Bombay (Reuter) — The motion picture industry 

in this undisputed film capital of India

 turns out three to four new films 

a week and many people here see everyone of them. 

Bombay is overwhelmed with huge posters and 

advertising the latest releases and featuring 

excellently drawn likenesses of the stars. 

Most do not carry their names, because

 they are so well known here it

 would be almost an insult . 

Most Bombay productions follow 

the standard formula of popular 

Hindi melodrama with songs, dances, 

romance, a large slice of fantasy and 

violent passion — but not too violent. 

The industry is bogged down with

 many taboos and several actions

 from kissing to drinking, are banned

 from the screen. 

Outside the fantasy world,

 life is hard for more serious

 film-maker. Even as renowned an

 artist as Satyajit Ray, probably the 

best-known Indian director abroad, 

has trouble getting as showing for

 his work in India. 

Nonetheless, the cinema has become one

 of Bombay's major industry, employing 

an estimated 20,000 peoples. 

But rising costs and uncrowded

 market have forced some of the best-known

 studies here and in Madras, the country's

other film metropolis, out of business. 

The government has also taken a 

closer intrest in the industry, its 

lavish expenditure and its standard, 

since imposing a state of internal 

emergency a year ago. 

At least 500 films a year are produced

 in India. Madras last year accounted

 for some 250 of these, Bombay, more than

 150 and Calcutta, about 30. Many of them

 run for only a few days and there makers

 are never heard from again. 

But India has also just witnessed its

 first $10 million money-spinner, 

Sholay (Flames) which has astounded

 everyone with its success, grossing more

 than triple the income of any previous film. 

It is still playing packed houses around

 the country, with two different endings 

already used and talk of a third being written in. 

Popular known as " curry western " . It

 is also the first  70-mm epic made 

here and seems certain to establish a

 trend for more films of the same kind. 

It runs for 3 ½ hours and featured spectacular

 photography and some good acting as it

 recounts the exploits of a dacoit (bandit) gang

 and his eventual annihilation. 

Its hero is Dharmendra, the most popular

 super star of India and Hema Malini, a leading

 actress, in what remains a male-dominated world. 

Even Sholay's action is slowed by the

 inevitable songs and dances. But film-makers

 here hope that with editing and an English

 soundtrack, it could become the first 

Indian film to make major impact on 

Western audiences.