Bollywood

Bollywood (Hindi: बॉलीवुड}}, Urdu: بالی وڈ) is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindustani language film industry in India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema. The name is a portmanteau of Bombay and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry. Though some purists deplore the name, arguing that it makes the industry look like a poor cousin to Hollywood, it seems likely to persist and now has its own entry in the Oxford English Dictionary. Bollywood is also commonly referred to as "Hindi cinema", even though Hindustani, the substratum common to both Hindi and Urdu, might be more accurate. The use of poetic Urdu words is fairly common. The connection between Hindi, Urdu, and Hindustani is an extremely contentious matter and is discussed at length in the linked articles relating specifically to the languages. There has been a growing presence of English in dialogue and songs as well. It is not uncommon to see movies which feature dialogue with English words and phrases, even whole sentences. A few films are also made in two or even three languages. Bollywood movies are equally as popular in Afghanistan as they are in India, if not more. And they have been since the film industry's inception, influencing the culture of this country. Bollywood productions are usually very colorful and fun, and include flashy shows that catch the audience's eye. All theatres across Afghanistan are saturated with Indian films with crowds often standing in lines for hours to purchase tickets. Though the range of selection of films from across the world is not limited in these cinemas, it is the flicks from India that win the larger share of audience numbers. The songs from Indian films are almost always chart toppers of Afghan radio stations with bestselling soundtracks of these films setting new music trends.