99 Fun Facts About Bollywood

The word 'Bollywood' is a blend of 'Hollywood' and the former name of which Indian city?

Bollywood blends Hollywood with Bombay, the Hindi film industry's home city; Bombay was officially renamed in 1995, but the portmanteau, in use since the 1970s, stuck.

Which 1913 silent film is regarded as India's first full-length feature?

Raja Harishchandra, a silent telling of a truthful king's ordeal, is counted as India's first full-length feature; its maker had gone to London in 1912 to study the craft at Cecil Hepworth's studio.

India's highest award in cinema is named after which pioneer?

Dadasaheb Phalke took up filmmaking after watching The Life of Christ and imagining Hindu gods on the screen instead; he is remembered as the father of Indian cinema.

Which 1931 film was India's first with sound?

Alam Ara opened on 14 March 1931 as India's first talkie and gave Hindi cinema its first film songs; no print is known to survive, making the landmark a lost film.

Which 1943 film was Indian cinema's first 'blockbuster', crossing one crore rupees at the box office?

Kismet (1943), with Ashok Kumar as a pickpocket, was the first Indian film to gross a crore of rupees, running over three years at Calcutta's Roxy cinema; its song 'Door Hato Ae Duniya Walo' slipped anti-British feeling past the censors.

Which 1957 Nargis epic was the first Bollywood film to earn an Oscar nomination?

Mother India cast Nargis as the village matriarch Radha and lost its Oscar to Fellini's Nights of Cabiria; co-star Sunil Dutt, who played her son, is reported to have rescued her from a fire on set, and they married in 1958.

Mughal-e-Azam (1960) tells the love story of Prince Salim and which courtesan?

Anarkali, played by Madhubala, is the court dancer whose love for Prince Salim enrages Emperor Akbar; in the film's twist on the legend he secretly lets her escape into exile while Salim believes her dead.

Which 1951 Raj Kapoor film and its title song became a sensation in the Soviet Union?

Awaara casts Raj Kapoor as a Chaplinesque thief who ends up on trial before a judge who is, unknown to both, his own father; in the Soviet Union it sold tens of millions of tickets.

Which 1959 Guru Dutt film, a flop now hailed as a classic, was India's first in CinemaScope?

Kaagaz Ke Phool, about a film director's decline, bombed so badly that Guru Dutt never took a directing credit again, though he went on producing and acting until his death in 1964.

Which 1975 film's dacoit villain Gabbar Singh terrorises the village of Ramgarh?

Sholay's makers first wanted Danny Denzongpa as Gabbar Singh, but he was committed to another film, so the part went to their second choice, Amjad Khan, and became his breakthrough.

Which 1972 Kamal Amrohi film starred Meena Kumari as the courtesan Sahibjaan, weeks before her death?

Pakeezah was years in the making: work stalled when Meena Kumari and director Kamal Amrohi, her husband, separated in 1964, and she returned to finish it before dying of cirrhosis weeks after the 1972 premiere.

Which 1973 film established Amitabh Bachchan as Bollywood's 'angry young man'?

Zanjeer (1973), directed by Prakash Mehra, cast Amitabh Bachchan as the brooding Inspector Vijay after a string of flops, and the 'angry young man' persona it created carried him through the 1970s.

Which TV show did Amitabh Bachchan begin hosting in 2000?

Kaun Banega Crorepati premiered in July 2000 with Amitabh Bachchan as host at a low point, after his company ABCL had gone bankrupt and creditors were pursuing him; the show's success helped revive his career.

Which theatre became famous for running Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge for over twenty years?

Maratha Mandir in Mumbai has screened the film since October 1995; in February 2015 it announced the run would end after 1,009 weeks, then agreed with the producers days later to keep it going.

Which pair of characters do Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol play in DDLJ?

Shah Rukh Khan plays Raj Malhotra and Kajol plays Simran Singh in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, a romance between two NRIs who meet on a European rail trip before Raj follows her to Punjab to win her father over.

Which sport is at the centre of Lagaan (2001)?

