India produces more movies than Hollywood every year

A scene from Raja Harishchandra

INDIAN films command a huge domestic market and are popular abroad, particularly in Asia, Africa and West Asia. India leads the world in the output of films. According to an estimate about 800 movies are released annually in India, which is about twice the output of Hollywood.

The top five moneymaking films of all time are: Titanic [$1,835m], Jurassic Park [$920m], Independence Day [$810m], Star Wars [$780m], The Lion King [$767m].

Movies arrived in India less than a year after the Lumieres first exhibited their cinematography in Paris. On July 7, 1896, an agent who had brought equipment and films from France first showed his moving pictures in Bombay.

The first Indian-made feature film (3700 feet long) was released on May 3, 1913. It was made by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, popularly known as Dada Saheb Phalke, and was called Raja Harishchandra.

The first Indian talkie Alam Ara produced by the Imperial film company and directed by Ardershir Irani was released on March 14, 1931, at Majestic Cinema in Bombay.

The First International Film Festival, held in Bombay in 1951, showed Italian works.

— Compiled by Gaurav Sood