KOLKATA: There was a time when Bhojpuri movies were considered laughable, in its aesthetics and as a form of serious investment.That time, though, is long gone.The Bhojpuri movie industry popularly called Bhojiwood is a burgeoning behemoth, a Rs 2000 crore (and growing) industry that is fast moving past the likes of A Listers like Ravi Kishen and Manoj Tewari, and breaking fresh ground and creating new milestones. The production costs have increased and so have the production value in turn, the actors’ pay has been increased by as much as 20%- Even the highest grossers are raking in more than Rs 10 crores, something that had never been imagined, let alone be thought of!The growth in the Bhojpuri film industry, however, shouldn’t come across as massively surprising given the Bihar government’s enthusiastic support to scale up the industry to a grander level, by investing in a film city and organizing film festivals showcasing the industry’s creative output.“Manoj Tewari and Ravi Kishan are brands in industry and the sole runners of the show until 2014 till releases like Nirahua Hindustani, Patna se Pakistan came in the market in 2014-2015 and changed the market completely. Highest grosser started pooling in close to Rs 10 crores and the industry saw a turn around,” said Nishant Ujjwal, distributor and publicist for Bhojpuri film since 2008.According to Ujjwal, 2015 was the best year for Bhojiwood where total collections from the box office were close to Rs 35 crores followed by 2016 where collections were to the tune of Rs 30 crores from the 56 films produced.“From 2004 to 2014 Ravi Kishan and Manoj Tewari had ruled the industry but the market started falling post that and increase in production cost and quality films took over and with the help of digital platforms and national releases across the country helped us gain more popularity, “said Pravesh Yadav, actor and co-owner of Nirahua Entertainment.Dinesh stars in most of Nirahua’s blockbuster movies. Nirahua has made 8 films in the last 10 years they have been in business.“Film budgets have gone up from the Rs75 lakh-Rs100 crore mark to touch Rs2 crores. While local producers are scaling up their business, businessmen and Bihari expats from Nepal, Mauritius and Fiji islands have also injected a shot in the arm of the Bhojpuri Film industry by investing considerably in it, betting heavily on it to be successful,” said Abhay Sinha, owner at Yashi Films.Actors who have kept the cash flowing into the box office have kept their coffers filled as well. The leading actors in the industry that includes the likes of Pawan Singh Khesari Lal Yadav and Madhu Sharma, Amrapali Dubey, Kajal Raghwani when it comes to actresses have increased their remuneration by close to 50% charging approximately Rs50 lakhs per movie.Bam Bam Bol Raha Hai Kashi produced by Priyanka Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures, Dulhan Chahi Pakistan Se, produced by Rajkumar Pandey, Nirahua Entertainment’s Nirahua Rickshawala II were some of 2016’s blockbusters that grossed between Rs4 crores and Rs8 crores as box office collections.While Bhojiwood is waiting to cross their Rs10 crore mark in collections in 2017, they are also eagerly waiting for their International Bhojpuri Film Awards that has also doubled its budget from their last season in Dubai to be held in London towards the end of May this year.