Algerians may not be much aware of the economic and scientific strides made by India, but surely they know the Bollywood and stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Madhuri Dixit and the list is endless.

As Hindi films are quite a passion in this Mediterranean port city, Arabic and French speaking youngsters have picked up the language just by watching them.
“My desire is to visit India and meet the cine-stars. I have been watching Indian films right from my childhood and I can speak Hindi now,” a 31-year-old smalltime businessman Boutaleb Athmane Ahmed said. He even sang Kishore Kumar's number “meet na mila re man ka” from the film Abhimaan.

And so was Redduane Quaet, 30, echoing a similar feeling and maintained that this hero was Rajesh Khanna. All this came to the fore when External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, om a three day visit to the country, opened Indian film week last night at the packed Palais de culture here with the screening of ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.’ Sensing the enthusiasm in the crowd, Singh made a short speech and hoped that such programmes would go a long way in strengthening ties between the two countries. Bureau Report