I hope Shekar makesa entertaining movie not a dark one like Phoolan Devi

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SINGAPORE -- Hollywood and Bollywood are set to collide cinematically, with "Lord of the Rings" producer Barrie Osborne and "Elizabeth" director Shekhar Kapur announcing Friday that they'll make two films in India together.

"I'm really excited about doing this production with Shekhar, and also about doing it in India," Osborne said on the sidelines of the International India Film Academy awards festival being held in Singapore.

Osborne, the New Zealand-based producer of "The Matrix" and the Oscar-winning "Rings" trilogy, and Kapur, director of the Oscar-nominated "Elizabeth," will start work on their first collaboration by the end of the year.

The futuristic film -- tentatively titled "Water" -- will have a budget of about $20 million and will tell the story of a powerful few who exploit the masses by controlling the life-giving resource, Kapur said.

The movie, which will have both a Hindi and an English version, will feature stunning special effects -- Osborne's specialty -- and a "Romeo and Juliet"-inspired love story set in Bombay, Kapur said.

The filmmakers hope "Water" will have the "songs and dances" and "comic relief" familiar to fans of Bollywood pictures but will also appeal to a broad international audience, Kapur said.

"I'm so happy, I'm so proud, that I could convince Barrie to do this," Kapur said. "We're hoping by the fusion of some of the best technicians and producers from India and Hollywood, that each can learn from the other, and therefore become much more international."

Work on a second movie, a drama titled "Fearless Nadia," will follow the "Water" project, Osborne said.