Name: Tollywood takes on Indias cinematic powerhouse in Mumbai
Uploaded: 2025-11-28T16:49:19.845Z
Duration: 2 min 18 s
Description: India’s cinematic powerhouse Bollywood is known around the world for its Hindi-language musicals produced in Mumbai. But have you ever heard of Tollywood? It’s India’s rapidly expanding cinematic industry in the south.

India’s cinematic powerhouse Bollywood is known around the world for its Hindi-language musicals produced in Mumbai. But have you ever heard of Tollywood? It’s India’s rapidly expanding cinematic industry in the south.

Mumbai

Tollywood, the Telugu-language film industry based in Hyderabad, is emerging as a major force in Indian cinema, rivaling the long-dominant Bollywood. Known for its diverse genres and enthusiastic audience, Tollywood has gained international recognition through the works of director SS Rajamouli, whose films 'Bahubali' and 'RRR' have achieved global success, with 'RRR' winning an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2023.

Rajamouli's upcoming film 'Varanasi,' an adventure combining time travel and Hindu mythology, is set to further elevate Tollywood's profile. With a budget of around $150 million and scenes filmed in Kenya and Tanzania, 'Varanasi' is expected to be released in 2027, marking it as one of India's most expensive cinematic projects.

Tollywood takes on India's cinematic powerhouse in Mumbai

India's cinematic powerhouse Bollywood is known around the world for its Hindi language musicals produced in Mumbai. But have you ever heard of Tollywood? It's India's latest and rapidly expanding cinematic industry. But instead of Hindi its films are in Telugu, the language widely spoken in some of India's southern states. Telugu people have a lot of interest in movies. The Telugu audience watch and accept all kinds of movies. They're cinema lovers. Because they're cinema lovers, be it Bahubali, Pushpa or RRR, be it big budget or small budget, be it realistic or biopics or fantasy movies, the audience is accepted and this is a trait only with Telugu people. Tollywood primarily operates out of the southern city of Hyderabad. Its films often blend family, drama, action and mythology into a grand visual style. And leading the way is director SS Rajamouli, one of the industry's most prolific filmmakers. Much of Tollywood success has been credited to filmmaker SS Rajamouli. His larger than life heroes and imaginative filmmaking have catapulted the Telugu film industry on to the global stage with films like Bahubali and RRR. His RRR won an Oscar in original song category in 2023. Rajamouli's latest project Varanasi is an adventure film that combines time travel and Hindu mythology. Parts of the film was shot in Kenya and Tanzania. We set out to do something very big that we all are excited about and we just hope and pray that audiences across the world, you know, embrace it as well. With a budget of some 150 million dollars, Varanasi is one of India's most expensive films. It's expected to be released in 2027.

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