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The scope of this task force is to improve the quality and quantity of information on Wikipedia about Indian cinema, and raising the quality of already-existing articles.

Indian cinema may include domestic films, films made by Indian filmmakers abroad, films produced or co-produced by Indian companies, and foreign films shooting in India. However perWikipedia:WikiProject Film#Scope, this task force should not include articles about actors, directors and filmmakers. Those articles are covered by adding parameters for theActors and Filmmakers andScreenwriters projects accordingly.

A category tree can be foundhere.

Indian cinema task forceassessment statistics Indian cinema articles by quality and importance Quality Importance Top High Mid Low NA Other ??? Total FA 8 4 9 5 26 FL 1 10 18 72 6 107 A 1 1 GA 4 23 64 99 5 1 196 B 6 15 24 111 21 10 187 C 1 29 157 1,236 396 120 1,939 Start 2 48 344 10,919 1 3,331 956 15,601 Stub 6 93 8,959 653 277 9,988 List 1 197 338 1,330 260 53 2,179 Category 1,202 85 1,287 Disambig 70 6 76 File 18,698 32 18,730 Portal 53 53 Project 21 21 Redirect 3 12 428 519 141 1,103 Template 405 7 412 Other 3 3 12 18 Assessed 23 339 1,059 23,162 20,981 4,943 1,417 51,924 Unassessed 1 1 5 3 10 Total 24 339 1,059 23,163 20,981 4,948 1,420 51,934 WikiWork factors (?) ω =146,472 Ω = 5.25 worklist •log •category

Any article related to this task force should be marked by addingboth parameters to the project banners at the top of its talk page:

• |Indian-task-force=yes (or "Indian=yes") to{{WikiProject Film}}.
• |cinema=yes to{{WikiProject India}}.

This will automatically place it intoCategory:Indian cinema task force articles.

• Clean up unreleased future film articles atWikipedia:WikiProject Film/Indian cinema task force/Future films
• Tag articles.
• Recruit interested editors.
• Collect categories, resource links, and templates.
• Expand the open task listing above.
• Merge the information in thetask force notebook into the Announcements template above.
• Add things here!

• For main project templates, see the sidebar.
• Userbox:{{User Indian cinema task force}}
• Stub tag:{{India-film-stub}};{{Assamese-film-stub}};{{Bengali-film-stub}};{{Bhojpuri-film-stub}};{{Hindi-film-stub}};{{Kannada-film-stub}};{{Malayalam-film-stub}};{{Marathi-film-stub}};{{Tamil-film-stub}};{{Telugu-film-stub}}; further seeWikipedia:WikiProject India/Stub templates#Film stubs
• Footers:{{Cinema of West Bengal}} ((Tollywood(Bangla));{{Bollywood films}};{{Tamil cinema}};{{Tollywood films}};{{Cinema of Karnataka}};{{Malayalam films}};{{Marathi films}}
• Invite template to post on talk pages:{{IndianCTF_Invite}}

Place this template{{Cinema of India}}, at the bottom ofcore articles or categories about the Indian film industry. Please, do not transclude this template in Indian film and actor articles as it can be too generic, but only those articles/categories appearing in the template itself. Employ this template judiciously and not indiscriminately; if an article isstub-class with little content or if another template is already included, consider whether the addition of{{Cinema of India}} will improve and enhance the article. It will produce:

TheBollywood Star is awarded to Wikipedians with great contribution to articles related toBollywood. To award this barnstar to an editor, paste the following code on their talk-page and include a general message about their contributions to any article or area ofIndian cinema:

{{subst:Indian Cinema Barnstar|message ~~~~}}

TheSouth Indian Cinema Award is awarded to Wikipedians who tirelessly foster or contribute to the improvement of articles relating toIndian cinema, particularlySouth Indian cinema and its music.To award this barnstar to an editor, paste the following code on their talk-page and include a general message about their contributions to any article or area of Wikipedia that deals with South Indian cinema:

{{subst:South Indian Cinema Barnstar|message ~~~~}}

Both awards are listed onWP:WPPA under WikiProject Awards.

Indian film articles often lackconciseness. This is due sometimes to the over-enthusiasm of editors for the subject matter. It should be understood that such articles are intended to convey straightforward information about films to readers. The plot synopsis should observe a limit of 400-700 words, and it should include a full overview of the plot including the ending. The basic structure of a film article should follow theManual of Style for films. Articles on films should include a lead paragraph, infobox, and synopsis. SeeLage Raho Munna Bhai for an example of a featured Indian film article.

