Cinema of the Punjab

Punjabi cinema (Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਿਨੇਮਾ), commonly known as Pollywood is the Punjabi language film industry in the states of Punjab in India and Pakistan. While 20th-century Punjabi cinema had great influence of Pakistani-based Punjabi cinema, the 21st-century Punjabi cinema, due to its boom, has become synonymous with Indian Punjab.

The first Punjabi film was made in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and was released in Lahore, provincial capital of the then-British province of Punjab. The Lahore film industry is known as Lollywood, a portmanteau of the words Lahore and Hollywood.

As of 2009, the Punjabi film industry has produced between 900 and 1,000 films. The average number of releases per year in the 1970s was nine; in the 1980s, eight; and in the 1990s, six. In 1995, the number of films released was 11; it plummeted to seven in 1996 and touched a low of five in 1997. Since the 2000s Punjabi cinema has seen a revival with more releases every year with bigger budgets, homegrown stars, and Bollywood actors of Punjabi descent taking part.