Gordon Brown yesterday took Bollywood, the centre of the Hindi film industry, by storm.
Rani Mukheerji, one of India's leading ladies, declared him perfect Bollywood material. She said: "You seldom come across a person who is so nice, so down to earth. It was really nice to meet him. What he said about the Indian film industry shows he knows quite a lot. He has a wonderful personality and looks good."
Mr Brown's mission had a serious point, however. He was promoting closer Indian/ British co-operation in the industry.
He paid generous tribute to Bollywood, which is popular in Britain. In 2005, there were 2.6m visits to Hindi films in the UK, making them the most popular foreign language film.
The film centre, owned by Yash Chopra, already depends entirely on Britain's technical expertise. Mr Chopra, Mr Brown's host, said Britain was in a class of its own.
Amitabh Bachcan, India's principal superstar, had already met Mr Brown in London. He employs his celebrity status to promote the work of Unicef's polio eradication campaign, and yesterday declared his support for the Chancellor's aid projects.
He took the opportunity to lobby the Chancellor for a more relaxed tax regime for the industry in the UK. Later, he told The Herald Mr Brown had pledged to consider it.
During the Chancellor's visit, he watched Bunty an Babli, one of the musicals most popular in India. Although Mr Bachcan played a leading role, Mr Brown did not ask him for dancing lessons.
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