Bengali language Tollywood cinema India musical theater Satyajit Ray Mrinal Sen box office films drama Hollywood
Tollywood is the Bengali language Film Industry of India. Started by Royal Bioscope Company in 1898 by Hiralal Sen, along with Matilal Sen, Deboki Lal Sen, and Bholanath Gupta. Combining live theater performances of actors, the Bengali industry was notable for using sound as an important part of the drama in its Bioscope format whose cinematic language was extremely different from Western silent films. This was followed by Jamshedji Framji Madan of the Elphinstone Bioscope Company who also controlled Madan Theatre Company. J J Madan became managing director of Madan Theatres after the death of his father in 1923 and Madan Theatres reached a peak in late 1920s when it owned 127 theaters and controlled half of the country's box office. Madan Theatres produced a number of popular and landmark films till 1937, parallel to works of '20s Bengali stars like Dhirendra Nath Ganguly who started the Indo British Film Co. – the first Bengali-owned production company in 1918. The rise of the industry followed in 1930s to 1940s when a diversity of films were made. Many prints were destroyed by fire. The prints and records of films from 1937 to 1947 films were majorly destroyed but this period in Bengal served as the age of political films in India which was supremely influential for the struggle for Indian Independence. After 1947, The industry saw a new era of creative studio-system collaborators who made films under the name of Agradoot. This saw a renaissance of commercial films and musicals where stars like Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen mesmerized the audience with their captivating screen presence and subdued performances. Ritwick Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha, Mrinal Sen and Rituparno Ghosh were the other notable directors whose works influenced world cinema beyond an incomparable degree. The name of the industry was coined after the place Tollygunge, which also served as a cheeky tribute to Hollywood.
