Hindi films to go 3-D

There is good news for Hindi film buffs. You may soon be able to see your favourite Bollywood blockbusters starring the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai in 2D and 3D formats.

If all goes well, Imax Corporation, the Toronto-based digital entertainment company, will soon lease its technology to an Indian company which can convert the regular Hindi feature films into large-format films for Imax theatre release.

"We are talking to several companies for the purpose. The idea to lease out technology came up because it is difficult for us to pick the right films for conversion for the Indian audiences," said Imax's co-chairman Richard L Gelfond.

The response to Hollywood films in Imax theatres has been tremendous. "Obviously we expect Bollywood films to do well," Gelfond said, adding that, in the past films such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Spiderman II have done well.

For Christmas, Imax's two existing theatres "" one each in Hyderabad and Mumbai "" are gearing up to release Warner Brother's Polar Express simultaneously with the film's worldwide launch. "The target is to have 25 theatres in India in the next five years," he said.

A deal with real estate developer Aerens Group has already been signed for theatres in Delhi, Kolkata and Jaipur. Theatres are also on the cards for Bangalore and Chennai.

Gelfond claimed that there would be enough films to sustain the theatres in India. The company runs 240 Imax theatres across the world. While there are 10 theatres in China, it recently opened theatres in Pakistan (Lahore) and Malaysia.

The $130-million company has zeroed in on India as one of the fastest growing markets for the company, thanks to the country's massive film industry and regular movie-going population.