In Lagaan, villagers led by Aamir Khan's Bhuvan stake three years' land tax on a cricket match against the British garrison in 1893; Aamir Khan was initially sceptical about starring in a sports film.

Lagaan was nominated for which Oscar?

Best Foreign Language Film was the category: Lagaan was only the third Indian film to make its final five, and there was open disappointment in India when it lost to Bosnia's No Man's Land.

Which nickname does the media give Aamir Khan?

Mr. Perfectionist is the media's tag for Aamir Khan's dedication to his roles, such as the year he spent in the gym building his physique for Ghajini; the 'King of Bollywood' is Shah Rukh Khan and the 'Tragedy King' was Dilip Kumar.

Which two 1993 hits brought Shah Rukh Khan early acclaim for playing the villain?

Baazigar and Darr cast Shah Rukh Khan as a murderer and an obsessive stalker; Baazigar's producer had first approached established stars, who refused to risk their heroic image on a killer.

Which IPL team has Shah Rukh Khan co-owned since the league began in 2008?

Kolkata Knight Riders are owned by Shah Rukh Khan with Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta; in 2012 he was banned from Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium for five years after a row with security staff following a KKR match.

Which 1989 film gave Salman Khan his breakthrough leading role?

Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Sooraj Barjatya's romance with Bhagyashree, was Salman Khan's first lead after a supporting part in Biwi Ho To Aisi; its success saved the producers, Rajshri, who had been about to sell their office to pay debts.

Which reality show did Salman Khan begin hosting in 2010?

Bigg Boss, India's version of Big Brother, got Salman Khan as host from its fourth season in 2010; season two had been fronted by Shilpa Shetty, fresh from winning Britain's Celebrity Big Brother.

Which honour did Lata Mangeshkar receive in 2001, only the second singer so recognised?

Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, went to Lata Mangeshkar three years after M. S. Subbulakshmi became the first musician to receive it; her 'Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo' is said to have moved Prime Minister Nehru to tears.

Which playback singer replaced her older sister Lata as Guinness's most recorded artist?

Asha Bhosle was recognised by Guinness in 2011 as the most recorded artist in music history; at 16 she had eloped with Ganpatrao Bhosle, Lata's secretary, and her family cast her out.

A. R. Rahman won two Academy Awards for the music of which 2008 film?

Slumdog Millionaire won A. R. Rahman Oscars for Best Original Score and, with lyricist Gulzar, Best Original Song for 'Jai Ho', a tune first written for another film, Yuvvraaj, whose director passed on it.

Which Bollywood star played the host in Danny Boyle's 2008 Mumbai-set film?

Anil Kapoor played quiz master Prem Kumar after Shah Rukh Khan, who had hosted the real Indian show, turned the part down; it was Kapoor's first English-language film.

Which Bollywood awards were first presented in 1954 as the Clares, after a film critic?

The Filmfare Awards began as the Clares in memory of the late critic Clare Mendonça; Gregory Peck, flying in from a shoot in Ceylon, was due as guest of honour but arrived too late for the ceremony.

Which 1988 film, with the song 'Ek Do Teen', made Madhuri Dixit a star?

Tezaab (1988), N. Chandra's action drama, casts her as Mohini, a young woman made to dance to pay off her drunken father's debts; 'Ek Do Teen', choreographed by Saroj Khan, became the film's signature hit.

Deepika Padukone is the daughter of a champion in which sport?

Badminton made Prakash Padukone the first Indian to win the All England title, in 1980; his daughter Deepika played at national level as a teenager before giving it up for modelling and films.

Which beauty pageant did Priyanka Chopra win in 2000 before entering films?

Miss World 2000 was decided in London; Priyanka Chopra had only finished second at Femina Miss India, a contest her mother entered her in, yet took the global crown in the year Lara Dutta won Miss Universe.

Which 2016 film about the wrestling Phogat sisters became the highest-grossing Indian film to that date?

Dangal (2016) cast Aamir Khan as Mahavir Singh Phogat, who trained his daughters Geeta and Babita to wrestle; helped by a huge run in China, it grossed around ₹2,000 crore worldwide, the most of any Indian film at the time.

