India has lagged behind marketing its films overseas, superstar Amitabh Bachchan said on Wednesday and suggested a collective effort to promote them on the international trade circuit.

"For some reasons, India has lagged behind in marketing its films in the international market. So far, efforts to promote a film have always been carried out more on individual level," Amitabh said

"It has always been individual directors or producers trying to hold screening of their films, sending clippings of their films or launching promotional launches of their films," he said after casting the first vote for the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards to be held in June.

"The individual efforts must be supplemented by a more collective effort with various members of the industry and government working in cohesion to market Indian films on the international circuit," Amitabh, who is also the IIFA brand ambassador, said.

"Though traditional film festivals have been organising film bazaars to market their goods, it is also time that similar efforts are taken up on a larger scale, including during programmes like the IFFA," Amitabh, who is on the advisory panel of the awards, said.