The American actress Ali Larter laughs, when I ask her if she is about to become the next Aishwarya Rai. “My greatest challenge was to dance Bollywood style, as I have two left feet,” she says.

The film is Marigold, a cross-cultural romcom, in which the star of the hit US series Heroes teams up with the Bollywood superstar and heart-throb Salman Khan. It is the first significant Hollywood film to appropriate Bollywood’s unique style of film-making, with plenty of knowing references for Bollywood buffs and with enough savvy to engage newcomers.

Larter plays Marigold, a struggling American actress who arrives in Goa to start shooting on her latest film, Kama Sutra 3 . When funding for the film fails to materialise, the penniless foreigner is forced to become a dancer in a Bollywood musical to survive in India. Marigold falls in love with the film’s hunky choreographer Prem (Khan); but he has an intended arranged marriage with his childhood sweetheart. Complications ensue, but no prizes for guessing the outcome. The plot may be pure Richard Curtis, but Marigold is unique and even radical on several counts.

It is an astute recognition by Hollywood of American audiences’ interest in Bollywood films. In 2006, five Bollywood films grossed more than $2 million in the US. But, as in Britain, Bollywood audiences in America are predominantly South Asian. Mainstream American audiences are hesitant to view subtitled films and the culture-specific subjects of many Bollywood films appear too alien.

“I hope this movie acts as a window into the Bollywood world,” the American director Willard Carroll says. It certainly attempts to bridge the cultural cinematic gap. It is filmed in English, it is not three hours long, and the title is pronounceable. Basically, it is a romcom that unfolds in touristy India: major sequences take place in lush Goa, in majestic Rajasthani palaces and on the enchanting Elephanta Island, just off Bombay.

“It is not really a Bollywood movie; it is more of a romantic comedy that is set in India,” Carroll explains. But the film acknowledges the traditions and the camp excesses of the Bollywood formula. Characters unashamedly break out into song and dance; respect for family elders is accentuated and everyone lives happily ever after.

Other Hollywood films have featured Bollywood but only as songs on their soundtrack, most notably Baz Luhrmann’s musical Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Spike Lee’s Inside Man (2006). However, they did not attempt homage to Bollywood itself.

Marigold , though, is set entirely in and showcases modern India. “India is not a land of snake charmers any more. Our economy and films are booming. It is hoped every NRI (non-resident Indian) will take their British or American friends to see this movie,” Khan says.

The casting is unique: Larter is hot property in Hollywood; Khan has been a Bollywood A-lister for more than a decade. Their pairing is likely to draw in a wide range of fans. “Salman’s natural charisma comes across beautifully on screen,” Larter says. “This film is a beautiful kiss to Bollywood that will appeal to all audiences.”

Cynics may argue that the film is cashing in on the trend for all things Bollywood. Why did Carroll decide to make an American Bolly-rom-com? “I fell in love with India and with Bollywood when I visited India four years ago and wanted to make a film in this style,” Carroll states. “Hindi films have made some inroads into America but most Americans have not seen a Bollywood movie. The film gives a positive view of modern India; its theme of family is universal. It is hoped that all American audiences will warm to this as many of them feel family kinship is currently lacking.”

Whether or not Marigold succeeds in its aims remains to be seen, but it looks as if Hollywood has woken up to the box-office potential of cross-cultural comedy, especially in light of movies such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). Bollywood has now been embraced by Hollywood, but on its own terms.

Marigold is released on August 17

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