It couldn’t have been a more dazzling Diwali for the crowd that had gathered at London’s Leicester Square last Thursday. It was worth braving the heavy showers and ice-chilled gusts, for no diya would have lit up their lives more than a glimpse of King Khan. They actually got an opportunity to click his snap and shake his hand along with that of the other stars who had gathered for the world premiere of Om Shanti Om.

The Red Carpet was the first of its kind - in the sense, for the first time a mainstream Bollywood release premiered at the Empire theatre in Leicester Square. It marks a turning point in the Bollywood industry’s bid for domination of the global box office.

At the daytime media conference that preceded the spectacular red carpet showdown, Khan said, “I want to make the first Indian film that the whole world will watch. The UK is the starting point because of the mix of cultures that you have here, with the Asians alongside the English. This premiere is very important.”

While Kishore Lulla, chairman and CEO of Eros International, the distributors of the film, added, “We are looking for the Indian Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. That was a Chinese-language movie but it grossed a billion dollars internationally. The most successful Bollywood films take about $25 million at the moment, but I think in the next five years we will make that jump.”

The promising female lead of OSO, Deepika Padukone, was cheered for her performance in the film. She admitted to being an ardent SRK fan during her growing up days. “I grew up watching your films,” she told Khan, adding, “I could not have asked for a better launch... This is the most exciting Diwali for me.”

It was no less exciting for the onlookers who fell head over heels in love with the beauty in her ravishingly red ensemble. Arjun Rampal, who plays the villain on-screen,  and seems to be attracted to dark roles too often in recent times, chipped in saying, “I wouldn't mind acting as a villain, particularly if I have a heroine like Deepika!”

Well, we think no heroine in her right mind will object to act against a co-actor with your looks, Arjun!

The other budding star, Shreyas Talpade, was also seen greeting the star-struck fans and making his presence felt just as he did on celluloid. But it was an all too familiar scene when the film-frenzy crowd, having broken through the enclosing security barriers, had to be held back by guards. SRK turned the situation to his advantage by thanking the British Asians for their patronage to Bollywood films, as the popular Asian MP, Keith Vaz, with his trademark everlasting smile pasted on his face, looked on.

Although the British media described OSO as “a fast-food film best appreciated if you leave the logic back at home”, Khan looked every inch his confident self as he claimed: “You give me any role, I will try to make it a memorable one... We are here to sell hopes and dreams.”

All this and more could well have been incorporated in the film which promises to be “a film on Indian films”.