade as Kabir Singh in Hindi.
Kollywood – Tamil Film Industry
Tamil Film Industry is known as Kollywood. It is based in the Kodambakkam neighborhood in Central Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Popular actors like Rajinikanth and Kamal Hasan are from Kollywood.
Mollywood – Malayalam Film Industry
Mollywood is known as the Malayalam film industry. It is based in Kerala and produces films in the Malayalam language. It is also the fourth biggest film industry in India.
Sandalwood – Kannada Film Industry
Sandalwood or Chandanavana is known as the Kannada film industry. It is based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It produces around 200 films each year. It is the fifth-largest film industry in India after Bollywood. Kannada films are released in 1000 single-screen cinema theatres in Karnataka.
Ollywood – Odia Film Industry
The Odia film industry is known as Ollywood. It is based in Cuttack, Odisha. The name Ollywood is derived from the words Odia and Hollywood. Ollywood starts its filmmaking journey in the 1936 film Sita Bibaha, and its story is about the marriage of Sita and Ram. It was made by Mohan Sundar Deb Goswami.
Marathi Film Industry
Indian movies produced in the Marathi language are known as Marathi Cinema. It is based in old Mumbai, Maharastra. It is the oldest film industry in India. Shree Pundalik is the first Marathi film produced by Dadasaheb Torne on 18 May 1912.
Tollywood – Bengali Film Industry
Bengali cinema AKA Tollywood refers to the Indian Bengali film industry. It is based in Tollygunge a locality of South Kolkata, West Bengal. The nickname Tollywood is derived from the words Tollygunge and Hollywood. Tollywood is famous for producing the most critically acclaimed global and art films and winning several Indian National Film Awards.
Bhojiwood – Bhojpuri Film Industry
Bhojpuri cinema AKA Bhojiwood is the Indian film industry based on the Bhojpuri language. It is based in Bihar, India. It is known as one of the fastest-growing movie industries with a Rs 2000 crore (and growing) industry. The First Bhojpuri film, Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo, was released in 1963 by Vishwanath Shahabadi.
Pollywood – Punjabi Film Industry
Punjabi cinema is also known as Pollywood refers to the Punjabi language film industry. It is based in Amritsar and Mohali in the Indian state of Punjab. The first silent Punjabi movie Daughters of Today released in 1928. The first sound film, Heer Ranjha was released in 1932. Many actors and filmmakers started their careers in Punjabi films, and build their careers in big film industries.
These are the most well-known Indian film industries, each of which has contributed to the Indian film industry. The Indian film industry is becoming bigger and better every day due to all of these regional industries.
Also read: Top 10 Highest Grossing Indian Movies of All Time
