I feel like an advance party, on reconnaissance, in a new age of Indian filmed entertainment. The idiom of Hindi film is changing - in line with a younger demographic with a better of understanding of English - away from traditional 'Bollywood', towards a range of mainstream genres.

Old and new Bollywood

Bollywood is set to double in size over the next 5 years, but it is also fragmenting into definite market segments. Domestic audience for Hindi films is now demanding better storytelling; more realistic acting with integrated song and dance even more than NRI counterparts. Old stalwarts like Yash Raj Films, once the backbone of the industry are having to make adjustments in terms of subject matter and treatment to stay relevant.

Getting ahead of the curve

When I arrived in Mumbai in 2006, with only the film rights to M. M. Kaye's best-selling novel The Far Pavilions as my USP, I knew I was going to need to get ahead of the curve, learn the language and to assimilate the culture. Three years on, I live in Versova, a North-Western suburb by the epicentre of the burgeoning film and television industries.

I now feel ready to make my mark. The industry realises it needs great ideas turned into great scripts. I have two new films in development. Each one to be realised in collaboration with some of the youngest and brightest lights of the industry that is emerging from old Bollywood. I now feel accepted, meeting the likes of Shekhar Kapur and other leading industry figures.

Current projects

The Phone Thief is a film in real time set in the mean but redemptive streets of Bombay. A struggling journalist has her BlackBerry/Nokia/Samsung/Sony Eriksson or Motorola phone stolen (depending on which sponsor and movie star we tie up with) and miraculously, two hours later, having been through hell and high water, she gets it back! Budgeted at £250,000 and with a story that leaps from the true events on which it is based, this is a Hindi film that will put another crack in the old Bollywood mould.

The second film, Jobless in Jalandhar - a 'Karmedy' shows how one boy's serial unemployment can lead to his life's greatest adventure, love. Shot and co-financed 50% in the UK, this £1.5 million Bollywood film will be marketed throughout Europe by Special Treats Ltd a firm owned by former entertainment journalist, Colin Burrows. Colin too has turned his attention to brand Bollywood and is currently in Cannes doing what he does best for the new Hrithik Roshan starrer, Kites.

Lessons learned

Having been a writer for 23 years and a producer for 10, I feel well prepared to initiate, write and co-finance Hindi film in collaboration with my Indian partners. I feel well prepared because films on the scale I am making only require between 3 and 5 investors, unlike the 70 it took to put together The Far Pavilions as a stage musical. However, I want each film investor to play an active role and share my conviction. Luckily, I have a few stalwarts who backed me through thick and thin, even when the London bombings of July 2005 made it impossible to recoup the £4 million they had invested in the stage version.

The lesson learned is not to be solely reliant on one income stream that can disappear overnight: the theatre's box office, but to be in at the beginning of a renaissance in Hindi film that has turned itself into a global yet distinctive media brand; one that securitises its investments through multiple platforms and income streams.

Foreign entry and funding

The advent of the major US studios in Mumbai and the sanctioning of huge funds for indigenous films, will no doubt hasten the process of Indian involvement abroad and foreign involvement here. However, there will always be a role for individuals to play in initiating and developing projects to a point where the risk is seen by studios and distributors as one which simply must be taken.

Further information about Michael Ward can be found on Linkedin