3 Idiots (2009) is loosely adapted from which Chetan Bhagat novel?

3 Idiots is loosely based on Chetan Bhagat's 2004 debut novel Five Point Someone, about three IIT students; Bhagat and the makers publicly fell out over how little credit the adaptation gave the book.

Which 2007 Farah Khan film reincarnates Shah Rukh Khan's 1970s film extra as a superstar?

Om Shanti Om kills Shah Rukh Khan's junior artist Om in a 1977 studio fire and brings him back as a star; a scene spoofing veteran actor Manoj Kumar so offended him that he pursued legal action, and Khan apologised.

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), a huge hit across India, was originally made in which language?

Telugu is the language of S. S. Rajamouli's Hyderabad-based industry; the sequel drew huge anticipation by promising to answer the cliffhanger that closed the first film: 'Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?'

In Indian cinema, what is an 'item number'?

A song inserted into a film regardless of the plot gives producers a catchy dance number to feature in the trailers and sell the film; its performer is known as an item girl or, more rarely, an item boy.

Which production house did the director of Deewaar and Kabhi Kabhie found in 1970?

Yash Raj Films was founded by Yash Chopra, who had started as an assistant to his elder brother B. R. Chopra before setting up on his own; its first production was Daag in 1973, and his son Aditya took charge in 2012.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) was the directing debut of which future Dharma Productions head?

Karan Johar directed Kuch Kuch Hota Hai at 26 after assisting Aditya Chopra on DDLJ; his father Yash Johar had founded Dharma Productions in 1976, and Karan took charge of it after Yash's death in 2004.

Who was the first member of Bollywood's most famous four-generation acting dynasty to act in films?

Prithviraj Kapoor left Peshawar's theatres for the film studios in 1928 on money borrowed from an aunt and started in bit parts; his sons Raj, Shammi and Shashi all followed him into the industry.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas (2002) starred Shah Rukh Khan alongside which two actresses?

Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit play Paro, the childhood sweetheart Devdas's family will not let him marry, and Chandramukhi, the courtesan who shelters him as he drinks himself to ruin.

Which 2011 road movie follows three friends on a bachelor trip across Spain?

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, directed by Zoya Akhtar, has each friend pick a dare for the trip: deep-sea diving, skydiving and running with Pamplona's bulls, with a re-created La Tomatina tomato fight along the way.

Which 1957 Guru Dutt film about a failed poet made Time magazine's All-Time 100 Movies list?

Pyaasa (1957) stars Guru Dutt as Vijay, a poet ignored until he is presumed dead, with Waheeda Rehman as the prostitute Gulabo; Time magazine placed it on its 2005 All-Time 100 Movies list.

Which 2023 Shah Rukh Khan comeback film, released on Republic Day weekend, grossed over 1,000 crore worldwide?

Pathaan, Shah Rukh Khan's first lead role in four years, drew objections from politicians over a saffron bikini in its song 'Besharam Rang', yet went on to gross over ₹1,000 crore worldwide.

Who composed the score of Mughal-e-Azam (1960), including 'Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya'?

Naushad's score for Mughal-e-Azam has Lata Mangeshkar singing 'Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya' and two pieces by classical maestro Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, coaxed into his only film playback work for a reportedly huge fee.

Who directed Lagaan (2001) and later Jodhaa Akbar (2008)?

Ashutosh Gowariker, who began as an actor, first took the Lagaan idea to Aamir Khan, who turned it down and tried to talk him out of it; Khan later agreed to star and, with no other backer, to produce it.

Which Hindi phrase do Indian filmgoers use to praise a crowd-pleaser that delivers everything they came for?

Paisa vasool means the ticket money has been recovered, vasool being the word for collecting what is owed; the verdict goes to films that repay the price with songs, dances, comedy and thrills.

Which screenwriting duo launched the 'angry young man' genre in the early 1970s?

Salim–Javed, Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, also fought for writers' billing: denied a credit on a hit's posters, they had 'Written by Salim–Javed' painted onto them across the city.

Which suave star of the 1950s modelled his screen persona on Hollywood's Gregory Peck?

