Bollywood's all-singing, all-dancing bid for domination of the global box office took a leap forward last night when the year's biggest Indian blockbuster received its world premiere in Leicester Square.

At first glance Om Shanti Om is a tongue-in cheek tribute to 1970s Hindi films, awash with stars, spectacular dance routines and preposterous plots. A closer look suggests that it is also the starkest statement of intent yet from an industry that has its eyes fixed firmly on the international market.

When Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood's most popular star, arrived on the red carpet last night he spelled out his ambition: "I want to make the first Indian film that the whole world will watch."

He has competition. The night before the Om Shanti Om bandwagon rolled into London, a rival had its world premiere in New York. Saawariya [Beloved] is the first Bollywood film produced by a leading Hollywood studio, Sony, and the two films have been vying for publicity in the Indian media before their release on Diwali, today, traditionally a peak box-office slot.

The international openings have been as carefully choreographed as any show-stopping dance number.

"We keep trying to find a format where we will be able to appeal to a global audience," Khan said. "The UK is the starting point because of the mix of cultures that you have here, with the Asians alongside the English. This premiere is very important.

"A lot of us have wanted to bring Indian cinema to the front of the market internationally. We know that our cinema has a lot of difference in terms of styling, but India as an economy is being looked at by the global market and cinema is the packaging for our country." India has the world's biggest film industry, producing more than 1,000 films a year in dozens of languages. The Hindi cinema produced in Bombay is by far the most high profile and successful, both domestically and internationally.

In the past ten years Bollywood has built a global audience comparable with Hollywood's. Nowhere has this been more marked than in the UK. Fourteen of the 20 highest-grossing foreign-language films in British cinemas last year were Hindi movies, even though they reach fewer screens than European arthouse films and receive minimal publicity. The International Indian Film Awards, the Bollywood Oscars, took place across Yorkshire and Humber earlier this year, and Shilpa Shetty, a second-tier Bollywood actress, won Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year.

All that is missing is a genuine crossover hit that reaches beyond the enthusiasts and brings Bollywood to a mainstream Western audience.

Kishore Lulla, the chairman and chief executive officer of Eros International, the studio behind Om Shanti Om, said: "We are all looking for the Indian Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. That was a Chinese-language movie but it grossed a billion dollars internationally. The most successful Bollywood films take about $25 million \ at the moment, but I think in the next five years we will make that jump."

Eros has identified special effects and stunts as two key areas where Bollywood is most glaringly falling short of the Hollywood competition. Mr Lulla has hired leading Hollywood talent to develop world-class effects and stunt facilities in India.

 

Shah Rukh and Deepika were on the red carpet for the premiere of Om Shanti Om

Shah Rukh Khan and other Bollywood actors stepped out on the red carpet in London's Leicester Square for the world premiere of star-studded film Om Shanti Om.

The Indian heartthrob was joined by his co-star Deepika Padukone, who was making her debut big screen appearance, as well as actor Arjun Rampal and young star Shreyas Talpade.

The movie tells the story of Om (Shah Rukh), a struggling actor in the 1970s, who is obsessed with superstar Shanti, played by Deepika.

Speaking at the premiere at the London Empire last night (Thursday), Deepika said her character was "very dignified" and added: "I'm very excited because this is my first premiere and then to have such a big red carpet premiere in Leicester Square, I couldn't have asked for more."

The film brings together more than 30 of Bollywood's biggest stars, including Shilpa Shetty, Salman Khan, Kajol, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan.

Arjun said: "The film is an Indian pot boiler and a lot of fun. It's got everything in it, it's got a lot of romance. It starts in the 70s and it ends up in 2007 and we play some wonderful characters.

"I'm the bad guy, I'm really really bad and it's the first time I play a character like that and I think it was great for me because I got to play from the age of 30 to the age of 65."

Om Shanti Om is released today (Friday).