The Hindi-language cinema industry based in Mumbai is called Bollywood, a word that combines the words Bombay and Hollywood. The city of Mumbai was called Bombay until 1997. Some people don’t like the word Bollywood because it makes the industry seem secondary to Hollywood, California. But Bollywood represents an important and thriving Indian film industry.

India also has thriving regional cinema centers producing films in other Indian languages: Bengali, Tamil, and Marathi. India produces the largest number of films in the world, approximately 700 a year in all the languages.

A typical Bollywood film, meant to entertain the entire family, includes song and dance, drama, comedy, and action. Bollywood stars are huge celebrities with millions of fans. A film’s soundtrack is a crucial part of the production and is released to fans before the movie to create anticipation and excitement.

Bollywood movie dialogue is spoken in Hindi but includes subtitles in many languages such as English, Spanish, and French, so that audiences that don’t understand Hindi can enjoy them. Bollywood films are seen all over south Asia, Russia, and wherever an immigrant Indian population is found: America, Great Britain, the Middle East, and parts of Africa.