Bollywood Trivia
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99 free Bollywood trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
43 free Bollywood trivia questions with answers. Bollywood is the world's most prolific film industry, and this quiz treats its 110-year history with the respect it deserves. Forty-three questions run from India's first feature film in 1913 and the first talkie in 1931, through Mother India, Mughal-e-Azam and Sholay, to the era of the three Khans, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge's record-breaking run, Lagaan's Oscar nomination, Dangal's China success and the night Naatu Naatu won an Academy Award. There are questions on the stars (Amitabh, Madhuri, Deepika, Priyanka, Sridevi), the playback legends (Lata, Asha, Kishore), the composers, the studios and dynasties (Yash Raj, Dharma, the Kapoors), the Filmfare Awards and the words themselves, from the origin of 'Bollywood' to what an item number is. A few deliberately test whether you know which blockbusters are not Hindi films at all. Every answer was checked against the Wikipedia articles on the films, people and institutions involved, and each question carries its source. No recycled listicle errors.
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Q 01The word 'Bollywood' is a blend of 'Hollywood' and the former name of which Indian city?
Bombay
Bollywood blends Hollywood with Bombay, the Hindi film industry's home city; Bombay was officially renamed in 1995, but the portmanteau, in use since the 1970s, stuck.
Q 02Which 1913 silent film is regarded as India's first full-length feature?
Raja Harishchandra
Raja Harishchandra, a silent telling of a truthful king's ordeal released on 3 May 1913, is counted as India's first full-length feature; its maker spent two weeks in London in 1912 learning the craft.
Q 03India's highest award in cinema is named after which pioneer?
Dadasaheb Phalke
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, instituted in 1969 and first given to Devika Rani, honours the 'father of Indian cinema', who made around 95 features and 27 shorts between 1913 and 1937, including Mohini Bhasmasur and Lanka Dahan.
Q 04Which 1931 film was India's first with sound?
Alam Ara
Alam Ara, released on 14 March 1931 at the Majestic Cinema, was India's first talkie; director Ardeshir Irani took his cue from the 1929 American part-talkie Show Boat, and the film's seven songs began the Hindi film-music tradition.
Q 05Which 1943 film was Indian cinema's first 'blockbuster', crossing one crore rupees at the box office?
Kismet
Kismet (1943), with Ashok Kumar as a pickpocket, was the first Indian film to gross a crore of rupees, running over three years at Calcutta's Roxy cinema; its song 'Door Hato Ae Duniya Walo' slipped anti-British feeling past the censors.
Q 06Which 1957 epic was the country's first Oscar submission and made the final five for the foreign-language prize?
Mother India
Mother India (1957), with Nargis as the village mother Radha, was India's first Oscar submission and made the final five, losing to Fellini's Nights of Cabiria; Sunil Dutt married Nargis after rescuing her from a fire on set.
Q 07Mughal-e-Azam (1960) tells the love story of Prince Salim and which courtesan?
Anarkali
Anarkali, played by Madhubala, is the court dancer whose romance with Prince Salim (Dilip Kumar) defies Emperor Akbar; the film stayed India's top grosser for 15 years, and its 'Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya' sequence was shot in Technicolor.
Q 08Which 1951 Raj Kapoor film and its title song became a sensation in the Soviet Union?
Awaara
Awaara (1951), with Raj Kapoor as a Chaplinesque tramp opposite Nargis, was a phenomenon in the Soviet Union, where 'Awaara Hoon' was sung in the streets and the film drew tens of millions of admissions.
Q 09Which 1959 Guru Dutt film was the first Indian production shot in CinemaScope?
Kaagaz Ke Phool
Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), about a director's decline, was the first Indian film shot in CinemaScope; it flopped so badly that Guru Dutt never officially directed again, though critics later reappraised it as a classic.
Q 10Which 1975 film's dacoit villain Gabbar Singh terrorises the village of Ramgarh?
Sholay
Danny Denzongpa was first choice for Gabbar but was busy; Amjad Khan prepared for the role by reading a book about Chambal bandits.
Q 11Which 1972 Kamal Amrohi film starred Meena Kumari as the courtesan Sahibjaan, weeks before her death?
Pakeezah
Pakeezah, Kamal Amrohi's long-gestating Muslim social, has Meena Kumari as the courtesan Sahibjaan; it opened on 4 February 1972 and she died of cirrhosis that March, turning the film into a box-office phenomenon.
Q 12Which 1973 film established Amitabh Bachchan as Bollywood's 'angry young man'?
Zanjeer
Zanjeer (1973), directed by Prakash Mehra, cast Amitabh Bachchan as the brooding Inspector Vijay after a string of flops, and the 'angry young man' persona it created carried him through the 1970s.
Q 13Which show, India's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, did Amitabh Bachchan first host in 2000?
Kaun Banega Crorepati
Q 21Which 1989 film gave Salman Khan his breakthrough leading role?