Dev Anand admitted imitating Gregory Peck as a young actor and went on to meet his idol several times, though he insisted he had outgrown the imitation and built a persona of his own.

Which star of Aradhana and Amar Prem is often called Hindi cinema's first superstar?

Rajesh Khanna ruled the box office from 1969, with fans kissing his car and sending him letters written in blood, until Amitabh Bachchan's angry young man eclipsed him later in the 1970s.

Which Indian classical star composed the music for Neecha Nagar, joint Grand Prix winner at the first Cannes festival?

Ravi Shankar scored Neecha Nagar, a 1946 drama of rich against poor, some twenty years before his friendship with the Beatles' George Harrison made him a global name.

Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chaddha (2022) is an official remake of which Oscar-winning Hollywood film?

Forrest Gump took years to reach Bollywood: Atul Kulkarni wrote the Hindi script about a decade before Aamir Khan finally secured the remake rights in 2018.

Which Bollywood actor played the villain Mola Ram in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)?

Amrish Puri so impressed Steven Spielberg that the director often said in interviews, "Amrish is my favorite villain."

Which American R&B star sang 'Chammak Challo' for Shah Rukh Khan's 2011 superhero film Ra.One?

Akon had never worked with Indian artists before, and the soundtrack also carried an international version of the song sung by him alone.

Which cooking term names Bollywood films that blend action, comedy, romance and melodrama in one story?

Masala films take their name from the spice mixtures of Indian cooking, and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) is a landmark of the genre.

Which Bollywood actor played the adult Pi Patel in Life of Pi and the park's owner in Jurassic World?

Irrfan Khan also won India's National Film Award for Best Actor for Paan Singh Tomar, playing a real-life athlete who turned outlaw.

In which 2009 film does Amitabh Bachchan play the 12-year-old son of his real-life son Abhishek?

Paa cast Amitabh Bachchan as a boy with the rare ageing disorder progeria, under prosthetic make-up that took hours to put on. The role won him a National Film Award.

Which 2000 comedy features Paresh Rawal as Baburao Ganpatrao Apte, a debt-ridden garage owner and landlord?

Hera Pheri is a remake of the 1989 Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking, and it has grown into a cult classic of Indian comedy.

Which 2003 Bollywood film features a friendly alien named Jadoo, summoned by a dead scientist's computer?

Koi... Mil Gaya was one of the first Indian films to feature aliens, and Jadoo proved popular enough to get a spin-off TV series of his own.

In which 2007 film does Shah Rukh Khan play a disgraced ex-captain who coaches the women's national hockey team?

Chak De! India grew out of a brief news article about the Indian women's team winning at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Which 2007 film, Aamir Khan's directorial debut, follows a boy whose art teacher spots his dyslexia?

Taare Zameen Par, whose title means 'Stars on the Earth', was chosen as India's official Oscar entry but missed a nomination.

Which 2001 film, Farhan Akhtar's directorial debut, sends college friends Akash, Sameer and Sid on a road trip to Goa?

Dil Chahta Hai won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, though it sold far better in India's cities than in rural areas.

Vishal Bhardwaj's Haider (2014), set in conflict-torn Kashmir, is a modern adaptation of which Shakespeare tragedy?

Hamlet became the third part of Bhardwaj's Shakespeare trilogy after Maqbool and Omkara, with the prince recast as a student poet searching for his vanished father.

Which 2008 Aamir Khan thriller, a remake of a 2005 Tamil film, launched Bollywood's '100 Crore Club'?

Ghajini gives its hero a memory that resets every 15 minutes, so he tracks his revenge with photographs, notes and tattoos on his body.

Which poet-lyricist, director of Aandhi and Maachis, shared an Oscar with A. R. Rahman for the song 'Jai Ho'?

Gulzar, born Sampooran Singh Kalra, took small jobs in Mumbai to get by as a young man, including one at a motor garage.

Which 1982 Mithun Chakraborty film, with the song 'Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja', became a huge hit in the Soviet Union?

Disco Dancer reached Soviet cinemas in 1984 and sold about 60 million tickets, more than any other film there that year.

