Bollywood has caught the fancy of Malaysia which now wants to jointly produce song-and-dance extravaganzas with a multi-cultural cast and crew from both countries.

None other than Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi spoke fondly about Bollywood in his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the India-ASEAN summit in Cebu.

"Malaysia has offered to jointly produce Bollywood films with India. The Malaysian Prime Minister said that actors and actresses don't understand Hindi, but they like to hum Bollywood songs and dance to the beats of Hindi music," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said.

"Bollywood could be another reason why they want to do more trade with India," the minister quipped while underlining the importance of Bollywood as a cultural connector with a region with much shared religious heritage and social traditions.

Bollywood films are very popular in Malaysia and its appeal cuts across racial, religious, economic and even educational boundaries.