Beyond Bollywood: A Guide to India's Many Film Industries

India: the world's busiest film country

India makes more films than any other country — usually well over a thousand features a year, in more than twenty languages. That is because India is not one film market but many, each tied to a language, a region and a proud local culture.

'Bollywood' is the name most of the world knows, but it is just the Hindi-language industry centered in Mumbai. The others are just as important — several of them now make India's biggest box-office hits — and each has its own nickname, home city, superstars and style.

Why India has many film industries

India's film industries grew around its languages. When cinema arrived — Dadasaheb Phalke's silent Raja Harishchandra of 1913 is considered India's first feature film — studios soon formed wherever a language had enough speakers: Mumbai for Hindi, Kolkata for Bengali, Chennai for Tamil, Hyderabad for Telugu. A film made for its own language community, with its own stars and songs, will always beat a dubbed outsider at the local box office.

So the map of Indian cinema follows the map of India's languages — which is why we also wrote a guide to the many languages of India. Each industry developed its own flavor: Bengali cinema became India's art-house heart, Tamil cinema its showmanship capital, Malayalam cinema its storytelling workshop.

The major industries, industry by industry

Each industry has its own nickname, home city and style:

• Bollywood (Hindi, Mumbai): the biggest and most famous. Big romances, family dramas and song-and-dance musicals. Think Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Lagaan, Sholay and 3 Idiots. Superstars: Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone.
• Tollywood (Telugu, Hyderabad): huge spectacle and action, produced on a scale that now rivals Hollywood blockbusters. Its films Baahubali and RRR became worldwide hits, and RRR's song 'Naatu Naatu' won the 2023 Oscar for Best Original Song. Superstars: Prabhas, Allu Arjun, Jr NTR, Mahesh Babu.
• Kollywood (Tamil, Chennai): home of superstar Rajinikanth and composer A. R. Rahman, known for bold style, mass-entertainment films and fiercely loyal fan bases. Ponniyin Selvan, Vikram and Mani Ratnam's romances show the range.
• Mollywood (Malayalam, Kerala): praised by critics for realistic, beautifully written stories made on modest budgets. Drishyam and Kumbalangi Nights began here, and Malayalam films regularly win India's National Film Awards.
• Sandalwood (Kannada, Bengaluru): its KGF films and Kantara brought the industry national fame, turning a regional scene into a box-office giant.
• Bengali cinema (Kolkata): the home of Satyajit Ray, whose Pather Panchali (1955) is one of the most admired films ever made. Ray received an honorary Oscar in 1992. It is India's oldest film industry outside Mumbai.
• Marathi and Punjabi cinema: smaller but lively industries known for heartfelt comedies, strong storytelling and music that often crosses over into Bollywood.

The 'masala' film — India's gift to cinema

Many Indian films mix romance, comedy, action, drama and music in one story, like the spices in a masala. Audiences get everything in one evening, often with an intermission. It's a generous, joyful way of telling stories, and filmmakers around the world now borrow from it.

The format was born in the 1970s with films like Sholay and Amar Akbar Anthony and still drives the biggest releases today. We compare the whole style in Bollywood vs Hollywood: How Indian and American Movies Differ.

Pan-Indian films — the new wave

Until recently, a Telugu film stayed in Telugu states. Today, hits are dubbed or released in several languages at once, so Baahubali, KGF, Kantara, RRR and Pushpa topped charts in Hindi-speaking cities too — a movement the trade press calls 'pan-Indian' cinema.

It works both ways: Hindi stars now appear in regional films, regional filmmakers direct Hindi versions, and streaming platforms make every industry available everywhere. A film can succeed in any language if the story is strong enough — which is exactly what RRR proved to audiences worldwide.

Where to watch each industry's films

The practical effect for viewers: most regional films now stream worldwide with English subtitles on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar, often within weeks of release. That means a viewer in Chicago or Manchester can watch the best of six or seven industries in a single month — something that was impossible even ten years ago.

Subtitled classics are there too: Bengali cinema's masterworks, old Tamil and Telugu films, and remastered Bollywood favorites all sit alongside the newest releases.

Not sure where to start? Try one film from each industry

• Bollywood: Sholay (1975) or Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) for the classics; RRR (2022) for the modern worldwide hit.
• Tollywood: Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and its sequel — the films that changed Indian cinema's scale.
• Kollywood: Vikram (2022) or Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan — showmanship at full power.
• Mollywood: Drishyam (2013) — the thriller everyone keeps remaking; Kumbalangi Nights (2019) — quiet brilliance.
• Sandalwood: KGF: Chapter 2 (2022) or Kantara (2022) — Kannada cinema going national.
• Bengali: Pather Panchali (1955) — the masterpiece that introduced Indian cinema to the world.

Which industry is right for you?

Love big emotions, songs and family? Start with Bollywood. Want spectacle and action on an epic scale? Tollywood. Prefer quiet, realistic stories that win awards? Mollywood. Curious about India's art-cinema heritage? Bengali films.

You can also let our Which Indian Film Industry Are You? quiz match your tastes to an industry, or use the Foreign Movie Picker for one suggestion at a time.

Frequently asked questions

• What is the difference between Bollywood and Tollywood? Bollywood makes Hindi-language films in Mumbai; Tollywood makes Telugu-language films in Hyderabad. They have different stars, directors, styles and audiences — and today Telugu blockbusters often out-earn Bollywood at the box office.
• Which Indian film industry is the biggest? Bollywood (Hindi) remains the largest by number of releases and star salaries, but Telugu (Tollywood) and Tamil (Kollywood) films now produce many of India's biggest-grossing films.
• Why are there so many Indian film industries? India has 22 official languages and hundreds of regional tongues, and each major language region built its own film industry with its own stars and culture.
• What does 'Kollywood' mean? Kollywood is the Tamil-language industry based in Chennai, named after the Kodambakkam neighborhood. Don't confuse it with Tollywood — a nickname used for both Telugu cinema in Hyderabad and, historically, Bengali cinema in Tollygunge.
• Are Indian films available with English subtitles? Yes — most major releases from every industry stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar worldwide with English subtitles, often within weeks of their theatrical release.