In a shining example of Bollywood’s increasing assault on the international stage, or as some would describe, it’s ‘westernisation’, Kylie Minogue is to be drafted in to sing and dance in a Bollywood blockbuster.

India’s DNA newspaper has claimed that the pop princess has been drafted in to perform an item number in the new (hideously titled) movie ‘Blue’.  Of course, Kylie’s star status doesn’t come cheap; her appearance will cost a reported $1 million dollars, which, in Bollywood terms, is how much it costs to shoot an entire movie, throwing in the fees of Priyanka Chopra and Bobby Deol.

The movie, which I hope doesn’t pay homage to the blue movie industry, will star Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt and Lara Dutta, and is on course to become the most expensive film in Bollywood history (about 28 million dollars), not least because of Miss Minogue’s whopper fee.  The forty-year old pop star will travel to Bombay in January to record the song with legendary Bollywood composer A R Rahman.  Madonna and Rihanna are said to have turned the project down.  But is a $1 million dollar cameo really worth it?

Bollywood has undergone a huge transformation in recent years in a bid to gain an international audience.  Substance has been replaced with hype; songs (with mainly English dialogue) are remixed, remade and reworked for B4U and Zee TV, saris have become a rarity in favour of hot pants; and when the sari does occasionally make an appearance, the blouse is replaced by a prominent bikini.  As for the item number, well it’s less of an item, and more of a standard feature of the movie.  Previously, a guest appearance in a song from a star such as Juhi Chawla would have been a rare treat, and the item song would otherwise been the reserve of the unknown dancer/model.  Nowadays, Rakhi Sawant and Malaika Arora-Khan have made careers out of item numbers, and the big name stars are muscling in on the action.  Kareena Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, and even King Khan have lent their star power to Bollywood movies such as ‘Kya Love Story Hai’, ‘Krazzy 4′, and ‘Hey Baby’ respectively, picking up an easy fee and keeping their profile high.

More recently, it seems that Bollywood A-listers aren’t enough to give the item number that extra publicity, so producers are looking to international shores.  Rapper Snoop Dogg had a cameo in a musical, Singh is Kinng, earlier this year, with the accompanying soundtrack selling five million copies in India.

So, if the rumours are true, it seems that the producers of Blue are looking to emulate the commercial success of Snoop’s appearance with Kylie.  Though her appearance would indeed generate acres of publicity, what’s perhaps ironic is that Bollywood’s credibility on the international stage would not be enhanced.  Because for all of Bollywood’s forward looking philosophy, the international audience still looks to Bollywood for the ‘real India’, which is why a very traditional story such as Lagaan, received Oscar recognition and made Aamir Khan a serious player, and triple item numbered Krazzy 4 didn’t.

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