Punjabi Cinema

Punjabi cinema ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਿਨੇਮਾ
PVR Cinemas at Silver Arc Mall, Ludhiana
Main distributors	Speed Records Studio 7 Production White Hill production Maan Films Gurfateh Films & Sippy Grewal Productions Basic Brothers Productions Surya Cinemas Dakssh Ajit Singh Wisdom Tree Pictures
Produced feature films (2014)
Total	50
Gross box office (2014)
Total	₹500 crore (US$74 million)
National films	₹450 crore (US$67 million)

Punjabi cinema (Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਿਨੇਮਾ), also known as Pollywood or Panjwood is the Punjabi language film industry of the Punjabi people of the world. 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 East 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.

K.D. Mehra made the first Punjabi "talkie" film, Sheela, also known as Pind Di Kudi, in 1935. Young Noor Jehan was introduced as an actress and singer in this film. Sheila was made in the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) and released in Lahore. It ran very successfully and was a hit across the province. Due to the success of this film more producers started making Punjabi films. K.D. Mehra made his second film, Heer Sial (1938), with the assistance of M.M. Billoo Mehra. This film had Noor Jehan and new artists Balo and M. Ismail. The film was commercially successful.

Due to the vast Punjabi community in Lahore and Punjab, the area soon became a significant Punjabi-language film market. Studios opened up and many artists, producers, directors, and technicians from Bombay and Calcutta shifted to Lahore. Prominent names were Shanta Apte, Motilal, Chandra Mohan, Hiralal, Noor Jehan, Mumtaz Shanti, Wali, Syed Attahullah Shah Hashmi, Krishna Kumar, and Shanker Hussain. Baldev Raj Chopra, later known as a director, got started in the movie industry in Lahore, where he ran a film magazine called the Cine Herald. Ramanand Sagar, also later a director, was associated with the Evening News. Syed Attahullah Shah Hashmi worked for the film newspaper Adakar.