Bollywood is the popular name for the mainstream Hindi film industry based in Mumbai/Bombay, which each year produces around 800 films and sells 4 billion tickets. Historically Bollywood’s appeal has been based around family-friendly entertainment, with songs, elaborate dance sequences and heroic action scenes sprinkled across 180 minutes of escapist, tear-jerking melodrama.

Many involved in the industry, including Amitabh ‘The Big B’ Bachchan and Irrfan Khan (‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘Life of Pi’), feel the nickname ‘Bollywood’ has hindered the way Indian cinema is perceived internationally – as lowbrow and lacking credibility – and reflects an inferiority complex to Hollywood.