The Boom In Regional Films; India's economic prosperity is scripting an unlikely story: The market for regional films has come roaring back, with Bhojpuri to Tamil to Punjabi to Telugu movies raking in record moolah at the box office

The Bhojpuri industry is not the only one that's tasting success. Here's a quick quiz. In which language were the most films produced in India in 2006? No, it's not Hindi. The answer-Telugu. "Of the 1,091 movies produced in India last year, 245 were made in Telugu, 223 in Hindi and 162 in Tamil," reveals Sen. Basically, only one in every five movies made in India is churned out by Bollywood. And it's just not the volume of regional movies being made that's astonishing. The Telugu industry registered its biggest hit ever with Pokkiri, which raked in close to Rs 40 crore in box office collections. In fact, industry association FICCI had valued the Indian film industry at Rs 6,800 crore in 2005. The industry is projected to grow at CAGR of 18 per cent to Rs 15,300 crore by 2010. "It would be safe to assume that the size of the regional film industry today would be about 55-60 per cent of the total Indian film industry," says a leading film analyst. That means regional film industry revenues of Rs 4,400 crore in 2006. Evidently, regional Indian cinema has achieved in the past three years what every corporate in India also has on its wish list-attract funds, hire and retain fresh talent and go global. But things weren't always this good. For Bhojpuri cinema, for instance, the 90's were a horrific period. Less than 20 movies were being made a year, and most of them flopped. 2004 was a watershed year with superhit movies like Panditji Bataai Na Biyah Kab Hoyee and Sasura Bada Paisewala. The success of these films opened up a market, which led to a spate of first-time producers thronging to make Bhojpuri movies. Like Sudhakar Pandey, who has produced hit Bhojpuri movies such as Sasura Bada Paisewala, and Daroga Babu I Love You. "I had a shaukh (hobby) for music. And I used to produce Bhojpuri music albums with popular singers like [Manoj Tiwari]. These albums used to cost Rs 10-15 lakh to make. And then, I realised that it was possible to make a Bhojpuri film for Rs 30-35 lakh. That's how I got into movies," says Pandey, who used to be in the 'clearing and forwarding business' before making a plunge into movie production in 2002. According to industry watchers, in 2006 alone, Rs 90 crore worth of Bhojpuri movies were produced-up from about Rs 55 crore in 2005. In fact, liquor baron Vijay Mallya is said to be bankrolling a Bhojpuri movie, even as Balaji Telefilms is remaking Hindi blockbuster Sholay in Bhojpuri with yesteryear matinee idol Jeetendra playing Thakur.