The London premiere of a fully British-funded comedy about the trails and tribulations of a small-time Indian cook marks the beginning of the end of the domination of Mumbai over the unique form of cinema it brought forth.

"Ramji Londonwaley," with an all-Indian star cast and crew and set in Britain, marks the country's foray into Bollywood. Though this is not for the first time that foreign investment has entered into the Hindi film industry, it is the first fully foreign-funded and distributed venture.

The film is backed by British minister Patricia Hewitt's "Bollywood Initiative" policy which clearly calls for production of Britain-based Bollywood films to cater to the huge British Indian population which has its very own culture and nuances distinct from mainland India.

"Ramji Londonwaley" producer J. Murali Manohar says the scheme was introduced by MATV, Leicester, in association with CEE (I) TV Entertainment UK. Limited and supported by Motion Pictures Partners International Limited U.K. and has made a vast difference to the perception of Bollywood in Britain by allowing investment to soar.

Unlike the film's title character who is a small-time cook from Bihar and feels lost when he lands up in the alien western culture of London, Bollywood is on solid footing in the nation.

South Indian star Madhavan portrays the role of Ramji and the film also has British Asian actor Ameet Chana. Written by actor Kamal Hasan, the film has Vishal Bharadwaj as its music director. An array of singers including Sukhvinder Singh, Daler Mehndi, Sonu Nigam, Alisha Chinai have performed for the film.

The film is directed by Sanjay Dayma, who assisted in the direction of the Oscar-nominated film "Lagaan." Dayma was also awarded the AIFFA and Screen Award for Excellence for the screenplay of "Lagaan." He has used most of the character artists in "Lagaan" for his latest venture.

Cee (I) TV Entertainment TV, owned by Manohar, may be a new name for Bollywood but will soon be a well-known one. The company is backing Aishwarya Rai-starrer "Provoked" which has been completed and would be released Nov 25.

Other films include "Telling Lies, "Private Moments" and "Backwaters." The company's next venture "Infinite Justice," based on the story of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped and killed in Pakistan, will be released in December.