Unity in diversity is what describes India and the intermingling of divergent factors too shapes Entertainment in India. External invasions, culture and tradition of the indigenous tribal folks along with socio- economic and political upsurges, shapes the mode of its entertainment so rich and extravagant. Music and drama are part and parcel, thus juxtaposing past heritage with the modern trends. Movies are the popular and one of the old forms of entertainment in India. The amusement that the Indian television provides is a recent phenomenon, thus subsiding all other modes in terms of its audience acceptance and variety.

Music
Music is the one of the main sources of entertainment in India. Indian music is robust and varied thus inculcating the musical melodies from the folk society and popular `mass` music. In popular, the musicians brought about a medley of classical richness with the vibrancy and dynamism of desi music. Film music is an integral part of popular music, widely popular among people of varied age, race and class. It is a popular saying that it had started its journey in the year 1931, with the release of Ardeshir M. Irani`s Alam Ara and its popular soundtrack.

Indian folk music is diverse because of India`s vast cultural diversity. It has many forms including bhangra, lavani, dandiya and Rajasthani. Most of the Indian folk music is sung along with majestic dance forms, thus increasing the tempo of entertainment to its audiences. Musical instruments like dholak, bansuri, ektara , often are used during the performance.

The genre of Indian classical music, though dissimilar from the above-mentioned forms, had acceptance among a section of Indian population. It can be sectioned into two types- Carnatic and Hindusthani music-highly embellished due to its royal patronage as well as spiritual and religious practices. Ragas and talas are integral part of both the genres. Hindustani classical music has been derived as a type of meditation. Carnatic music is entirely musical and sung orally, with spontaneous variances.

Drama
Drama forms a significant mode of Entertainment in India. Indian drama is quite old and diverse in form. Classical theatre traditions especially Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, have rich heritage. Folk theatre is lively and is prevalent in all Indian languages. In addition, there is a rich tradition of puppet theatre in rural India. The Sangeet Natak Akademi located in Delhi has performed the role of sponsoring, research, dissemination, appreciation and patronage of the performing arts. The National School of Drama also located in Delhi teaches stage direction, acting and related subjects.

Cinema
Indian Cinema has become a unique icon of culture as well as entertainment in India. Indian film industry is the largest one , releasing more than thousand movies every year. Apart from producing mainstream cinema India too produces high-minded Indian art cinema, known to film critics as "New Indian Cinema" or sometimes "the Indian New Wave . Every region is productive in making movies in the regional languages. Bombay film industry , imitating the name Hollywood is popularly called Hollywood and is the most popular not only in India as well as overseas. Bengali film industry had produced the legend Satyajit Ray and has been bestowed upon with prestigious awards like the L้gion d`honneur of France, and the Lifetime achievement Academy Award.

Television
Television has surpassed all the other medium as per its reach and accessibility. Thus it has become the most popular medium of entertainment in India. . Doordarshan is a government-owned broadcaster established in 1959 and it is widely popular in the rural and remote areas. Doordarshan offers national, regional, and local service. The number of television sets increased from around 500,000 in 1976 to 9 million in early 1987. Color transmission began in the year 1982 thereby increasing the popularity of television by leaps and bounds.

Regular satellite transmissions began in the same year. With the coming of cable television, popularity knew no bounds . There was mammoth increment in the cale service in the middle of 90s. Zee TV was launched as an independent station and started broadcasting from Mumbai since 1992. Other networks that ventured in the scenario are Hong Kong-based Star TV (1991); Jain TV, near Bombay (1994), Cable News Network (1990); Asia Television Network (1991). Today , myriads of satellite channels are available . To suffice the demands of almost everyone, news , talk shows, musical entertaines, serials, dance programmes are rampant.

Entertainment in India is divergent yet rich in its content and production, nicely sufficing the demands of a huge section of people.