"The Oscars have provided a huge platform to showcase Indian talent. It's a foot in the door," said Vijay Singh, chief executive of Fox Star Studios in India, which is looking to make Bollywood films with Indian studios and directors.

"We're going to see more Hollywood studios want a link into India, tapping more resources here, and we're also going to see more Indian directors look to appeal to larger audiences."

Before Boyle, filmmakers of Indian origin, including Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta, made films such as "Monsoon Wedding" and "Earth," that were set wholly or partly in India, and produced and marketed by Hollywood studios.

India has touted itself as a low-cost destination for Hollywood filmmakers, much like Canada has done, highlighting its lush locales, hi-tech studios and cheap labor costs.

Yet differential state taxes, an antiquated license system and reams of red tape have hamstrung its ambitions.

Long dominated by family-owned production and distribution firms, India's film industry has been bogged down by formulaic fare and box-office revenues of less than 10 percent of Hollywood's because of low ticket prices.

Now, the entry of large corporations, institutional finance, a move to a Hollywood-style studio system and the mushrooming of multiplexes are all transforming the industry and drawing more foreign studios eager for a share of the pie.

India's filmed entertainment sector, estimated at about 2.2 billion dollars, is forecast to grow by more than 9 percent every year over the next five years, according to consultancy KPMG.

Stepping out

Initially, Hollywood studios were content with limited releases of their biggest blockbusters in movie-mad India, dubbing some films in regional languages in a market where racy action flicks and lavish song-and-dance spectacles rule.

In recent years, Hollywood studios looking to cut costs began shipping animation and post-production work to India, tapping its reputed software services skills and affordable workforce.

With "Slumgdogs" Oscar wins, studios may ship more high-end animation and visual effects work to India, said KPMG's Jain.

"Studios will also be looking to tap content, directors and other talent from India," he said, pointing to "Slumdog"'s Freida Pinto who has been signed by American director Woody Allen.

India's UTV Motion Pictures has co-production deals with Disney and Fox Searchlight, while Indian businessman Anil Ambani's Reliance Entertainment has tied up with a handful of production houses including those of Hollywood stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts to develop and co-finance films.

Reliance Entertainment, in which billionaire investor George Soros owns a small stake, also sealed a deal last September with Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG for a new 1.2-billion-dollar Hollywood film company.

More such deals are in the offing as Hollywood tries to fill the 18 billion dollars hole left by Wall Street, according to Gayton.

"These dollars need to be replaced from some alternative source, perhaps not at the same level ... but it seems to me India and China are well positioned to fill that gap," he said.

"The impact of the Spielberg deal was the message that India is here as a major global player in media and entertainment."

(China Daily/Agencies March 3, 2009)