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Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry is a part of the larger Indian cinema, 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 representing 20% and 16% respectively. Hindi cinema 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...)

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Rang De Basanti is a 2006 Indian drama film written and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. It features an ensemble cast comprising Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth Narayan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and British actress Alice Patten in the lead roles. Made on a budget of  250 million (US$5.5 million), the film was shot in and around New Delhi. The story is about a British documentary filmmaker who is determined to make a film on Indian freedom fighters based on diary entries by her grandfather, a former officer of the British Indian Army. Upon arriving in India, she asks a group of five young men to act in her film. They agree, but after they begin filming a friend of theirs is killed in a fighter aircraft crash, with government corruption appearing to be the root cause of the incident. This event radicalizes them from being carefree to passion-driven individuals who are determined to avenge his death. The film was released globally on 26 January 2006 and subsequently was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2006 BAFTA Awards. Rang De Basanti also was chosen as India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, which earned positive reviews, had two of its tracks considered for the Academy Award nomination.

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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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Priyanka Chopra at Mijwan-Sonnets in Fabric fashion show in 2012
Priyanka Chopra at Mijwan-Sonnets in Fabric fashion show in 2012
Credit: Bollywoodhungama
Priyanka Chopra at Mijwan-Sonnets in Fabric fashion show in 2012

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Awards: Bollywood Movie Awards (defunct) • Filmfare AwardsGlobal Indian Film Awards (defunct) • International Indian Film Academy AwardsNational Film AwardsScreen AwardsStar Guild AwardsStardust AwardsZee Cine Awards

Institutions Asian Academy of Film & TelevisionCentral Board of Film CertificationDirectorate of Film FestivalsFilm and Television Institute of IndiaFilm CityFox Star StudiosNational Film Development Corporation of IndiaSatyajit Ray Film and Television Institute

Lists: List of Bollywood filmsFilm clansHighest-grossing films in overseas marketsHighest-grossing films

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