MUMBAI: BODVOD and Los Angeles based Time Warner Cable have tied up to bring the newest Bollywood hits to their US customers through International Movies on Demand.

The cable company has teamed up with BODVOD, a company that holds exclusive rights to popular Indian movies from Bollywood studios such as UTV and Adlabs, says a release. Time Warner Cable is also sponsoring the fifth Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) being held in southern California. The partnership with IFFLA will help BODVOD and Time Warner Cable reach more Indian audiences.

2006 was a record-breaking year for Hindi films at the US box office, with seven of the 14 foreign language films that grossed over $2 million, being Hindi films. Spanish, despite being spoken by millions of Americans, trailed far behind as the next most popular foreign language at the US box office with only two films above the $2 million benchmark last year, the release says.

Until now, Bollywood films have mostly been available in Indian theaters and small video shops outside of Los Angeles. With the International Movies on Demand launch, however, Time Warner Cable hopes to make these films available to viewers on their own schedules without leaving the comforts of home.

Many new Bollywood films have made their on-demand premieres, including the Hrithik Roshan starrer Krrish. Next on the list are Shah Rukh Khan’s action blockbuster Don, the New York-set comedy Jaan-E-Mann, and the epic Moghul-era romance Umrao Jaan, starring newly-engaged Bollywood power couple, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan.

Says Time Warner Cable executive vice president Roger Keating, “By creating a separate international category to showcase films from around the world, Time Warner Cable connects people to the many diverse cultures represented in the southland on the most convenient, easy-to-use platform cable has to offer.”

The fifth Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles will run from 17 to 22 April 2007.