Amateurish, thieving bastards churning out tons of crappy movies that no one except the South Asians and the Indian diaspora watch.

That’s what comes to mind when we see a reference to Bollywood.

But there are plenty of folks for whom Bollywood represents the ne plus ultra of entertainment.

For these millions, Hrithik Roshan and the Pak-loving Chutiya Shahrukh Khan are the presiding deities and Mallika Sherawat and Namitha their wank-off goddesses.

So, love it or hate it, Bollywood is here to stay.

A Matter of Definition
When non-Indians refer to Bollywood, they refer to Indian movies in general.

But the reality is a bit more complex.

Within India, Bollywood refers primarily to Hindi language films (these enjoy pan-Indian appeal) while regional language films (Tamil, Telugu et al) hold sway only in pockets of the country.

Bollywood – By the Numbers
For all ye Bollywood-crazed folks, here are some interesting statistics for you to chew on:

* Movie Tickets (all languages) sold in 2009 – 3.2 billion

* Ticket sales (all languages) –  Rs 87.8 billion

* Projected Ticket sales in 2013 – Rs 130 billion ($3 billion)

* Indian film industry revenues (2008) – Rs 107 billion
Projected annual growth rate to 2013 – 11.5%

* No of Hindi and regional language films released in India (2008) – 1,325

* Hollywood films released in 2008 – 463

* No of Bollywood (Hindi) movies released in 2009 – 242

* No of Bollywood (Hindi) movies released in 2008 – 229

* Average ticket price in India – Rs 25 (55 cents)

* No of Multiplexes in India – Over 800

* Box-office receipts from regional language films (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bhojpuri et al) – Rs 15.1 billion

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Netscribes, KPMG cited in Bloomberg article

Even if 3.2 billion movie tickets were sold last year, as long as clowns like Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Ajith, Trisha et al and thieves like Venkat Prabhu, Sajid Khan and Murugadoss rule the roost the Indian film industry will remain a joke for non-desi movie-lovers.

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Bollywood – Some Interesting Statistics