Tollywood Tops Indian Film Industry

For the Indian film industry, 2006 was a watershed year. It produced the largest number of films ever - a staggering 1,091.

Clearly, the film industry is on a roll. “It has been a steady climb,” Supran Sen, secretary of the Film Federation of India (FFI) told the Hindustan Times. In 2005 India produced 1,042 films; in 2004, a little over 900; in 2003, it was 842.

In certain respects some branches of regional cinema even surpassed Hindi films. With 76 films produced in 2006, Bhojpuri films have recorded the fastest growth rate — a 100 per cent increase over 2005. They also account for 7 per cent of the total number of films produced, only marginally behind Malayalam and Kannada films, according to figures released by the Central Board of Film Certification.

“There is a huge market for Bhojpuri movies not only in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, but in Mumbai as well, since the city has a large number of emigrants from those areas,” Sen added. Surprisingly the hub of the Bhojpuri film industry is Mumbai, where 72 of the 76 Bhojpuri films were produced, and where most of the big Bhojpuri film producers also live.

Another surprise: more Telugu films were made last year than Hindi. Against 223 films in Hindi, Telugu banners produced 245 films in 2006. The Tamil industry, which was in first place five years ago, slipped to third with 162 films.
“The diminishing number of dubbed films – just 39 last year – shows a maturing viewers market too,” Sen added.

As expected, Mumbai was the biggest centre for film production accounting for 403 of the 1,091 films produced. Hyderabad followed with 220 titles, while Chennai was a close third with 205 films.