Please do not add hyperbole or subjective phrasing to describe films. Describing films as "super hit", "failure", "flop", or "declared as all-time blockbuster status" should be avoided at all costs. We are not here to gush over films or to mock them, we're here to present a neutral, academic overview. SeeWP:PEACOCK and ourpolicy on neutral point of view.

Mundane marketing techniques like television and public appearances, the release of first look posters, teasers and trailers are not noteworthy. SeeWP:TRAILER for guidance.

Please be circumspect when writing about film financials, as all Indian film financial details are based on tradeestimates and should not be taken as gospel. There is significant corruption surrounding these financial details and figures are often inflated and deflated by producers and competitors for various reasons of self-interest.Times of Indiabriefly discontinued their box office coverage for this reason. Keep in mind that an estimate that is a few hours more recent isn't necessarily more accurate, higher numbers aren't necessarily more accurate, and when in doubt, presenting a range is always an option. (Ex: "gross =₹30–40 million") Related, please stay focused on the big picture--we aren't here to track every aspect of a film's finances, only the most important broad strokes, which typically means budget andgross box office figures. Presenting information about nett gross, nett, and distributor share tend to clutter articles and make film finances difficult to compare to other films. Information about satellite and music rights sales, as well as tangential revenue streams, are not typically noteworthy. Seethis discussion.

Monetary conversion templates such as INRConvert should not generally be used in list type articles or infoboxes perthis consensus andthis discussion. The prevailing attitude was: 1) Converting to US dollars is arbitrary. 2) Default conversion templates create problems with inflation, Ex: where the gross from a 2008 filmis converted to the present year's US$ rate. 3) The inflation adjustment option in the template results in infobox clutter.

Articles on Indian actors and directors should be understood to fallprimarily under the control ofWikiProject Biographyguidelines. More specific guidance can be found at theActors and Filmmakers workgroup. Articles about living peoplemust strictly adhere to theBLP policy. Biography articles fall into a standard pattern of alead paragraph, followed by sections dedicated to background, career, personal life, awards, filmography, external links, and references. SeeSatyajit Ray for an example of a featured article about an Indian film director.

Articles on Indian musicians generally consist of the following sections: lead paragraph, background, career, awards, partial discography, external links and references.

Note also that biographies of living people must beimpeccably sourced. Any contentious or potentially contentious information needs to be attributed to areliable mainstream published source with anestablished reputation for fact-checking and accuracy. And with identity theft a major modern concern, personal information like birth names and birth dates need to be reliably sourced as well, as publishing this information based on personal knowledge, public records, etc., could potentially violate the subject's privacy. SeeWP:BLPPRIVACY.

If applicable, a comprehensive filmography, discography, or awards listing can be split off to a new article. These pages are expected to link into one another upon creation.

It should be noted that Wikipedia's rules on Image uploads areextremely strict, and all uploads must be accompanied by a comprehensivefair-use rationale.Help:Image is a good guideline that explains the process of uploading images and what needs to be completed.

Copyrighted images of actors, actresses and directors from websites all over the Internet aredisallowed and will be deleted. An easy rule-of-thumb to remember is: "If you don't know where it comes from, don't upload it."

Several editors have worked hard to make sure that all pictures used are acceptable for Wikipedia. One such strategy is to search for images of living people on an image-sharing site such asFlickr, where only images released under a Creative Commons 2.0 license are acceptable. In other words, the image must be released under a license that allows sharing and remixing of the work.

External links should follow the Wikipedia guideline onexternal links. Official websites of films or film actors are preferred over non-official websites. Fansites are often of low quality and feature commercial links. There are many sites for popular actors and linking to one makes it fair to link to all. Therefore a consensus is emerging that only links to the actor's official site and IMDB article are allowable, as well as content on reputable sites (BBC news interviews, etc.).

A list of feature films released in a particular year is separately maintained for each language. Do not add dubbed versions in these pages as the list is intended for original productions only. Mentioning notable deaths and award ceremonies should be avoided which instead may be added in the[YYYY] in film article. Web series / television series debuts are also excluded in the list of films article. A separate article for series meeting theWP:NLIST criteria may be created for this purpose. Seethis discussion.

