Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan believes the good old song and dance format of Indian cinema should not be tampered with, despite calls from US production houses.

"A lot of people in the West have been acknowledging Hindi cinema now. Indian cinema has become international," Bachchan says in remarks that are bound to generate a debate in the Indian film industry.

Bachchan first made the comment on the sidelines of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Singapore last month. Big B, as the star is known in India, says he is a firm believer of the Indian cinematic formula.

"The grouses they (Westerners) have is that (Indian films) have too many songs and too much music. This is something that they cannot digest.

"A number of times the international media has asked me: 'Would you consider changing your format?'

"I believe something that is Indian, that has been with us for over a hundred years and existing well within our country, doesn't require to be changed.

"This is our format; this is our style; this is the way we have been able to get recognition. It's going to remain like this and I hope that Indian cinema continues in the same vein."

Bachchan, however, concedes that some adaptation was needed to make Indian cinema more palatable to international audiences.

"Yes, in order to reach an international audience, which perhaps is not conversant with this (style), we need to make a few adjustments.

"One of the adjustments is to make a film in a language that is more universally understood than Hindi and, therefore, I'm very excited about the fact that we're doing an English version as well.

"English is a widely spoken language. It's widely understood in India as well and I hope that through this process we will be able to tell the international market that we are capable of making English films as well.

"And, hopefully, we will be able to make a mark some day in the international market," he says.

Bachchan is happy that auditing company Ernst & Young has projected a promising future for the Indian cinema industry, which produces the largest number of movies in the world.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry had commissioned the report.

"We're very fortunate to have such analysts of world repute looking at the Indian entertainment industry and giving it a positive projection, which has really affected international belief and understanding," he says.

"This is a great, great departure from when Hindi movies first started off.

"Indian movies didn't exactly fit into our social structure. Girls from good homes, people from good homes thought that the film industry and films were low grade.

"They were not fit for people to join, but Indian movies have come a long way and today we have IIFA and a number of events that have brought Indian cinema to a great level of acceptability not only within our country but outside as well.

"I think that it is important for Indian cinema now to be structuring itself in a way where it gets a wider audience and we are very concerned about the way Indian cinema is being received.

"We're making every effort, and IIFA is one of the ways through which we want the globalization of Indian cinema to take place, because we've discovered that not just the expatriate Indian but also the locals wherever they are residing have an opportunity to see these and to appreciate these films."

Bachchan says he has seen great interest being shown by huge corporations such as Sony and Warner Brothers in getting involved with Indian films.

"They (feel) India is now moving forward into great development, and entertainment is an area that they are looking at very seriously."