The
cinema of West Bengal refers to the Indian
Bengali language film industry based in the
Tollygunge region of
Kolkata,
West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname
Tollywood, a
portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and
Hollywood, dates back to 1932. Although the industry's Gross Box-office is smaller, when compared to large market driven industries of the country such as
bollywood,
Telugu cinema, and
Tamil cinema, the Bengali film industry is known for producing many of
Indian cinema's most critically acclaimed global
Parallel Cinema and
art films, with several of its filmmakers gaining international acclaim, and prominence at the
Indian National Film Awards. Modern Bengali cinema is known for re-inventing the cinematic norms from the poetically theoretical to the in-your-face physical and romantic fantasies, that which is evident in the western world.