Bollywood, Mumbai
Situated in the northwest of Mumbai, Bollywood is one of the largest film production bases all over the world covering an area of 200 hectares (450 acres). It also produces most films in the world. Located at the mountain foot, Bollywood possesses a beautiful scenery with undulating mountains and verdant plants, providing a variety of natural landscapes for film shooting, including forests, green lands, hills, rivers and lakes. Besides, there are many permanent buildings which can be transformed into multiple appearances, and temporary scenery which can be used to replace the real scenery. In total, there are 15 photo studios in Bollywood offering a variety of rental services and photography equipment.
Bollywood - The Largest Film Production Base in India
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How did Bollywood come into being?
Bollywood Studios is named after Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, the father of Indian films. In 1974, Menbob Khan, Beimar Roy, Shakti Samantha and other legendary persons of Indian films circled an piece of land with 230 acres to shoot films. Then, in 1978, with 30 million rupees’ investment from Mumbai government, this piece of land was enlarged and expanded into 500 acres. Although with incomplete facilities and infrastructures, the place contained excellent buildings with sound insulation, therefore, shooting sites were frequently rented by TV stations and Bollywood gradually got famous.It is also said that Bollywood, as the nick name of the popular film shooting studios in India, is inspired from Hollywood. Indians transformed the first letter “H” into “B”, therefore, Bollywood formed.
No matter which version is right, Bollywood will still be used, which even has its own term in Oxford English Dictionary. Now, Bollywood and several other major Indian film and television studios, including Kollywood, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, and Malayalam, compose the largest film industry in India.