Which actor, born Muhammad Yusuf Khan in Peshawar, became known as Hindi cinema's 'Tragedy King'?

Dilip Kumar grew up in the same Peshawar neighbourhood as his childhood friend Raj Kapoor, and Pakistan later declared his family home a national heritage monument.

Which star of Anand and Haathi Mere Saathi is regarded as the first superstar of Hindi cinema?

Rajesh Khanna set off a fan frenzy in the early 1970s, when female admirers sent him letters written in their own blood.

What nickname is given to the statuette handed to winners at Bollywood's annual Filmfare Awards?

The Black Lady depicts a woman with her arms raised in a dance pose and her fingers touching.

Which 2018 thriller stars Ayushmann Khurrana as a Pune pianist caught up in the murder of a retired film actor?

Andhadhun has its hero fake blindness as an artistic experiment, a lie that traps him once he stumbles onto a crime scene.

Which 2019 Zoya Akhtar film stars Ranveer Singh as an aspiring street rapper from Mumbai's Dharavi slums?

Gully Boy was inspired by the real Mumbai rappers DIVINE and Naezy, and the American rapper Nas signed on as an executive producer.

Which 2012 comeback film stars Sridevi as a laddoo-selling homemaker who joins a language class in New York?

English Vinglish ended Sridevi's 15-year break from acting, and its heroine pays for her lessons with secret savings from her sweets business.

Which Kangana Ranaut film follows a jilted Delhi bride who takes her honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam alone?

Queen won Kangana Ranaut the National Film Award for Best Actress, and it was named Best Hindi Film at the same ceremony.

Which 2013 Ritesh Batra film, starring Nimrat Kaur as a Mumbai housewife, won a viewers' choice award at Cannes?

The Lunchbox hinges on a rare slip in Mumbai's meal-carrying network, which takes a housewife's cooking to a widowed accountant about to retire.

Which 2018 Sanjay Leela Bhansali epic was retitled before release after protests by groups such as the Karni Sena?

Padmaavat was originally titled Padmavati, and India's film certification board cleared it only with the new name and several added disclaimers.

Which 2015 film stars Salman Khan as a man escorting a lost, mute six-year-old girl home to Pakistan?

Bajrangi Bhaijaan cast the newcomer Harshaali Malhotra as Shahida, the girl stranded in India, and it was the year's highest-grossing Indian film.

Which action star of Singham and Drishyam married Kajol in a traditional Maharashtrian ceremony in 1999?

Ajay Devgn made his entrance in the opening scene of his 1991 debut by doing a split while balanced between two motorcycles.

Which star, dubbed the 'Elvis Presley of India', shot to fame in the 1960s with the hit Junglee?

Shammi Kapoor reportedly never needed a choreographer, composing his own dance steps, and he went on to found the Internet Users Community of India.

Which composer of the Amar Prem and 1942: A Love Story soundtracks was known by the nickname Pancham?

R. D. Burman is said to have earned the name as a baby, either because his cries sounded like Pa, the fifth note of the Indian scale, or because he kept repeating that syllable.

Which Rangoon-born performer got her big break with the song 'Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu' in Howrah Bridge (1958)?

Helen escaped the Japanese occupation of Burma as a small child, when her family trekked to Assam in 1943.

Which 2007 Imtiaz Ali romance pairs a heartbroken businessman with Geet, a talkative Punjabi stranger on his train?

Jab We Met won Kareena Kapoor the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, and Imtiaz Ali took the prize for Best Dialogue.

Which 2006 sequel, about a Mumbai gangster who sees visions of Mahatma Gandhi, popularised the term 'Gandhigiri'?

Lage Raho Munna Bhai became the first Hindi film shown at the United Nations, screened in its auditorium in November 2006.

Which 2006 Bollywood film follows a group of young men cast as freedom fighters in a British film student's documentary?

Rang De Basanti won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film, and Indian media began using the phrase 'RDB effect' for bursts of public activism.

Which 1998 Mani Ratnam film has Shah Rukh Khan dance to 'Chaiyya Chaiyya' on the roof of a moving train?

