Tourism ministries across Europe, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand regularly send delegations to Mumbai to woo Bollywood bigwigs to schedule shoots in their respective countries. The rationale: high spending Indian tourists invariably visit places they see their favourite stars frolicking about in on screen. Now, a group of enterprising entrepreneurs is cashing in on the growing Bollywood mania among NRIs and a section of foreigners, but in reverse. How? By offering "Bollywood tourism" packages-which include visits to film sets, interactions with stars and crew members, lunch on the sets with the cast and crew members and, if possible, even "roles" in the films (as extras in crowd scenes).

It's still early days but sections of the travel trade and some Bollywood production houses can already smell the moolah. Percept Holdings, a media company, is setting up a Rs 450-crore, 100,000 sq. ft, Bollywood Theme Park in Mumbai that, its Joint Managing Director Shailendra Singh says, will "allow visitors to experience and consume Bollywood in all its possible forms-they will hear it, see it, drink it, wear it and keep it". The park is scheduled to open in 2008 and will have cafes, a Hall of Fame, museums, joyrides, sets from actual films and-this is the clincher-some tickets will even allow holders to actually watch and participate in live shoots.

The obvious target clientele is the Indian diaspora and those foreigners who want a different Indian experience. "Today, Hindi films have become synonymous with the country's popular culture. There's huge interest about us all over the world. This is an idea whose time has clearly come," says Rahul Puri, Vice President, Mukta Arts, showman Subhash Ghai's flagship production house, which is toying with the idea of offering Bollywood tours.

Conceptually, the idea of weaving tourism around the film industry isn't new. Hollywood perfected the art decades ago and studios like Disney, Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox earn significant revenues from this stream, but this is the first time it's being tried out in India in an organised manner. Of course, Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad and Filmistan in Mumbai (the only studio in Mumbai open to the public) already offer such tours, but these are mostly one-off affairs, arranged at the behest of people who are known to the managements of these studios.

"We're very keen to develop this area and have started negotiations with several production houses to understand what can be offered in Bollywood tour packages," says Bhushan Gagrani, Managing Director, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation. This, in fact, is the major challenge. Most studios are out of bounds for outsiders. "You have to have tie-ups with producers, actors and studios to ensure that you deliver on what you promise," he adds.

Sandeep Jain, Director, Special Holiday Travels, who has arranged a few such tours, recalls an anecdote. "Once, while visiting a studio where Bappi Lahiri was recording a song, a guest became visibly excited and requested the studio authorities to let him sing along. Seeing the man's enthusiasm, the studio surprisingly agreed and allowed him to participate in a mock (practice) session, and even recorded and gifted him the song. That was probably the best thing he took back from India," he says.

It is such experiences, and the chance of interacting with top stars, that tourists pay top dollar for. Driving by star residences and dining at restaurants frequented by Bollywood's A-listers are all very fine, but it's the opportunity of getting up close and personal with leading actors that's the real draw. But it is the difficulty of organising them that's proving to be a major stumbling block. Encouragingly, some stars themselves are getting involved. Actor Suneil Shetty's Pop Corn Entertainment even tied up with Travelmartindia, a one-stop shop for travel solutions, to offer Bollywood tourism packages before deciding to go it alone.

How big is this niche? There are no industry-wide figures, but going by what the existing players say, it is worth only a few crores. But given NRI and resident Indian interest in Bollywood-foreigners make up only a tiny portion of tourists-this can obviously grow exponentially. "We have only seen the tip of the iceberg," says Dharmesh Gursahani, Managing Director, Travelmartindia. So, if you want to meet your favourite stars, all you have to do is sign up for one of the many packages on offer. Time to reach for your wallet?

-additional reporting by Tejeesh N.S. Behl