Santali cinema has its presence in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, parts of Nepal, Jhapa District, and Morang District, where the Santhal people live. Santali is the language in which Santali films are made.
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History
Although some initiatives have been taken to support Santali cinema, allowing it to prosper, only three films to date have managed to make it to the big screen As of 2013. Chando Likhon which was released in 2001, was the first film to be made on 35 mm; second in this series was Sagun Ena Sohag Dular (2003), the story of which was loosely on the Bollywood film Nadiya Ke Paar. Jewee Jurie (Life Partner) (2009), produced by SBT Movie Craft was released widely in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa & other states.
Overview
Santali cinema has not been able to create an identity as a film industry like most other cinema's in India. Every year about 8 to 10 films are made, and are released directly, on CDs only. None of them are released in cinema halls, due to low budget and least support of state government in development of the cinema. Music albums are preferred over video films, as the budget is very low and production cost is easily recovered. The number of these ranges from 10 to 20. Santali cinema has a good scope in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam and Orissa as the majority of its viewers reside in these regions.
Present status
As there is no film development corporation in Jharkhand, the Santali film industry is not in a remarkable position, and due to this, films and music albums are made less in number & distributed inefficiently, due to cost and other reasons.
Jharkhand, Dhanbad and their surroundings, don't have proper cinema halls and ticket prices are very low compared to multiplexes all over India. So releasing a film in cinema halls is not very profitable.