Dil Se.. filmed the number on top of the Nilgiri Express on its way to Ooty, with Malaika Arora dancing beside the star and the train painted brown for the shoot.

Which 'Khiladi' star studied martial arts in Bangkok, where he also worked as a chef and waiter?

Akshay Kumar earned a black belt in taekwondo in India before learning Muay Thai in Thailand, and his 1992 hit Khiladi gave him his media nickname.

Which 2023 action thriller, Tamil director Atlee's Hindi debut, stars Shah Rukh Khan in a dual role as father and son?

Jawan grossed over ₹1,100 crore at the box office, which made it the highest-grossing Indian film of 2023.

Which Kiran Rao comedy, India's entry for the 97th Academy Awards, has two veiled brides swapped on a train?

Laapataa Ladies, released abroad as Lost Ladies, turns on a custom of brides travelling in identical red outfits with their faces hidden behind a veil.

Which 2018 horror comedy, set in the town of Chanderi, features a spirit who abducts men during a festival?

Stree grew out of Nale Ba, an urban legend whose name means 'come tomorrow' in Kannada, and its townsfolk paint a similar plea on their walls.

Which 2004 film stars Shah Rukh Khan as a NASA project manager who builds a small hydroelectric plant for a village?

Swades names its hero Mohan, a nod to Mahatma Gandhi's birth name, Mohandas.

While filming which 1983 Manmohan Desai release did Amitabh Bachchan suffer a near-fatal injury in a fight scene?

Coolie freezes the frame at that moment in its final cut, with a message marking the shot, and the ending was rewritten so that the hero survives.

Which star of Dhoom 2 and Guzaarish was born with an extra thumb fused to the one on his right hand?

Hrithik Roshan has also spoken openly about a childhood stammer, which led him to fake illness and injury to dodge oral tests at school.

Which star directed, produced and was the only actor seen on screen in the 1964 Hindi film Yaadein?

Sunil Dutt's one-man film earned an entry in Guinness World Records for the fewest actors in a narrative film.

Which Sunny Deol Partition drama opened on the same day as Aamir Khan's Lagaan in June 2001?

Gadar: Ek Prem Katha follows a Sikh trucker and his Muslim wife, separated when her family takes her to Pakistan, and it drew more than 50 million admissions in India.

Which singer of the Aashiqui (1990) soundtrack entered Guinness World Records by recording 28 songs in one day?

Kumar Sanu set the record in 1993, while winning the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer every year from 1991 to 1995.

Which pioneer of India's parallel cinema directed Manthan (1976), a film crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers?

Shyam Benegal's drama about a milk cooperative was paid for by the farmers themselves, each of whom donated two rupees.

Which Bollywood costume designer became the first Indian to win an Academy Award, for the 1982 film Gandhi?

Bhanu Athaiya shared the Oscar with John Mollo, and in 2012 she returned the trophy to the Academy, fearing her family could not look after it once she was gone.

Which star of Mahal (1949) was described by an American magazine in 1952 as 'the biggest star in the world'?

Madhubala earned the line from Theatre Arts Magazine, which counted her potential audience across the 420 million people of India and Pakistan.

Which Bollywood actor played villains so convincingly that parents are said to have stopped naming sons after him?

Pran was named 'Villain of the Millennium' at the Stardust Awards in 2000, though colleagues in the film industry knew him as 'Pran Sahab'.

Which star of Deewaar and Amar Akbar Anthony was the first Bollywood actor on the cover of Time magazine?

Parveen Babi made the front of Time in July 1976, and she went on to appear in over 70 films as one of the best-paid actresses of her day.

Which playback singer, the screen voice of Raj Kapoor, sang 'Mera Joota Hai Japani' in Shree 420 (1955)?

Mukesh died of a heart attack in 1976 in Detroit, where he had travelled to perform in a concert.

Which Bollywood comic actor of the 1950s was working as a bus conductor when the film world discovered him?

Johnny Walker was named after the Scotch whisky for his drunkard routine, yet he was a teetotaller who claimed never to have drunk alcohol in his life.