The Cinema of Karnataka, sometimes colloquially referred to as Kollywood encompasses movies made in the Indian state of Karnataka. Most of the movies are made in the Kannada language, with a handful of them in Konkani or Tulu.

Music directors who have made their mark in Kannada films include R. Ratna, M. Venkata swamy, M. Ranga Rao, G. K. Venkatesh, Ilaiyaraaja, Vijaya bhaskar, the duo Rajan-Nagendra, Upendra Kumar, Sathyam, C. Aswath, Hamsalekha, Gurukiran, T.G. Lingappa, Mano Murthy, Harikrishna and Anoop Seelin. Lyrics of Kannada film songs have been penned by Chi. Udayashankar, R.N. Jayagopal, Hamsalekha, Jayanth Kaykini and Doddarange Gowda among others.

Playback singers in Kannada films include S.P.Balasubrahmanyam , Dr. K.J. Yesudas, P.B. Sreenivas, Rajesh Krishnan, Anoop Seelin, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala, Shreya Ghosal, Sunidhi Chauhan, B.R. Chaya, Pallavi, Priyadarshini, Nandita, S. Janaki and P. Susheela. Dr.Rajkumar, has however sung numerous songs in those movies where he himself has starred as the hero, starting from the mid 1970's.

Cinema of Kerala or Malayalam cinema refers to films made in the Indian state of Kerala in the Malayalam language. Malayalam movies typically portray social or family issues and are considered more realistic and highbrow than Bollywood movies.

In spite of the movies' relatively low budgets, Malayalam cinema has pioneered various technical, thematic and production techniques among films in India. The first 3-D film produced in India, My Dear Kuttichathan (1984), was made in Malayalam. The first CinemaScope film produced in South India was Thacholi Ambu (1978)