European audiences will soon catch a fleeting glimpse of Bollywood action star Rajnikanth, when a clip from one of his movies appears in a French comedy, a news report said on Wednesday. French director Alain Chabat has decided to use a 10-second Kung-fu clip from Rajnikanth's 1998 blockbuster Muthu in his latest movie Rent A Wife, due for release in 2006, a report stated.

The clip will be used in a fight sequence, the report said citing Etienne Dubaille, an official of Chabat's multimedia company, Chezwam.

Rajnikanth is the screen name of Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, 55, whose histrionics and choreographed fight sequences are especially popular among teenagers. Despite his age, he often plays the young hero in Tamil action movies, single-handedly fighting off dozens of evil men before wooing an exotic beauty.

In Muthu, Rajnikanth plays a rich landlord who becomes a servant on his own estate to get a taste of the harsher side of life, winning the heart of a village girl in the process. The film was released in Japan as Dancing Maharaja and its success made Rajnikanth a household name there. Rajnikanth's movies are also popular across Southeast Asia.