Kollywood is one of the three major film making industries in India along with Bollywood and Tollywood. Though Tamil cinema lacks the high budgets and wide distribution of Hindi cinema, it has enjoyed consistent popularity amoung Tamil speakers in India and Sri Lanka, as well as further afield in Singapore, Malaysia, and elsewhere. Tamil language films have recently become popular in Japan.

Tamil films have often been remade in other Indian languages, and thus have indirectly reached a much wider audience. Many Tamil films are dubbed into Hindi, including such hits as Sapnay and Bombay.

Famous people in Kollywood include Sivaji Ganesan, Rajnikant, Mani Rathnam, Kamal Hassan, Ilayaraja, and A.R. Rahman.

Long time Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran (MGR) was a well known actor in Kollywood.