While Hollywood may be the best-known film industry, the Indian film industry, also known as Bollywood, is the largest in the world in terms of the number of films produced. Around 1,500 to 2,000 films are produced every year in more than 20 languages. However, in terms of revenue generated, Bollywood remains nascent compared to other global industries. In 2018, the highest grossing film at the box office in India was Dangal, earning over 387 million Indian rupees and over 340 million U.S. dollars in the global box office.

Money matters

  Although Bollywood enjoys popularity in many parts of the world, the main revenue for this industry comes from the domestic box office, representing 74 percent of the total industry. In 2018, the value of the Indian film industry was around 159 billion Indian rupees and it was forecasted to reach up to 229 billion rupees by 2023.

Rise of regional cinema

  In a country as diverse as India, the power and reach of regional cinema is often overlooked. Yet, regional cinema with their local flavours enjoy tremendous popularity in the country. The South Indian film industry is vibrant with several big budget films released each year. The share of regional box office contribution across India was over 48 percent in 2018, with Tamil language films leading the race (948615). In fact, the Tamil language film 2.0 which was released in 2018 had a production budget of over 5.8 billion Indian rupees, making it the biggest Bollywood movie production of all time.