Considering it's being directed by a New York based Indian filmmaker Manish Gupta—whose earlier credits include the diaspora comedy Indian Fish In American Waters—how 'Hollywood' is the much talked-about Sushmita Sen-Randeep Hooda –Drena de Niro project Karma Confession & Holy?

"Very very Hollywood," informs Harish Dayani, chief executive of the movie dicision of Sa Re Ga Ma.

"Karma Confession & Holy will have some of the top-most names from Hollywood including Lysa Cooper who's one of the biggest stylists in the world. Lysa will be doing Sushmita and Drena's look."

"And the director of photography is Lisa Lene who assisted Stanley Kubrick. Some other top-notch Hollywood names are being finalized. The whole script was re-written to give it a very global texture and flavour."

While Sushmita and Randeep play the younger Indian couple, Suresh Oberoi and Rati Agnihotri star as the older couple. Suchitra Krishnamurthy(Mrs Shekhar Kapur seen recently in Ram Gopal Varma's My Wife's Murder) will be seen as a traditional sari-clas Indian woman in the US married to an American.

"It'll be a very Woody Allen kind of film covering three layers of characters: the Indians from India the US, the Indians born and bred in the US and the true-blue Americans," reveals Harish Dayani.

For the American parts Sa Re Ga Ma has almost finalized two of the hottest Hollywood names.

So is this finally the beginning of Bollywood's true merger with Hollywood? "It looks like it. We've plans of starting another Hollywood film early next year. The process of globalizing Bollywood has started."

While Karma Confession & Holy goes into production in the US this month, back home Sa Re Ga a has projects planned back-to-back from now till the beginning of 2007.

In November this year Sa Re Ga Ma launches Geet directed by Imtiaz (Socha Na Tha) Ali featuring Bobby Deol and Bhoomika Chawla. In Feb 2006 Sa Re Ga Ma goes into its ambitious mythological epic Draupadi directed by Rituparno Ghosh. "The cast including the main lead will be decided as soon as Ritu finishes his script," reveals Harish Dayani.

Thereafter Sa Re Ga Ma will produce a film to be directed by the talented Ananth Mahdevan fearturing two male and two female leads. Mayur Puri (who assisted Sanjay Gadhvi in Dhoom) and Anubhav Sinha direct the next two Sa Re Ga Ma productions to be launched in July 2006. Anubhav's film called Race will be in the Dhoom genre.

Finally in December 2006-Jan 2007 Samar Khan will direct Sufi for Sa Re Ga Ma.

The impressive list of Sa Re Ga Ma's national and international projects indicates two very crucial points: that they are trying to nurture and project a group of directors who can equal other big production houses' weighty roster , and secondly Sa Re Ga Ma is diverting its attention away from the rapidly-dying movie business.

Long live the music!