Bollywood: How it became a Billion-Dollar Industry

Presently, Bollywood is one of the biggest entertainment industries in the world but it has a long story behind reaching such apex. When we talk of Bollywood, Mumbai is the first name that comes to our mind. This city has really contributed a lot to this industry and this industry, in turn, has made Mumbai famous all over the world. Today, we are going to discuss how this ‘City of Dreams’ went on to become the main centre of Bollywood and how Bollywood developed over the years in India, giving few highest-grossing Bollywood movies.

Misconception

Before proceeding further, I would like to talk about a very common misconception that many people have about Bollywood. Many people casually believe that Indian films are regarded as Bollywood films but it is not true. This name is specific to the Hindi language films only. There are many other language movies which are produced in India and do not come in this category of Bollywood. Even sometimes, the number of movies produced in the Hindi language is less than the other language films. But no one can complete Bollywood when it comes to reaching the masses, influencing the foreign market, gaining a mass audience and generating handsome revenue at the box office.

Beginning

In the 19th and 20th century, the theatre was on rise and Mumbai was the hub of this and several other artistic things. But the problem with theatre was that many people could not go to that because of lack of time and also, it required literacy. This made it restricted to a small section of the audience and then emerged the film industry which has no such restrictions. In the initial days, these films made in Mumbai had  Parsi actors and slowly it became the main centre for such activities. This city is also one of the very rich cities of India with the stock market base, entertainment base and is also famous for many Mafia stories

Culture

One more good thing about this city is that many other cities like Kolkata have its own culture which was represented in films produced by producers like Satyajit Ray. But Mumbai is a mix of many different cultures which has helped the film industry in Mumbai to efficiently portray different sections of society. This cultural mix helps filmmakers in Mumbai to produce films for almost all the communities and the audience throughout the country and even beyond borders.

Recognition As An Industry

Before 2001, it was not recognized as an industry and hence, banks and other such institutions were not allowed to make an investment in this industry. The main reason for this was the involvement of the underworld which controlled and funded the industry. But this doesn’t mean that this industry lacked financers. In 2001 after getting recognition, big names like Walt Disney also invested in this industry. It has given many highest-grossing movies over the years and is becoming bigger day by day and we can hope for more hits from this industry.