A few weeks ago Indian film distributor Eros International released a 3D video game inspired by their hit thriller Ghajini and earlier this week a mobile game based on the classic Indian novella about unrequited love was unveiled.

"Every person would be able to relate himself or herself with this game and would be able to play the game by donning the persona of Dev," said Mahi Gill, one of the actors in the film.

I'm sort of surprised we haven't seen more Bollywood-inspired video games. Afterall, the Indian film industry is the largest in the world, in terms of volume.

According to the Reuters story the market for Indian video games is expected to grow to about $1.3 billion this year, up from $300 million in 2006 and employs about 30,000 animators alone.

Second Bollywood hero goes virtual in new mobile game

A PC version of the movie has been launched this month. It's the first 3D Indian game and will be getting a worldwide marketing push.

Says Sashi Reddy, boss of the game's developer, FX labs: "There are no Indian games so we wanted to bring Indian games to the audiences here and we built India's first 3D game... So this is based on one of the big Bollywood hits and the top hero in India."

Ghanjini, the movie, follows a businessman played by Aamir Khan who suffers short-term memory less and actually a Hindi remake of a 2005 Tamil film of the same name that was inspired by Christopher Nolan's Memento.

Bollywood hit inspires India videogame [Reuters] [Pic]

Irrational's 'The Lost' Turns Up... In Bollywood?! [GameSetWatch]

The Indian gaming market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 78 per cent by 2010, and barely one per cent of the country's gaming potential has been tapped...However, we are still at a very nascent stage, even though there is a lot of potential for the industry.

Reportedly some of India's well known production houses are planning to tie-up with some foreign as well as Indian software companies to produce movie based video games. This may be a new strategy of marketing, as film-video games will be scheduled to release ahead of the actual screening of the film.

In fact as per the plan if a Bollywood 3D game releases at least two weeks before the release of the film it can certainly create a buzz of the movie in advance, which would add to the publicity and promotion of the movie.

Who's up for some formulaic, musical fun on their cell phone?

Mobile Gaming: a new market strategy for Bollywood [Newstrack India]

DHOOM 2: BACK IN ACTION! DHOOM: 2 BACK IN ACTION!! Everyone say it with me, DHOOM 2: BACK IN ACTION!!!

I have never seen DHOOM 1 or this sequel (above), but any Bollywood poster that features a dude in a Rolling Stones shirt shows definite ass-kicking cinematic promise (and by default, it's got to be way better than the DOOM flick). A quick look at the Wikipedia tells me that this picture sparked controversy and a court case over, well, a kiss — The Bollywood equivalent of full-on penetration.

Okay! So feature film DHOOM 2 is going to be made into a video game. Due out at the year's end, the game-adaptation will feature characters from the hit movie, and says Yashraj Films CEO Sanjeev Kohli:

Gaming is fast gaining acceptance among our target audience and this is the first time an Indian movie is being extended into a game. Dhoom had become a favorite film with youngsters and Dhoom 2 has gone a step beyond. The Dhoom 2 video game will feature characters from the movie as well as all the action and excitement our fans have come to expect.

Looking forward to that eventual hand-holding Hot Curry mod. Brian Ashcraft

DHOOM Game Coming [Cathode Tan]

Foreign languages you don't understand are so fun! And perfect comedy fodder for game site Aggro Me to made yuk-yuk with. Using BombayTV, a series of old Bollywood clips were given a MMORPG thematic touch. Hijinks ensue. Brian Ashcraft

Watch Them Here [Aggro Me] via Aeropause

A Bollywood film subtitled in English by a wise-cracking Spanish-speakers. Love the song, the costume changes, bosom burying and the heart-warming message at the end.

For Our Spanish Readers [YouTube] Thanks, Martin!