The UK diaspora became an unexpected goldmine for Cineworld and in the early 2000s, Bollywood films accounted for 20% of Cineworld’s screens.
But the immediate future for Bollywood in the UK now looks particularly bleak, given that Cineworld venues host more than half of all Bollywood screenings in the UK, presenting between 40 and 50 different films a year.
Its venues in Feltham and Ilford were the top two cinemas in Europe for Bollywood titles and Cineworld began to hold star-studded premieres.
Cineworld was still in its infancy, with only 14 venues, when it was approached by two Bollywood production companies about showing their films.