The first Bollywood movie to be made in the North-East will not break any new ground with its storyline, but it will with its cast.

The film follows the tried and tested Bollywood tale of a hero and villain fighting over a girl.

The difference in this production is that all the actors and dancers are English.

The musical is being produced by University of Sunderland student Nishit Bhatia.

The 23-year-old, from New Delhi, expects the "unusual" film to be a hit with Indian and English audiences.

The media production student has had the mammoth task of training the 40 English actors and dancers, some of whom are in the university's rugby team, to mime the Indian lyrics and teach them the steps for the dances.

Filming is going on across the region. The latest scenes were shot at a chilly Seaburn beach, where they turned a few heads.

Mr Bhatia said: "I thought it would be different to have an all-English cast. I certainly think the Indian audience will find it interesting.

"A lot of English people watch Bollywood films and I wanted to make a film for them. You do get crossover between Hollywood and Bollywood, but only with one or two actors, never the whole cast.

"It has been really hard work teaching the cast to mime and dance, especially the rugby players, but the results have been excellent. They have done a great job so far."

Mr Bhatia will show the film at festivals across the country and plans to meet distributors to discuss commercial possibilities.

Published: 15/02/2005