With Bollywood keen to expand internationally beyond the Indian diaspora, and global interest in India at an all-time high, there have been many attempts to make films that combine elements of Indian and Western culture. Not all have been successful.

India-themed films directed by film-makers of Indian origin based overseas, such as Mira Nair's The Namesake and Gurinder Chadha's Bride And Prejudice, were successful internationally but not huge hits in India. The Namesake was the more successful of the two in India grossing $1.7m. Bride And Prejudice fared better on home video and cable TV.

Meanwhile, hybrids such as Marigold, a US-India co-production about a US actress who lands a role in a Bollywood film, failed in both the US and India. The term "crossover film" now has negative connotations in the Indian industry and international players are also wary.

"There are opportunities to work with talented players in Asia, the Middle East and the US but the question then becomes finding the right project that has a shot at breaking out," says Hyde Park Entertainment's Ashok Amritraj who co-produced romantic comedy The Other End Of The Line with India's Reliance Big Entertainment.

"If you are dealing specifically with India or Asia, some of these movies either don't attract the Indian audiences to the extent that they would if they were an Indian movie or an American audience that would turn out to see a Hollywood movie."

Amritraj describes The Other End Of The Line, a love story between an Indian girl played by Shriya Saran and an American played by Jesse Metcalfe, as an experiment. It grossed a disappointing $59,078 from 91 screens on its US opening weekend (Oct 31-Nov 2). Reliance will release it in India next year.

European producers are also wary of potential "India-puddings" in which different cultural elements are artificially spliced together.

The Ukfc's Isabel Davis says that during the recent co-production conference in London it came across very clearly that "there is a wariness of making hybrids and recognition that second guessing each other's markets is not the best way to make films".

The alternative is to make films that are much more rooted in one culture than the other; either European films tailored for the Indian market or Indian films that deploy European backing and expertise. "We're not looking for French elements but for well-made movies that will tell French people something about another culture," says Paris-based producer Sylvain Bursztejn.