NEW YORK: The Indian film industry saw 14 percent growth in 2007 and is projected to grow from its current size of Rs. 96 billion to Rs. 176 billion in 2012. India's entertainment giants flush with so much cash and success further demonstrated their growing clout at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

The slew of major entertainment deals announced at Cannes recently serves to underscore the global expansion of Indian cinema. Reliance BIG Entertainment, the entertainment branch of India's Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group, announced plans to spend one billion US dollars by the end of 2009.

With this investment, ADA intends to produce a number of films in nine languages while making sure these movies end up on cinema screens outside India as well as home video, online digital platforms, and television through the internet (IPTV).

At the same time, the group has acquired 250 screens in the United States and additional theaters in Malaysia, Nepal, and elsewhere. Indian films have been selling extremely well at Cannes as well. Reliance BIG Entertainment also plans to provide development funds to other top talents in Hollywood namely Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey, George Clooney, Chris Columbus, and Jay Roach.

"For us at Reliance Big Entertainment and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, it is an exciting opportunity to be a part of the Media & Entertainment business which is one of the fastest growing sectors of global economy," said Amit Khanna, Co-Chair of the USIBA Entertainment and Media Advisory Group, and Chairman of Reliance BIG Entertainment.

"Our engagement with top talent in the United States, India and elsewhere along with our substantial investments in this sector, will help us create a truly integrated global Media & Entertainment company."

Chairman Khanna went further in predicting continued future success, "We are confident of active engagement between Indian & American talent and business in the years to come. This should go a long way in furthering Indo-US co-operation."

These bold moves seem to come at just the right time as this year's Oscars had a strong foreign accent perhaps hinting at the growing globalization of the film industry. In further support of this possible development, theaters across the European Union are screening more films that are neither local nor Hollywood productions than ever before.

These "third country" films made up 14.7 percent of the features distributed in the EU in 2002, rising to 21.2 percent in 2006. Asian features are by far the most numerous third country films appearing on EU screens.

"As the only trade organization that works on the entertainment sector in the US and India, we see this globalization of the industry and the rise in importance of Bollywood worldwide as a very positive development," said Dolly Kapoor, Director, Media and Entertainment Sector, USIBA.

"We also heartily congratulate Reliance BIG Entertainment and the other Indian production houses for their much deserved recognition and continued success."