• IMDb has a search function forIndian films but it's considered aquestionable source by the greater Film WikiProject. SeeWP:Citing IMDb.
• Perthis discussion, all box office gross values such as |gross= should use the{{Estimation}} template.
• This user essay is an excellent summary of the problems with paid/sponsored articles that is far too common on India-related sites.
• Perthis discussion, worldwide gross box office collection reported byBollywood Hungama andBox Office India should be used in infoboxes and list type articles. If unavailable, any of the other generally reliable sources listed below can be used.
• The sources termed as unreliable or blacklisted shouldnot be considered reliable sources. If an otherwise reliable source attributes information to an unreliable source then that information is likewise unreliable, perWP:FRUIT.Any "blog" of "blog"-type websites are also inherently considered as unreliable perWP:BLOGS.
• Even legitimate Indiannews organizations (print, television, and web) intermingle regular news withsponsored content andpress release–based write-ups, often with inadequate or no disclosure (seeWP:NEWSORGINDIA). Examples of such sponsored content include supplements published byThe Times of India; theSpecial section of theDaily Pioneer; theBrand Wire section ofABP Live; thePress Release News or theDigpu News Network sections ofFirstpost; theBusiness Spotlight section ofOutlook; theBrand Connect section ofForbes India; theBrand Solutions produced content onThe Indian Express, etc. Caution must be exercised while adding such contents and consult thereliable sources noticeboard when in doubt.

Legend

•   Generally reliable in itsareas of expertise: Editors showconsensus that the source isreliable in most cases on subject matters in itsareas of expertise. The source has a reputation for fact-checking, accuracy, and error-correction, often in the form of a strong editorial team. It will normally still be necessary to analyze how muchweight to give the source and how to describe its statements.
•   No consensus, unclear, or additional considerations apply: The source is marginally reliable (i.e. neithergenerally reliable norgenerally unreliable), and may be usabledepending on context. Editors may not have been able to agree on whether the source is appropriate, or may have agreed that it is only reliable in certain circumstances. It may be necessary to evaluate each use of the source on a case-by-case basis while accounting for specific factors unique to the source in question. Carefully review the Summary column of the table for details on the status of the source and the factors that should be considered.
•   Generally unreliable: Editors showconsensus that the source isquestionable in most cases. The source may lack an editorial team, have a poor reputation for fact-checking, fail to correct errors, beself-published, or presentuser-generated content. Outsideexceptional circumstances, the source should normally not be used, and it should never be used for information about aliving person. Even in cases where the source may be valid, it is usually better to find a more reliable source instead. If no such source exists, that may suggest that the information is inaccurate. The source may still be used foruncontroversial self-descriptions, and self-published or user-generated content authored by establishedsubject-matter experts is also acceptable.
•   Blacklisted: Due to persistent abuse, usually in the form ofexternal link spamming, the source is registered on thespam blacklist or theWikimedia global spam blacklist. Edits that attempt to add this source are automatically prevented on a technical level, unless an exception is made for a specific link in thespam whitelist.

