Bollywood is the unofficial identity given to the popular Mumbai (famously known as Bombay) film industry in India. The name is a jumble between Bombay and Hollywood film industries, making it “Bollywood.” Each year Bollywood produces hundreds of feature films, mostly by independent producers.

Let it be clear that Bollywood represents only a part of India’s national cinema which includes several regional filmmakers as well. Traditionally, Bollywood films are musicals with melody in the form of colorful song-and-dance numbers blended into the script.

A film's music is released prior to the movie to help attract audiences. Reports indicate that the $8 billion film industry produces more than 900 movies a year in more than 20 languages, which makes India the world’s most prolific film producer of international movies.

Bollywood is not only a strong part of the popular culture of India, but also the rest of South Asia, parts of Africa, and the Middle East. It also has huge audiences in the UK, Canada, Australia, and the U.S., all of which have large and growing Indian immigrant populations. Such populations are known as NRI (Non Resident Indian).

Over 1 billion people, a booming economy, and emerging NRI audiences together are taking movie production, distribution, and exhibition businesses to a record high. Very recently an independent firm has obtained the rights to remake all-time hit classic movie Sholay for a whopping $100 million, a titanic budget for any movie in India.

Movie loving NRI audiences, had pushed distribution and exhibition business soaring, resulting high film production, taking Bollywood commerce to the whole new level.

In 2006 Yash Raj Films, one of the largest Indian film producers and distributors reported that Bollywood films in the US earned around $100 million a year through theater screenings, video sales, and the sale of movie soundtracks.

With international revenues increasingly important to the corporations that own the major studios, Hollywood wants to tap into lucrative Bollywood. Looking at its fast paced growth and popularity, Sony Pictures is ready with its estimated $15 million Bollywood venture called Saawariya. A much-talked about movie, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, it is set to release November 9, worldwide.