Indian film industry woos international audiences at Cannes

Cannes, May 17: The dry run of Indian films at Cannes notwithstanding, Bollywood is trying its best to woo the global audiences by screening films at festival`s market.After `Kites`, Hinduja Brothers` Serendipity Films showcased its film `Teen Patti` in the festival. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan as a math professor. Hollywood superstar Ben Kingsley is also making an appearance in `Teen Patti`.

The company is planning to join the big league by investing USD 50 million over the next three years and aims at bringing Indian and Western talent together. Serendipity has reportedly invested USD 7 million on `Teen Patti`. It is also developing two international co-productions, one in the US and the other in the UK. A third project is with Indian writer, Siddharth Shangvi. Hrithik Roshan starrer `Kites`, which is in the rough cut stage, was shown to the buyers yesterday. The film has been shot in Hindi and English simultaneously. The teaser trailer and some key art posters of the film were released before the global media by Hrithik at the festival`s market.Produced by Rakesh Roshan and directed by Anurag Basu, `Kites` also stars Mexican actress Barbara Mori. The film is expected to hit the theatres in the last quarter of 2009. The film is being promoted and marketed Big Pictures. "A film like `Kites` has never been attempted in India before. This is our attempt to tap the mainstream international audience and we are hopeful that we will be able to meet this objective," producer Rakesh Roshan had said while unveiling the first look of the film here. Reliance Big Entertainment`s USD 1-billion-worth of film projects are also set to take off. Some of them are in the pipeline while Buddhadeb Dasgupta`s `The Window` is already complete. Though it could not be placed at Cannes. `Provoked` director Jag Mundhra is also at Cannes reportedly looking for fresh faces, and at the Indian Pavillion. Mundhra is currently working on completing three movies all at the same time. The first is a psychological thriller called `Apartment`, `Chase` and the `Naughty at Forty` starring Govinda. Similarly, Eros would be promoting Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor and Hollywood action star Sylvester Stallone `Kambakkht Ishq` and Amitabh Bachchan starrer `Aladin` and Saif Ali Khan`s first home production `Love Ajkal at the French festival. UTV Motion Pictures will also use Cannes opportunity to unveil Priyanka Chopra starrer `What`s Your Rashee?` The other Bollywood films vying for global attention at the French Riviera are Vishal Bharadwaj`s `Kaminey` and Prakash Jha`s `Rajneeti`. Bureau Report