Sources

Source	Status	Comments
123Telugu		Discussedhere andhere
Allindiansite.com
Amar Ujala		Discussedhere
Andhra Box Office
Andhra Cafe
Andhrakaburlu.com
Apunkachoice		Discussedhere
Asian News International (ANI)		SeeWP:RSPANI
Assamtimes.org		Discussedhere
auditionform.in
Behindwoods		Discussedhere andhere
Bengal Planet		Discussedhere
Bestoftheyear.con		Discussedhere
Bollymoviereviewz.com
Bollyspice.com
Bollywoodbubble.com
Bollywoodlife.com		Discussedhere
BollywoodShaadis.com		Discussedhere
Bollywoodsociety.com		Discussedhere
Bollywood Hungama byHungama Digital Media Entertainment
Box Office India (.com)		Also Discussedhere – Note that film budget figures at BoxOfficeIndia.com include print and advertising costs, so we should note that if we can't find a better source. Ex: {{small|Note: figure contains print and advertising costs}}[a]
Boxofficeindia.co.in		Site is down, but still referenced by many articles. Discussedhere
Boxofficeworldwide.com		Discussedhere
Business Standard
Business Today (business magazine) byLiving Media
Catch
Catchnews.com
Cinechicken		Discussedhere
Cinegoer.com		Discussedhere
Cinejosh		Discussedhere andhere
Cinema Express		Subsidiary of Indian Express
CNN-IBN's IBN Live
Cineserie.com		Discussedhere
Dailyhunt.com		Discussedhere
Dailymovieupdates.com
Daily News and Analysis by Zee Media Corporation
Deccan Chronicle
Deccan Herald
Desimartini		Discussedhere
Dina Thanthi		Do not use for box office figures as many of them were found to be inaccurate and promotional. Discussedhere.
Dinakaran bySun Group
Dreamdth.com
Filmfare
Film Companion		Discussedhere
Filmibeat.com		Oneindia's movie imprint was renamed FilmiBeat in 2014. Discussions:1,2
FilmyFocus.com		Filmy Focus has a disclaimer where they do not stand by the accuracy of their content:"Disclaimer".filmyfocus.com. 6 September 2019.Archived from the original on 4 January 2025. Retrieved5 February 2025.
Firstpost
Fullhyderabad.com		Discussedhere
Glamsham		Discussedhere
Greatandhra.com
Gulte		Discussedhere
Hindustan Times byHT Media
IMDb (Internet Movie Database)		SeeWP:IMDB
India.com byZee Media Corporation		Discussedhere. However, Zee News (zeenews.india.com) is a reliable source; see seperate entry below.
Indiablooms.com		Discussedhere
Indiaforums.com
Indiaglitz		Discussedhere andhere
Indiantelevision.com		Discussedhere
India Today byLiving Media		The Impact Feature section is sponsored content (seeWP:RSNOI) and DailyO is an opinion-orientated site run by India Today.
Indiatimes by The Times Group
Indiglamour.com
Indo-Asian News Service		Use parameter "agency=", Discussedhere
International Business Times byIBT Media		SeeWP:IBTIMES
Iwmbuzz.com		Discussedhere
Jan Bharat Times		Discussedhere
kelopravah		Discussedhere
KeralaDaily.com
Koimoi		Discussedhere,here,here,here
Latestly		Discussedhere andhere
Magna Publications
Mensxp		Discussedhere
Mid Day
Mint (newspaper) by HT Media
Movie Crow		Discussedhere andhere
Movienewz.in		Discussedhere
Mumbai Mirror by The Times Group;
Music Aloud		Discussedhere
Musicperk.com		Discussedhere
NDTV
News18 India byNetwork18 Group
Nettv4u.com
Nowrunning.com
Oneindia.in		Oneindia's movie imprint was renamed FilmiBeat in 2014.
Onlykollywood.com		Discussedhere
Quicklookfilms.com		Discussedhere
Outlook (Indian magazine) by Outlook Publishing India
Pinkvilla.com		SeeWP:PINKVILLA
Planetbollywood.com		Discussedhere
Press Trust of India
Radio Sargam
Ragalahari.com		Discussedhere
Rediff.com
Republic TV		SeeWP:REPUBLICTV
Sacnilk.com		Discussedhere
Sahi Nahi		Discussedhere
Screen (magazine)
Serialupdates.me
Sify
Spicyonion.com
Streamingdue.com
Televisionpost.com
TellyChakkar		Discussedhere
Tellydhamaal.com
Tellytadka.com
Tellyupdates.com
telugu.way2movies.com		Discussedhere
The Economic Times byThe Times Group
The Express Tribune byLakson Group
The Financial Express
The Hans India		Discussedhere andhere
The Hindu		SeeWP:THEHINDU
The Hindu Business Line by The Hindu Group
The Hollywood Reporter India		SeeWP:THR and discussedhere
The Indian Express byIndian Express Group		SeeWP:INDIANEXP
The Kolkata Mail		Discussedhere
The New Indian Express		Subsidiary of Indian Express
The News Minute
The Review Monk		Discussedhere
The Rural Press		Discussedhere
The Statesman
The Telegraph (India) byABP Group
The Times of India byThe Times Group		SeeWP:TIMESOFINDIA. Note thatWP:RSN considers Times of India to have a reliability between no consensus and generally unreliable (2024 RfC). Uncontroversial content such as film reviews are usable. SeeWP:RSP. Do not useTimes of India bio pages for details like birthdate and box office figures as many of them were found to be inaccurate and promotional.
Tracktollywood.com		Discussedhere
The Tribune
Tollywood.net		Discussedhere
Tupaki		Discussedhere
Upperstall.com
Way2movies.com		Discussedhere
Zee News (zeenews.india.com) owned byEssel Group &Zee Entertainment Enterprises		However, www.india.com isn't a reliable source; see seperate entry above.

