Bollywood is one of the giants of global cinema, making thousands of movies a year and millions upon millions of dollars! But how much do you know about Bollywood and its glamorous history? Here are 15 facts all about the Mumbai film industry and its origins. Find out what the first Bollywood film was, what the word Bollywood means, and the length of its record-breaking kiss! And if you liked this, how about checking out this Bollywood Emoji Quiz! Or maybe you’re ready for this Ultimate Bollywood Trivia Quiz! Or how about this Indian History Quiz? And you can check out more awesome facts on our main Facts Page!

1. The word Bollywood is a pun

The word ‘Bollywood’, referring to the film industry in India, is a combination of the words ‘Hollywood’ and ‘Bombay’ (Mumbai) where Bollywood filmmaking initially took off. As well as this, Bollywood refers to films made in the Hindi language, as opposed to other Indian languages.

2. Bollywood started in the early 20th century

India was bitten by the film bug soon after the Lumiere brothers invention took the world by storm in 1895. Like early European films, Bollywood movies had no sound and used primitive technology. The first ‘talkies’ (movies with sound) came out in India in the 1930s, and since then it’s grown to become a global phenomenon!

3. The first feature length Indian film came out in 1913

It was called Raja Harishchandra, and it’s based on the legend of Harishchandra, a King from Indian folklore. Lots of early Bollywood films were based on Hindu folklore and mythology.

4. Bollywood has ancient origins

Although Bollywood is a film industry, it’s based on some much older traditions. A lot of the conventions of Bollywood come from Natyashastra, an ancient Sanskrit text which is basically an encyclopaedia of Indian performing arts. Taking its lead from theatre, Indian cinema focuses more on emotion and spectacle.

5. It’s the largest film producer in the world

India overtook the USA as the largest film producer in the 1970s when it came to making movies. Today, Bollywood produces thousands of movies each year, and also has the biggest viewership!

6. Bollywood has multiple languages

Just like India, Bollywood has lots of different languages – about 10 in all! These include Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Assamese, Bengali, Marathi and Punjabi!

7. Almost all Bollywood films have music in them

Song and dance are huge parts of Indian culture, and that’s why in Bollywood, it’s more rare to have films without music and dancing that with them! In fact, so few Bollywood films don’t have music in them, that it’s a list on Wikipedia!

8. The first Indian Oscar winner was Bhanu Athaiya

Indian costume designer, Bhanu Athaiya won an Oscar for her work on the film Gandhi, about Mahatma Gandhi, in 1982. Since then, Bollywood films that have won Oscars include RRR and The Elephant Whispers.

9. The film Mughal-e-Azam was the most expensive of the era

Mughal-e-Azam was released in 1960, and cost about 15 million rupees to make. That’s about $16 million dollars today, but back then a budget like that would have been almost unheard of in Bollywood! Currently the most expensive film ever made in Bollywood is Kalki 2898 AD which cost about $72 million dollars in 2024.

10. Bollywood has its own film awards

These include the International Indian Film Academy Awards (or IIFAA), the Filmfare Awards, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which is given by the government in recognition of outstanding film achievements.

11. Shah Rukh Khan is sometimes considered the ‘King of Bollywood’

Shah Rukh Khan is an Indian actor who is widely considered to be one of the most successful Bollywood actors of all time. He’s been in over 100 films, won numerous awards, and is sometimes just known as ‘SRK!’. He’s also one of the richest actors in the world!

12. Kareena Kapoor is one of Bollywood’s biggest actresses

Kareena Kapoor is one of the leading ladies of Hindi cinema, and is one of the highest-grossing Bollywood actresses of all time! She’s also been in at least 70 movies!

13. The longest kiss in Bollywood history lasted four minutes!

In the 1933 film Karma, the real-life couple Devika Rani  and Himanshu Rai lock lips for four whole minutes, a record that has never been beaten!

14. It has its own Star Walk

Just like the Hollywood Walk of Fame in LA, Mumbai also has a walk which honours its stars, the Walk of the Stars in Bandra. It has over 100 brass plates and 6 statues!

15. Bollywood’s popularity continues to grow

Bollywood just gets bigger and bigger! As well as becoming more popular with Western audiences in the past few decades, Bollywood films have influenced Hollywood’s output too, with films like Moulin Rouge and Slumdog Millionaire being inspired by Bollywood’s dramatic plots and music.