The World's Other Hollywoods
10. Bollywood
Bollywood is a Bombay-based Hindi language film industry located in Mumbai, India. By earnings, it is the largest film producer in India. Besides the high earnings, Bollywood also employs many people and produces large numbers of films. Consequently, it is one of the largest film production centers in the world. The Indian film industry coined the name “Bollywood” in the 1970s. Since then, the industry has influenced the whole world and competes favorably with Hollywood.
9. Wellywood
Wellywood is an informal name given to the city of Wellington in New Zealand. It also refers to the film business established by Sir Peter Jackson many years ago. Jackson was the film director of The Lord of the Rings. The Wellywood film-making facility includes Weta Workshop and Weta Digital which are special effects studios. The Wellywood film business is based in the suburb of Wellington called Miramar.
8. Nollywood
Nollywood is the colloquial name referring to the Nigerian film industry. The industry is popular for producing as many as 1,000 films annually. Its film production is higher than USA’s Hollywood but lower than Bollywood’s production of films. Most of the Nigerian films are dramas and comedies. However, the industry is taking on new challenges such as the production of horror movies, period pieces, romance movies, and musicals. Nollywood consists of sub-industries which produce movies based on the Nigerian ethnic and religious divides. The sub-industries include the Yoruba-language cinema and the Hausa-language cinema (Kannywood). Nollywood is also used to refer to the Ghanaian English-language cinema.
7. Hollywood North
Hollywood North refers to the film industries located in Canada, specifically Toronto and Vancouver. Ontario is the largest television and film producer in Canada. It ranks third in North America after California and New York. In 2010 the province of Ontario spent $946 million in the production of 230 film projects. Its most successful year was 2011 when it spent $1.26 billion in film production. Toronto ranks second in North America in the export of television programs. In 2010 and 2011, Toronto spent $903 million and $1.13 billion in film and television projects respectively. Toronto is the home of the largest film and TV distribution company in the world known as Alliance Atlantis. It is also the headquarters of the largest animation company in Canada called Nelvana.
6. Kariwood
Kariwood is the colloquial name for the film industry in Karachi, Pakistan. The industry was popular in the 1960s as it produced many films for the large and growing working class population in the city of Karachi. However, in the recent past, local interests have shifted from Kariwood films to Hollywood films. The cause of the shift may have been the movement of the film-making industry from Karachi to Lahore. The nickname used for Lahore’s film making industry is Lollywood.
5. Kollywood
Kollywood is a term used to refer to the Tamil cinema in India. Tamil cinema refers to the Indian motion pictures produced in a language called Tamil. Based in Tamil Nadu, the hub of Tamil cinema is in Kodambakkam in Chennai. The word Kollywood is a combination of Kodambakkam and Hollywood. Kollywood enjoys audience from both India and the rest of the world. The government regulates the ticket prices for cinemas in Tamil Nadu. It has set the maximum ticket prices for single screen and three screens theaters as 50 and 120 rupees respectively.
4. Ollywood
Based in Cuttack, Odisha in India, Ollywood is among the country’s large film industries. The official language used in the films is Oriya which is the official language in Odisha State. Sita Bibaha, a talkie, produced in 1936 by Mohan Goswami was the first Oriya production. The film drew a lot of enthusiasm for its audience in spite of its limitations. Years later in 1960, Ollywood’s Sri Lokenath won the National Award. In 1976, the government of Odisha created the Odisha Film Development Corporation. Earlier on in 1974, the government declared the construction of cinema theaters and film making part of the state’s industries.
3. Gollywood
Gollywood refers to the Indian film industry associated with the Gujarati language. The word is used for reference to all Gujarati cinema. Gujarati cinema is among the major film industries in India. Its first film, produced in 1932, was a talkie called Narsinh Mehta. The film industry flourished in the 1960s to 1980s before its decline in 2000. In 2010 the industry experienced a revival due to the rural demand, urban subjects in films, and new technology. Furthermore, the government has been very supportive of the film industry. In 2005, it declared 100% tax exemption for the film industry.
2. Sandalwood
Sandalwood is the Kannada language film industry found in Karnataka, India. It is the 5th largest in India’s cinema world. The Kannada films have audience in 950 single screen theaters in Karnataka. The films also have viewers in the US, Germany, Australia, the UK, and many other countries. The first Kannada production was a talkie called Sati Sulochana. Its shooting took place at the Chatrapathi studio in Kolhapur. Over the years, Sandalwood’s growth is evident. In 2009, Kannada actress Umashree won the Best Actress National Award for the Gulabi Talkies movie. Kannada cinema produced an autobiography of B.V. Karanth called Illiralaare, Allige Hogalaare.
1. Tollywood
Tollywood is the Telugu cinema which is a segment of Indian cinema production dedicated to motion pictures. The films are in the Telugu language. Tollywood is one of the biggest film industries in India. It operates from Film Nagar in Hyderabad, India. The pioneer of Telugu cinema was Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu. He started by producing short films and promoting them in different parts of Asia. In 1921, Naidu produced the first Telugu silent film called Bhishma Pratigna. A large amount of Tollywood’s producers and actors hold Guiness World Records. They include Dasari Rao (for the most number of films directed with151 films) and D. Rama Naidu (most prolific producer with130 films).
