By Dipankar De Sarkar
London, Nov 15 (IANS) After 50 years of charming African audiences with its song-and-dance capers, Bollywood is set to rendezvous with its Nigerian counterpart at an international film festival next month, courtesy a British film producer.

In what is being billed as the first such move between two of the world’s biggest movie industries, award-winning Indian-origin film and television producer Parminder Vir is bringing the two entertainment giants together at an international film festival in Nigeria.

The ION International Film Festival, which is held in a different international location each year, lands in Africa for the first time when it is hosted in Port Harcourt Dec 9-12, organisers said.

It is set to be attended by filmmaker Madhu Mantena, producer of the Aamir Khan starrer “Ghajini”, and actress Nandita Das, who will meet with Nigerian producers to explore ways of working together, said Vir, a fan of both Indian and Nigerian films.

“Over the years, I have become a great admirer of the Nollywood film industry which is very similar to Bollywood with their ‘can do’ attitude. In the absences of government support, both have created an industry which contributes substantially to the wealth of the nation,” Vir told IANS.

“For over fifty years, audiences in Nigeria have been watching Bollywood movies, embracing the songs, fashion and stories of this film culture,” she told IANS.

Almost unknown to producers in India, the Nigerian film industry has grown imperceptibly into a $250 million dollar-a-year industry employing thousands of people and churning out 500-1,000 movies a year.

Mantena and Das will share their experience of the industry - its cultural and business - and explore collaboration opportunities for “Nollywood” producers to work with the Indian film industry.

The two sides will access the new market and develop creative and financial partnerships, said Vir, a veteran of film production at the BBC, ITV, Channel Four and Carlton Television.

“The African market is vital for the Indian film industry, and we share a long history. I am looking forward to learning and understanding more about Nollywood and discovering what Nigeria has to offer,” said Mantena, who is taking time out from his current project the John Abraham-starrer “1-800 LOVE” to attend the event.

Mantena’s “Ghajini” is said to be the highest grossing film in the history of Hindi cinema making around Rs.240 crore (15mn pounds).

He has in many ways redefined the parameters within which the film industry in India functioned, using his 15 years of experience with distribution, marketing and production in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu film industries.

Nandana Sen, daughter of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, has recently broken into the British film industry playing feisty horse-riding Maharani Padmini in the eagerly-followed “Sharpe’s Peril” with Sean Bean.