Now that the Hollywood-Bollywood Great Waltz seems set to happen, mixed star-casts are also on the cards. Reliance Big Pictures, which has a slate of 18 films releasing this year, is currently producing a couple of films with Indian actors, technicians and US-based artistes working together. One of them is Hrithik Roshan starrer Kites. 

"Slumdog's success is not going to be one-off," says Rajesh Sawhney, president, Reliance Big Entertainment. "We're getting into a phase where almost every major global business has begun flirting with India. The challenge will be to find the right scripts to collaborate on."

But not everybody is gung-ho. "It may be too sweeping a generalisation to say this puts India at the centre of the world. This is a story of Rahman's and Pookutty's personal achievement," said a film company honcho.

What's more, major international co-productions with India are yet to score commercial successes in India. Slumdog itself performed better globally than it did in India. So did the UTV-Fox Entertainment co-production The Namesake, as did UTV's co-production with M Night Shyamalan The Happening. Warner Brothers' Chandni Chowk to China ended up with one of the biggest upsets this year. Sony Pictures met a similar fate with Saawariya.

Ronnie Screwvalla, CEO and chairman of UTV Software Communications, is not sure how this victory will make India attractive for film-makers. 

"I do not believe this will make the slightest bit of difference to Indian cinema.If Indian cinema wants to go global — the road is different in terms of our content and more. Oscar and other awards are great for recognition. Not for commerce, I think."

Arcopol Chaudhuri/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication