London, Feb 10 : Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor has said that the runaway success of critically acclaimed film `Slumdog Millionaire' will bring a new wave of Western film-makers to India.

The story of an 18-year-old slum boy from rags-to-riches, based on Vikas Swarup's novel Q and A, has raked in more than 60 million pounds worldwide on a 7m pounds budget.

In the film, Kapoor plays a coldly calculating quiz-show host.

"This fusion will be great for global cinema. It''s a collaboration of India and Britain, but at heart it is an Indian film," The Scotsman quoted Kapoor as saying.

The film might have won several awards since hitting the box office, but the one he treasures is the US Screen Actors'' Guild award for best ensemble piece, shared by the entire cast.

Most important, Kapoor said, is the fact that "it has added to my audiences, which (numbered] about 1.4 billion people who already knew me as an actor. It has added a few more millions who know me now. That''s great for any actor."

Hitting back at the criticism for projecting India as the "third world dirty underbelly" Kapoor said that the there is bound to be a media backlash after the film''s runaway success.

Slumdog is an exercise in storytelling by a commercial film, he says, not a documentary or political statement," he added. (ANI)