Search is on for the next crossover hit; Bollywood By Manish Gajjar.

Byline: Manish Gajjar

Manish Gajjar is the Bollywood * consultant for VUE Cinemas at Star City - the No.1 choice for Hindi movies in the West Midlands. For tickets or more info call 08712 240 240 or visit www.myvue.com THIS year's Cannes Film Festival has seen a strong Bollywood presence, despite the ongoing tussle between producers and multiplexes over film rental charges.

Bollywood producers descended in droves on the French Riviera hoping to woo crossover audiences with Hindi musicals after the mega success of Danny Boyle's Oscarwinning Slumdog Millionaire.

Indian movies looking for distributors include the thriller, Teen Patti (Three Cards), which sees Oscar-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley - of Gandhi fame - and Amitabh Bachchan playing mathematics professors.

Shot in London, Cambridge and Mumbai, Teen Patti's story, which consists of English and Hindi dialogues, is based on high-stakes gambling. The film is reputed to have cost pounds 5 million to produce.

Bollywood mega-star, Hrithik Roshan's eagerly-awaited film, Kites, also made heads turn at the festival.

The movie also features Barbara Mori, an actress with a massive Latin American fan following.

Two versions of the film will be released later this year. Shot simultaneously, Kites' Hindi version targets a global Asian audience while the English print is purely for crossover audiences.

The festival also saw distributor Eros International promoting their forthcoming releases. These included the action comedy, Kambakkht Ishq, a collaboration between Bollywood and Hollywood stars; Saif Ali Khan's romantic comedy, Love Aaj Kal; and Amitabh Bachchan's Aladdin.

Other films unveiled to international distributors included director Ashutosh Gowarikar's romantic comedy What's Your Rashee, with Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja in lead roles.

Others included Kaminey, directed by Vishal Bharadwaj and starring Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapoor; Rajneeti, directed by Prakash Jha; and Ayan Mukherjee's Wake up Sid, starring Ranbir Kapoor.

But the high point of the festival came when a Bollywood remake of Michael Cain's all-time classic, Italian Job (1969), was announced.

While a high-profile cast is expected to be announced soon, it will be fascinating to see how Bollywood translates into Hindi Cain's classic line: "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off."