When East meets West: Bollywood and Hollywood intersect

When you think of Bollywood, chances are Akon isn't your first thought.

But actually, Akon - whose song "Chammak Challo" is the most popular track from the soundtrack to the upcoming film "Ra.One" - is one of many American entertainers who have tried to tap into the Bollywood market lately.

Bollywood is increasingly making its presence felt on an international level, and mixing Hollywood and Bollywood has become increasingly popular. Each side wants to tap the potential of the other's market: Bollywood has long pursued being seen as Hollywood's equal, and American entertainers want access to Bollywood's fervent, loyal and sizable audience (actor Shahrukh Khan, known internationally as the King of Bollywood, is estimated to have a fan following numbering in the billions).

Indian film, non-Indian music:

One of the easiest places to watch Bollywood's growing prominence is in music, which you'll remember I mentioned was a central part of Bollywood.

As I mentioned before, Akon has done a chart-climbing song called "Chammak Challo" (a term for a flashy, much-bejeweled girl) - in which the Senegalese-American singer even rolls out a few lines in Hindi - for the highly anticipated superhero film "Ra.One." The song has been remixed four times already, and Akon also did a track called "Criminal" for the same film.

Ludacris recently recorded English-Hindi song "Shera Di Kaum" [Community of Lions] for the upcoming film "Speedy Singhs" (which is also being released in an English-language, Canadian-produced version called "Breakaway").

Britney Spears recently released a remix of the song "I Wanna Go" featuring award-winning Indian playback singer (the person who sings the songs that actors lip-synch to in films) Sonu Nigam. On Twitter, Spears said of the remix, "Watch out Bollywood. It's Sonu and Britney."

Snoop Dogg did a special recording of the title song to the 2005 film "Singh is Kinng" with the film's star, Akshay Kumar. Kylie Minogue made a guest appearance in the 2009 film "Blue" to do a song called "Chiggy Wiggy."

Hollywood actors, Bollywood films; Bollywood stars, Hollywood films:

Despite much of Bollywood's hopes, fewer Hollywood actors than American singers have made the crossover into Indian films. Some, however, have made cameo appearances, like Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards and Brandon Routh in 2009's "Kambakkht Ishq" [Damn Love].

Likewise, Bollywood actors seem to have had a difficult time breaking into notable Hollywood films, with some exceptions. The one you may be familiar with is actor Anil Kapoor, who won a Screen Actors Guild award playing the role of Prem Kumar in "Slumdog Millionaire." Kapoor then had a regular role in the eighth season of "24" and also has a role in the next Mission Impossible film (set to release in December).

Another notable exception is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan - better known as "the most beautiful woman in the world" - who has acted in "The Pink Panther 2," "Bride & Prejudice," "The Last Legion" and was originally tapped to play Angelina Jolie's role in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

Incredibly prolific - nearly 400 films since 1982 - actor Anupam Kher has also had success in small roles in Hollywood and crossover films, including "Bride & Prejudice," "The Other End of the Line," "Bend it Like Beckham" and Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger."

But the Bollywood world rejoiced recently on hearing that veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan - also Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's father-in-law - will soon be making his Hollywood debut. One of the reckoning forces of Bollywood since the 1970s, Bachchan is set to play the role of Meyer Wolfsheim in a 2012 production of "The Great Gatsby" that also stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire.

Hindi, Hinglish, English:

You may remember that I mentioned in the previous post that most Bollywood films are in Hinglish - mostly Hindi with some English thrown in. There also appears to be an increasing trend of pure English dialogue in Bollywood films, some to the point of being Bollywood-produced English-language films.

The recent film "Delhi Belly" was actually made in English and later dubbed into Hindi; both versions were released separately. The film's release sparked some interesting dialogue about the advance of English in Bollywood films. The 2010 film "My Name is Khan," about an Indian Muslim in America facing prejudice post-9/11, also featured a great deal of English dialogue and holds records as the most-widely-released Bollywood film in the United States (120 screens) and the highest-grossing Bollywood film overseas.

So, where does the future of Bollywood and Hollywood's interaction lie? If you ask me, they're only going to get closer and closer as time goes on.