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Lot of hype and little else - is that what Bollywood constitutes worldwide - among non Hindi-speaking audiences? The statistics tell a different story.

Lot of hype and little else - is that what Bollywood constitutes worldwide - among non Hindi-speaking audiences? The statistics tell a different story: From the international film festivals devoted exclusively to Indian cinema mushrooming from LA to Singapore to Hindi movies spinning mega bucks abroad to renowned publications like the New York Times reviewing Mani Ratnam's Yuva, in the same week as its release - Bollywood's presence is being felt by the hour!

Says veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra, "The USP of our cinema is its song and dance. For over six decades the musicals in our cinema have provided the maximum number of hit songs. And now, the people are looking at it interestedly."

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The world of Hindi cinema has been largely self-contained. Unlike Hollywood, it hasn't pushed for audiences in the overseas markets. But it has focused on garnering the attention of the Indian abroad (the Indian Diaspora is one of the fastest growing communities in the world and is conservatively estimated at 20 million currently), cashing in on his sense of nostalgia.

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Says Gautam Hooja, a trade watcher and film distributor: "The locals, non-Indians that is, still constitute only about one per cent of the total audience that watches Indian mainstream fare."

For the world to notice this form, however, it did take an Andrew Llyod Webber (one of their own, so to speak) and the creation of Bombay Dreams. And even though the musical has been panned by most of the international press, what cannot be denied is that even five months after its release on Broadway, its still running to packed houses. Says filmmaker Farah Khan, who choreographed for it: "Of course, its kitschy and its loud but it is us. Can you deny that?"