Portal:Hindi cinema
The Hindi cinema portal
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to India's Hindi-language film industry, based in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry, producing films in the Hindi language, is a part of the larger Indian cinema industry, which also includes South Indian cinema and other smaller film industries. The term 'Bollywood', often mistakenly used to refer to Indian cinema as a whole, only refers to Hindi-language films, with Indian cinema being an umbrella term that includes all the film industries in the country, each offering films in diverse languages and styles.
In 2017, Indian cinema produced 1,986 feature films, of which the largest number, 364, have been in Hindi. In 2022, Hindi cinema represented 33% of box office revenue, followed by Telugu and Tamil representing 20% and 16% respectively. Mumbai is one of the largest centres for film production in the world. Hindi films sold an estimated 341 million tickets in India in 2019. Earlier Hindi films tended to use vernacular Hindustani, mutually intelligible by speakers of either Hindi or Urdu, while modern Hindi productions increasingly incorporate elements of Hinglish.
The most popular commercial genre in Hindi cinema since the 1970s has been the masala film, which freely mixes different genres including action, comedy, romance, drama and melodrama along with musical numbers. Masala films generally fall under the musical film genre, of which Indian cinema has been the largest producer since the 1960s when it exceeded the American film industry's total musical output after musical films declined in the West. The first Indian talkie, Alam Ara (1931), was produced in the Hindustani language, four years after Hollywood's first sound film, The Jazz Singer (1927).
Alongside commercial masala films, a distinctive genre of art films known as parallel cinema has also existed, presenting realistic content and avoidance of musical numbers. In more recent years, the distinction between commercial masala and parallel cinema has been gradually blurring, with an increasing number of mainstream films adopting the conventions which were once strictly associated with parallel cinema. (Full article...)
Selected article
Lagaan is a 2001 Bollywood sports film written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. Aamir Khan, who was also the film's producer, stars with Gracy Singh in the lead roles; British actors Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne play the supporting roles. Made on a budget of ₹25 crore (US$3.0 million), the film was shot in an ancient village near Bhuj, India. The film is set in the Victorian period of the British Raj and revolves around the peasants from a barren village who are oppressed by the high taxes imposed by their rulers. They attempt to persuade the British officers to reduce the taxes because of poor agricultural produce. Instead, a wager is offered. If their village team beats a British team in a game of cricket, their taxes for three years would be cancelled. After accepting this wager, the villagers face the arduous task of learning an alien game and playing for a result that will change their village's destiny. The film received critical acclaim and awards at various international film festivals, as well as many Indian film awards. It also became the third Hindi-language film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2010, the film was ranked #55 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema". In 2011, the film was listed in Time Magazine's special "The All-TIME 25 Best Sports Movies".
Did you know...
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- ... that the film English Vinglish marks the comeback of actress Sridevi (pictured) after a 14-year sabbatical?
- ... that Vyjayanthimala, who played Chandramukhi in the 1955 film Devdas, declined the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress because she thought that her role was not a supporting one?
- ... that Master Vithal, the hero of India's first talkie Alam Ara and many silent stunt films, was known as the "Douglas Fairbanks of India"?
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Selected biography
Vidya Balan (born 1 January 1979) is an Indian film actress, who appears in Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam language films. At age sixteen, Balan landed her first acting role in the sitcom Hum Paanch (1995). After making several unsuccessful attempts to start a career in film, she acted in television commercials and music videos. In 2003, she made her feature film debut with the independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko. In 2005, Balan garnered praise for her first Hindi film, Parineeta, and followed it with a leading role in the blockbuster Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). Her subsequent portrayal of glamorous characters in the films Heyy Babyy (2007) and Kismat Konnection (2008) met with negative comments from film critics. 2009, however, marked the beginning of the most successful period in Balan's career as she portrayed five consecutive roles to wide critical acclaim in Paa (2009), Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011), and Kahaani (2012). These roles have fetched her the tag of a "female hero" and established her as a leading contemporary actress of Hindi cinema. Balan has received one National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards and five Screen Awards. She is a social activist and supports the cause of women empowerment. She initially drew criticism for her weight and dressing sense, but was later credited in the media for retaining her individuality and breaking stereotypes of a Hindi film heroine. She is married to film producer Siddharth Roy Kapur.
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Awards: Bollywood Movie Awards (defunct) • Filmfare Awards • Global Indian Film Awards (defunct) • International Indian Film Academy Awards • National Film Awards • Screen Awards • Star Guild Awards • Stardust Awards • Zee Cine Awards
Institutions Asian Academy of Film & Television • Central Board of Film Certification • Directorate of Film Festivals • Film and Television Institute of India • Film City • Fox Star Studios • National Film Development Corporation of India • Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute
Lists: List of Bollywood films • Film clans • Highest-grossing films in overseas markets • Highest-grossing films
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{{portal|Hindi cinema}}to the See also section of Bollywood film-related articles. - Tag the talk pages of Bollywood film related articles with the {{WikiProject Film|Indian-task-force=yes}} banner.
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- Cleanup: A cleanup listing for this project is available.
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- Cleanup needed
- Bot-generated cleanup listing • Hindi films and plagiarism • Ramoji Film City • IIFA Awards • IIFA • Anand Bakshi • Ajay Devgan • N. T. Rama Rao Jr.
- Requested articles
- List of missing Indian Films (see also lists of Indian films for redlinks) • Beary Cinema
- Expansion needed
- Draft articles: Tulu cinema • Anahat (film) • Filmfare Awards South • Kerala Film Critics Association Awards • Hindustan Photo Films • Sanskrit cinema
- Citations needed
- Central Board of Film Certification
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