Watch Bollywood movies but don't buy the stocks of companies that produce them - this is the message of a report in America'sbusiness bible The Wall Street Journal.

"While India's movie industry is booming, investors might want to stick to buying tickets rather than shares in the country's moviemakers," the Journal said in a Mumbai datelined report.

The report quoted several analysts to argue the case that Bollywood stocks are too volatile and the industry is too fragmented.

It mentioned that the stock prices of companies such as K. Sera Sera Productions Ltd, Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd and Mukta Arts Ltd - three major producers - suffered erosion by 38 percent, 29 percent and 41 percent respectively.

All this against the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share Sensitive Index (Sensex) gaining 34 percent this year.

The Journal said it was not as if the Hindi cinema business was not doing well. This year has been one of the best in terms of box office success.

The problem, analysts told the Journal, is that the industry is not institutionalised and is fragmented. The few listed stocks of movie making houses represent only a small part of the industry.

They make only a few films, resulting in wide swings in earnings.

Going by the report, analysts seemed to suggest investment in companies that process, distribute and exhibit films. It cited the case of Adlabs Films, which processes a majority of films and also owns theatres.

Its stock, the paper noted, have tripled this year. Another company mentioned was Shringar Cinemas Ltd, which operates a chain of multiplexes and whose stocks have risen 60 percent.

Analysts forecast it would take up to 10 years for film production companies to become sounder investments.