"Slumdog" brings Hollywood closer to Bollywood

The largely Indian cast and crew of "Slumdog Millionaire" who gleefully stormed the stage at the Academy Awards signaled a closer nexus between the world's biggest movie industries, with experts hoping for a happy ending.

The cast and crew of best picture nominee "Slumdog Millionaire" arrive at the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2009. Left to right are actors Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan, writer Simon Beaufoy, actor Madhur Mittal, producer Christian Colson, actor Anil Kapoor, composer A.R. Rahman, actor Dev Patel.

India, home to the world's most prolific movie industry, has long tried to draw wider audiences, including by recently forging ventures with Hollywood studios looking to offset sluggish box office sales with new markets and cheaper production costs.

Now, the thumping success of "Slumdog" and a global financial crisis, which has pulled the plug on much Wall Street funding for movies, are bringing Hollywood and Bollywood closer together.

Like India's IT industry, Bollywood may now aggressively tout cheaper facilities for animation films and post-production. "Slumdog" also showcased India's prowess in music and sound mixing, with Oscars for A.R. Rahman and Resul Pookutty.

"India is an important domestic market for all foreign studios and also offers opportunities to cut costs," said Rajesh Jain, head of KPMG India's entertainment practice.

"The Oscars will raise the industry's visibility further."

Studios including Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, NBC Universal, Viacom and Warner Brothers have already put more than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in India for stakes in local TV channels and ventures with Bollywood studios.

Their first efforts, including Disney's first Hindi animation flick, failed to set the Indian box-office on fire, but analysts say they will be encouraged by the success of "Slumdog," which became the eighth movie ever to win eight Academy Awards.

"The Oscar wins for 'Slumdog' only bodes well for the Hollywood-Bollywood connection," said Nelson Gayton at the UCLA Entertainment and Media Management Institute in Los Angeles.

"The critical and commercial success of the film speaks to global audiences for films of Indian content, especially if they do so well in the USA to begin with," he said.

It bodes well for Indian films too, he said, which while popular in the sub-continent have rarely met with global success.

Dev Patel quizzed for charity

Actors Freida Pinto and Dev Patel from best picture nominee "Slumdog Millionaire" pose on arrival at the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2009.

Dev Patel and Danny Boyle are going on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' to raise money for Indian street kids.

The 'Slumdog Millionaire' star and the film's Oscar-winning director hope to bag the £1 million jackpot for the Railway Children charity when they team up for a UK celebrity special.

A source said: "Danny and Dev are keen to keep on giving back to the street kids depicted in the movie.

"It should happen this year. To have Dev back in the Millionaire hot seat would be brilliant, and would do a lot for the charity."

The film - which picked up eight Academy Awards at the Oscars - follows orphan Jamal, who is born into the slums of Mumbai.

After fleeing his violent and poverty stricken home, Jamal - played by 18-year-old Dev - enters India's version of the game show and scoops the top prize against all odds.

A spokesperson for the ITV show said: "We were approached by Railway Children about the special - and we think it would be fantastic.

"Danny and Dev would play together, as with all our celebrity specials, but filming depends on their availability."

Stars attend annual Directors Guild Awards in LA

Actors Freida Pinto (R) and Dev Patel attend the 61st annual Directors Guild of America Awards in Los Angeles January 31, 2009. The DGA awards honor outstanding directorial achievement in feature film, documentary and television.

"Slumdog" wins top producer awards

Cast members Indian actress Freida Pinto and British actor Dev Patel accept the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures for the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" at the 20th annual Producers Guild Awards at The Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles January 24, 2009.