Named after a legendary Indian filmmaker, theDadasaheb Phalke Award is a sub-award of the Indian government'sNational Film Awards. It is essentially a lifetime achievement award honouring a person's "outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema".^[1] This is a coveted award for filmmakers, and there is only one award issued each year. To capitalise on the Phalke name, some small organisations have adopted their own Dadasaheb Phalke awards, and when media outlets don't ask questions and just reprint press releases, we often see the "Dadasaheb Phalke" award erroneously attributed to actors/directors/composers and others who might not deserve the national prize. Some news organisations fail to make this distinction. Examples:

• In 2016,Mid-Day reported thatSooraj Pancholi won a best debut award at a Dadasaheb Phalke award organised by 90bids.com.
• In 2018,Times of India reported that 34-year-old Ranvir Singh was going to win the Dadasaheb Phalke award, when what he was presented with was theDadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award, an award issued by some other institution.
• In 2019, TimesNowNews, who inthis slideshow included a write-up of how the Phalke award is "India's highest honour in the entertainment sector", apparently did not notice that the event was an award handout for a two-year-old film festival named after Phalke, not for the actual national award.
• In 2019, ABPLive.in ran a headlinehere that a Bigg Boss 12 contestant was being given the award for "Best Entertainer – Reality Show".
• In 2019,International Business Times reported "Ram Charan's wife Upasana Konidela has been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the Philanthropist of the Year ... India's highest award in cinema presented at the National Film Awards ceremony." Clearly this is not the same award. Times of India this time clarifies Charan's award as the"Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award".
• By 2020, ABPLive.in still hadn't figured out what this award is, writinghere about the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards, "Presented annually at the 'National Film Awards' ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the 'Dadasaheb Phalke Award' is our country’s highest civilian award in the field of entertainment."
• In 2021,The Hindu's Businessline reported that Dhanush won "prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award (South)" for Best Actor.Gulf News said "South Indian stars Dhanush, Mohanlal win Dadasaheb Phalke Awards".Free Press Journal wrote "Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2020 ... The award honoured the individuals from the Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada film industries for their outstanding contribution towards the growth and development of cinema." None of these sources mention explicitly that this is related to the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival (DPIFF), which it apparently is, and Free Press Journal really makes it sound like the winners are taking home that government prize, in part because they're using virtually the same phrasing found atIndia's Directorate of Film Festivals.

So when adding this award to articles, we must be double, even triple-certain that we are talking about the actual National Film Awards' Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Some clues: Afilm can't win this award; aperson wins the award. Winners are typically older, because to make "outstanding contribution[s] to the growth and development of Indian cinema", you have to work hard for many years, not just be young, handsome, or pretty. You don't win the Dadasaheb Phalke Award forPhilanthropy or forMost Popular Actor orExtraordinary Work to Reform the Society via a Movie or"for the song 'God Your Lady' in the filmVishwadi" orMost Iconic Jodi. You win it plainly, with no classifications. There is only one, and they worked hard to get it.

Some similar-sounding awards that arenot the real award:

• Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards – seethis TOI article
• Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards – seeofficial website
  • Dadasaheb Phalke Awards South – launchingin 2019
  • Dadasaheb Phalke Icon Award - Possibly related to the International Film Festival Awards?[2]
• Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival Awards – seeofficial website
• Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award – seeexample
• Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards – seeFacebook page
• Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festial Awards South - seeexample
• Legends Dadasaheb Phalke Award - seeexample
• Dadasaheb Phalke icon Awards film - seeexample

See alsothis Hindustan Times article describing the confusion about these knock-off awards.

Please use the following format when adding works:

* <!-- bibliographical information -->** Content:*** <!-- optional content summary -->** Reviews: *** <!-- commentary on work by historians & other reputable sources -->** Editor comments: *** <!-- personal commentary by editors -->

A list of articles needing cleanup associated with this project is available. See alsothe tool's wiki page andthe index of WikiProjects.

WikiProject India

This project is a workgroup ofWikiProject India, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage ofIndia and India-related topics. If you would like to participate, please visit theproject page.

• WikiProject Film
• WikiProject Film task forces
• Indian cinema task force
• WikiProject India