It is not a Bollywood film, but it has introduced an audience to Asian writers, directors and writers. It has shown that we can be more than just shop keepers. Saeed Jaffrey, who has appeared in both Bollywood and British films, including A Passage to India , said Bollywood's new popularity was in part a reaction to the effects-driven world of Hollywood. Part of Britain is getting bored with special effects. Next month, Warner Village cinemas opens a 30-screen complex, Star City, in Birmingham which will have between three and six screens dedicated permanantly to Bollywood films.
British actors are now keen to appear in Bollywood productions.
Sally Whittaker, the Coronation Street actress, recently travelled to Bangalore to appear in the Bollywood film Ek Alag Mausam or A Different Season . Emma Cochrane, editor of Empire , the film magazine, said Bollywood was looking more and more at British and American talent. Bollywood films often take more than pounds 1 million at the box office and cinemas are increasingly dedicating screens to them. There's an audience of about two million Asians in Britain and they're becoming more vocal. The Age Company Ltd 2000.