Gujarati cinema

Gujarati Cinema
No. of screens731 (2022)[1]
Main distributorsCineMan Productions
Coconut Motion Pictures
Produced feature films (2019)
Total80
Narsinh Mehta (1932) was the first full-length Gujarati talkie.

Gujarati cinema, also known as Dhollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Gujarati language widely spoken in the state of Gujarat. It is based in Ahmedabad. It is one of the major regional and vernacular film industries of the cinema of India, having produced more than one thousand films since its inception.

During the silent film era, many individuals in the industry were Gujaratis. The language-associated industry dates back to 1932, when the first Gujarati talkie, Narsinh Mehta, was released. Until the independence of India in 1947, only twelve Gujarati films were produced. There was a spurt in film production in the 1940s focused on saint, sati[A] or dacoit stories as well as mythology and folktales. In the 1950s–1960s, the trend continued with the addition of films on literary works. In the 1970s, the Government of Gujarat announced a tax exemption and subsidies which resulted in an increase in the number of films, but the quality declined.

After flourishing through the 1960s–1980s, the industry saw a decline through 2000 when the number of new films dropped below twenty. The Gujarat state government announced a tax exemption again in 2005 which lasted until 2017. The industry has been partially revived in the 2010s due first to rural demand, and later to an influx of new technology and urban subjects in films. The state government announced a policy of incentives in 2016.

Indian cinema
  1. ^ Vinayak, A. J. (28 September 2022). "Why films from the South set the box office on fire". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  2. ^ Dasa, Syamasundara (1965–1975). Hindi sabdasagara. New Edition (in Hindi). Kasi: Nagari Pracarini Sabha. p. 4927.
  3. ^ Hawley, John Stratton (8 September 1994). Sati, the Blessing and the Curse: The Burning of Wives in India. Oxford University Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-19-536022-6.


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