"Taal", the 1999 film starring Aishwarya Rai and Anil Kapoor, will be screened at a US festival of "best overlooked" movies put together by Roger Ebert, one of America's leading film critics.

The film's director Subhash Ghai and Uma da Cunha, an expert on Indian films, will be in attendance when "Taal" is screened as the Sunday matinee musical to close Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival at the University of Illinois from April 20-24.

Ebert, whose reviews influence the movie-going habits of people across the US, praised "Taal", which he described as a "glorious Bollywood extravaganza", and its leading lady Aishwarya, who he said was "often called the most beautiful woman in the world".

"Taal" will be among a dozen movies to be screened at the festival, ranging from the 1925 silent epic "Phantom Of The Opera" to "Murderball", a 2005 documentary on the sport of full-contact wheelchair rugby that won an Audience Award at the Sundance festival.

Writing on his website, Ebert described "Taal" as a film starring Aishwarya "as a singer who falls in love with the son of a rich neighbour - until his parents insult hers, and she seems about to marry a famous music video director".