Cinema of India

India’s film industry is not a single entity but a collection of many, each producing movies in its own language—Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Assamese, Odia, and others. These films have shaped global cinema significantly since the mid-20th century. Key production hubs are spread across the country, including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, and Guwahati. For many years, India has led the world in the number of films released annually. In 2024, the domestic box office earned ₹11,833 crore (about $1.36 billion). Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, spanning over 1,666 acres (674 ha), holds the Guinness World Record for the largest film studio complex.

The term “Bollywood” is often mistakenly used for all Indian cinema, but it actually refers only to the Hindi-language industry. Indian cinema as a whole is an umbrella term for multiple industries, each with its own language, culture, and style. In 2021, Telugu cinema became the largest Indian film industry by box-office revenue. By 2022, Hindi films accounted for 33% of revenue, followed by Telugu at 20%, Tamil at 16%, Kannada at 8%, Malayalam at 6%, Marathi at 3%, and Punjabi, Bengali, and Gujarati each at 1%. That same year, the combined revenue from South Indian film industries surpassed that of Bollywood. Telugu cinema also led in ticket sales with 23.3 crore (233 million) tickets, ahead of Tamil cinema’s 20.5 crore (205 million) and Hindi cinema’s 18.9 crore (189 million).

Indian films have a global reach, drawing attention and acclaim across South Asia. Since the arrival of talkies in 1931, Hindi cinema dominated the box office, but Telugu cinema has recently become a strong competitor. Overseas Indians contribute 12% of the industry’s revenue.

**History**

Indian cinema’s history stretches back to the earliest days of film. After the Lumière brothers and Robert Paul screened moving pictures in London in late 1895 and early 1896, commercial cinematography quickly spread worldwide, and those films were shown in Bombay (now Mumbai) later that same year.

**Silent era (1890s–1920s)**

From 1913 to 1931, every film made in India was silent, with no sound and only intertitles. In 1913, Dadasaheb Phalke released *Raja Harishchandra* in Bombay—the first Indian film. It was silent, with intertitles in English, Marathi, and Hindi. Movies steadily grew in popularity as cheap entertainment for the masses; in Bombay, admission could cost as little as an anna (one-sixteenth of a rupee). Young filmmakers began weaving Indian social life and culture into their work, while others brought fresh ideas from abroad. Global audiences and markets soon took notice of India’s film industry. In 1927, the British government set up the Indian Cinematograph Enquiry Committee to boost British films in India over American ones. The committee, however, did not support that goal; instead, it recommended backing the fledgling Indian film industry. Its suggestions were ignored.

**Sound era**

The first Indian sound film, *Alam Ara* (1931), was directed by Ardeshir Irani. The first film studio in South India, Durga Cinetone, was built in 1936 by Nidamarthi Surayya in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. The arrival of sound led to musicals like *Indra Sabha* and *Devi Devyani*, which introduced song-and-dance sequences to Indian cinema. By 1935, studios had emerged in major cities such as Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay, as filmmaking became a full-fledged industry, exemplified by the success of *Devdas* (1935). The first colour film made in India was *Kisan Kanya* (1937, directed by Moti B). Swamikannu Vincent, who built the first cinema in South India in Coimbatore, pioneered “tent cinema”—erecting a tent on open land to screen films. The first such tent in Madras was called Edison’s Grand Cinema Megaphone, named after the electric carbons used in projectors. Bombay Talkies opened in 1934, and Prabhat Studios in Pune began producing Marathi films. However, the British Raj banned *Wrath* (1930) and *Raithu Bidda* (1938) for touching on the Indian independence movement.

After World War II, the Indian “masala” film emerged—a mix of genres combining song, dance, romance, and more. During the 1940s, South Indian cinemas accounted for nearly half of all cinema halls in the country, and cinema was seen as a tool for cultural revival. The Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), a left-leaning art movement, gained momentum through the 1940s and 1950s. IPTA plays like *Nabanna* (1944) laid the groundwork for realism in Indian cinema, visible in classics such as *Mother India* (1957) and *Pyaasa* (1957). After independence, the 1947 partition split the nation’s assets, and several studios moved to Pakistan. Partition became a recurring theme in films. The Indian government established a Films Division by 1948, which later became one of the world’s largest documentary producers.