Maine Pyar Kiya
Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Sooraj Barjatya's romance with Bhagyashree, was Salman Khan's first lead and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut; Biwi Ho To Aisi a year earlier had been a supporting part.
Q 22Which reality show did Salman Khan begin hosting in 2010?
Bigg Boss
Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother, had Salman Khan as host from its fourth season in 2010, after Arshad Warsi, Shilpa Shetty and Amitabh Bachchan had fronted the first three.
Q 23Lata Mangeshkar became only the second singer to receive which honour, India's highest civilian award?
Bharat Ratna
Kaun Banega Crorepati, Hindi for 'Who will become a crorepati?', launched on Star Plus in 2000 with Amitabh Bachchan as host; he fronted the show for more than two decades, with only the 2007 season hosted by Shah Rukh Khan.
Q 14Which theatre became famous for running Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge for over twenty years?
Maratha Mandir, Mumbai
Maratha Mandir in Mumbai Central began screening Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge on its release in October 1995 and passed 1,000 weeks in December 2014, the longest run of any Indian film; it was Aditya Chopra's directing debut.
Q 15Which pair of characters do Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol play in DDLJ?
Raj and Simran
Shah Rukh Khan plays Raj Malhotra and Kajol plays Simran Singh in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, a romance between two NRIs who meet on a European rail trip before Raj follows her to Punjab to win her father over.
Q 16Which sport is at the centre of Lagaan (2001)?
Cricket
In Lagaan, villagers led by Aamir Khan's Bhuvan stake three years' land tax on a cricket match against the British garrison in 1893; Aamir Khan was initially sceptical about starring in a sports film.
Q 17Lagaan was nominated for which Oscar?
Best Foreign Language Film
Lagaan was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2002 Academy Awards, only the third Indian film ever nominated in the category, and lost to Bosnia's No Man's Land.
Q 18Which nickname does the media give Aamir Khan?
Mr. Perfectionist
Aamir Khan is the media's 'Mr. Perfectionist' for his reputation for obsessive preparation, such as the year-long physical build-up for Ghajini; King Khan is Shah Rukh, Bhai is Salman and Big B is Amitabh Bachchan.
Q 19Which two 1993 villain roles first made Shah Rukh Khan famous?
Baazigar and Darr
In one he murders his girlfriend, in the other he is an obsessive stalker; the roles broke the rule that a hero must be a hero.
Q 20Which IPL team does Shah Rukh Khan co-own?
Kolkata Knight Riders
Shah Rukh Khan bought the Kolkata Knight Riders with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta at the IPL's 2008 franchise auction; the team won the title in 2012, 2014 and 2024, and the group also owns the Trinbago Knight Riders.
Lata Mangeshkar received the Bharat Ratna in 2001, after M. S. Subbulakshmi in 1998 became the first singer so honoured; Lata recorded film songs in dozens of languages across seven decades.
Q 24Which playback singer replaced her older sister Lata as Guinness's most recorded artist?
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle was acknowledged by Guinness World Records in 2011 as the most recorded artist in music history, credited with over 11,000 songs; she and Lata were two of the five musical Mangeshkar siblings.
Q 25A. R. Rahman won two Academy Awards for the music of which 2008 film?
Slumdog Millionaire
A. R. Rahman won Best Original Score and, with lyricist Gulzar, Best Original Song for 'Jai Ho' at the 2009 Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire; his film career had begun with the Tamil film Roja in 1992.
Q 26How many Oscars did Danny Boyle's 2008 Mumbai-set film win in 2009?
Eight
Danny Boyle's film won eight of its ten nominations at the 2009 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and both of A. R. Rahman's music awards; co-director Loveleen Tandan called it a homage to Hindi cinema.
Q 27The Filmfare Awards began in 1954 under what original name?
The Clares
The first Filmfare Awards in 1954 were called the Clares, after Times of India film critic Clare Mendonca; Gregory Peck was invited as guest of honour but his flight from Colombo was delayed.
Q 28Which 1988 film, with the song 'Ek Do Teen', made Madhuri Dixit a star?
Tezaab
Tezaab (1988), N. Chandra's action drama, has Mohini forced by her father to dance for money; 'Ek Do Teen', choreographed by Saroj Khan, made its heroine a star opposite Anil Kapoor.
Q 29Deepika Padukone is the daughter of a champion in which sport?
Badminton
Deepika Padukone's father Prakash Padukone won the 1980 All England badminton championship; she was born in Copenhagen, played badminton at national level as a teenager, then turned to modelling before her 2007 debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan.
Q 30Which beauty pageant did Priyanka Chopra win in 2000 before entering films?
Miss World
Priyanka Chopra was crowned Miss World 2000 in London, the same year Lara Dutta won Miss Universe; her acting debut came in the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan, before her Bollywood debut in The Hero in 2003.