British culture secretary Tessa Jowell with Mumbai-based director Dev Benegal in Cannes

Cannes, May 22: Britain’s culture minister Tessa Jowell, who met Mumbai-based director Dev Benegal in Cannes today to discuss Indo-British collaboration, said in an exclusive interview with The Telegraph that she soon hoped to conclude the co-production film treaty with India.

As Indo-British film collaboration becomes more intense, it was revealed that the East Midlands city of Leicester, which has the highest concentrations of Asians in the UK, is to be called “Filmpur” in a bid to attract Indian directors, producers and actors to its facilities.

It has also been revealed that the London Film Festival, which celebrates its 50 anniversary this October, will include “between seven and eight Indians films which have not been shown in the UK”.

Next year, to mark the 60th anniversary of the British departure from India, there will be a festival to mark Partition, with films on the subject.

Although Britain, along with the US, is the most important overseas market for the Indian film industry, other countries, such as France and Germany are muscling in with collaboration deals on a patch that the UK might once have considered its exclusive preserve.

Jowell, who is secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said: “We are close to concluding negotiations on a co-production treaty with India. We have been negotiating for the last two years and I hope in a short time ? in months, not years ? that we can deal with any of the outstanding points at issue.”

The British are impatient that the Indians have not so far ratified the treaty though Jowell was diplomatic with The Telegraph.

“I hope that the Indian (I&B) minister will come to London in order to mark the signing,” Jowell commented.

The minister, who has visited India on several occasions, said: “Films in India are one of the fastest growing industries. There is an enormous appetite for Indian films in the UK ? both because of the diaspora but also because of the intrinsic appeal of Indian films. There is an appetite for Bollywood-type movies.”

Research had shown that “if you look at the viewing audiences for Bollywood movies in the UK, you will find they record ? because of the proportion of the diaspora that actually goes to see them ? that they will have the greatest reach of any other genre in the UK.”

What the minister was trying to say was that Indian families went in strength to see Hindi blockbusters, while the British tended to go in couples or even alone.

She said the work of British Asian filmmakers also “had great cultural appeal for British audiences. Because of that cultural appeal we hope that the co-production treaty between our two countries will increase the number of films which are jointly sponsored by Indian and UK producers.”

She went on: “What are the benefits extended? Well, the benefits extended are that for the period of the film which is shot in the UK as part of the co-production, the Indian company will get tax relief on the element of spend which is incurred through shooting in the UK.”

“It is al so important to remember that the cultural incentives are almost more important, both in feeding the appetite of people from India who are settled in the UK but also feeding the appetite of British people for Indian film and Indian culture.”

In one of the most detailed interviews given recently on Indo-British cultural ties by a British cabinet minister, Jowell said: “The treaty is part of the infrastructure of developing and strengthening the very strong relationship between our two countries and recognising the significance of Indian culture in Britain. You cannot now look at almost any aspect of British life but that it has been influenced by India ? whether it is food, clothes, music, healing and alternative treatment, yoga meditation. All drive from Indian culture and find their way into our way of life.”

Jowell herself is popular in Indian circles, where she is likely to receive a warm Punjabi hug (rather than a formal handshake) from the likes of Lord Swraj Paul when she turns up.

It is views such as those held by Jowell that have generally helped to deliver the crucial Indian vote to Labour at general elections.

Referring also to the growing number of British actors in Indian films (as in Lagaan, Kisna, The Rising, Rang De Basanti), the minister (who has seen Lagaan) said: “This is what co-production supports.”

She acknowledged that her Indian hosts looked after her “beautifully, beautifully” when she went to India for events such as Frames. “They absolutely do. Now, having been to Frames three times, I am beginning to know the people there, so I am meeting them again. I love going to Frames. It is a big occasion like this (Cannes). You have more opportunity, more exposure, to people in the industry than you can possibly arrange through a series of bilateral meetings.”

She concluded: “The decision to negotiate a co-production treaty was a decision that I took after I went to Frames for the first time because the potential for collaboration was so enormous, the access to audiences so great. Before I went to Frames for the first time, I went to the facility being set up by the East Midland Development Agency (Filmpur) which is a studio, just outside Leicester, which they want to offer to anybody with films on location.”