Difference between Bollywood and Tollywood
Someone who is a bit more than a casual observer may find one thing peculiar in India which has to do with which Indian film hub makes better movies. North Indian’s have Bollywood and South Indian’s have Tollywood. Even your average good and intelligent people are found to indulge in this mud-slinging. I am sure that many Indians have tried to define the reasons behind the comparisons and come with no conclusive solutions! Whatever the arguments, let’s engage in a discussion about Bollywood and Tollywood productions
Background
As we all know that the Indian film industries are jointly known as Bollywood. This film industry is based in Mumbai, but it does not mean the entire Indian cinema. Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest centers of film production in the world. Tollywood refers to the film industries of south India and includes the cinema of Andhra Pradesh. Both the industries have their own stars, stories and artists. The Telugu language film industry that is Tollywood is credited with making some of the first talkie movies in the history of Indian cinema with the first being Bhakta Prahlada in 1931. Bollywood’s first talkie movie, Alam Ara, was also released in 1931.
Silent Films
In efforts to keep in step with the American film industry, Indian cinema kicked into high gear early in the 1900’s. The Indian film industry was born in 1912 with Tollywood’s first silent movie Bhisma Pratighna. In 1913, Dadasaheb Phalke produced the first silent Indian feature film, Raja Harishchandra. The Telugu film industry proudly produces around 275 films each year, making Tollywood the most productive film industry in India.
Location, Location
Chennai was used as the center for both Tamil and Telugu cinema until the early 1990’s. Gradually its historical importance and significance has risen to such a stage that many Telugu cinemas are shot in the old, traditional studios. Hyderabad is the present hub of Telugu movies. Besides, many successful Telugu films have been remade by the Hindi and Tamil film industries. Tollywood has also remade a fair number of films in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and some other languages. However, Bollywood does not exist as a physical place like Hollywood. Bollywood films are mostly musicals. The spectators usually expect catchy music in the form of song and dance woven into the script. A film's success often depends on the quality of such musical numbers.
Movie Fans
Spectators have spoken and what fans want is physical beauty. It is about the beauty of the heroes and heroines. You’ll often find that both industries believe in 'Fair is Beautiful' with respect to heroines. The fairer the woman the more in demand she becomes. Regarding the artistic value of the movies, some would say Tollywood sometimes provides authentic locations and culture beyond that of Bollywood which has a tendency to take on western attitudes in their accents, dress sense or styling.
Summary
- Bollywood is the largest film industry of India and the largest centre of film production in the world.
- Tollywood has the record of producing the first ever talkie movie.
- Investing in both types of film is profitable mostly due to their huge popularity.
- For exotic flair and a sense of worldliness one will find that movies are shot at foreign locations regularly.
- Many directors have come up with interesting stories that really make all the difference.
