Jean Marie Lamour and Camille Natta, the lead pair of Hariom, in Cannes

Cannes, May 21: India has left a permanent impression on 40-year-old French star Jean Marie Lamour, who had an Om tattooed on his chest immediately on returning to Paris after acting in a charming Indian road movie, Hariom, set in Rajasthan.

He and his co-star, Camille Natta, 27, are believed to be the first actors from France to act in a full-fledged Indian movie, which uses Jaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and other attractive locations in Rajasthan.

The Om on the right side of Lamour’s chest seems unlikely to be a publicity stunt for he was, initially, reluctant to reveal the tattoo for The Telegraph. “It’s very private,” remarked Lamour. “I brought back something for me,” he said. “You know what? I have only one tattoo. It’s this one ? I am not a tattoo guy. If you had said to me, ‘You are going to be tattooed,’ I would have said, ‘No way.’ ”

His character in the film is unsympathetic to Indian culture, unlike that played by Natta, who falls in love with India and with the scooter rickshawallah (played superbly by Vijay Raaz, of Monsoon Wedding fame).

“I loved India,” admitted Lamour. “As soon as I saw this Om sign, I said I need to have it on me. When I saw this sign everywhere in India, I said, ‘Oh, my God. I belong to this symbol.’ I don’t feel alone any more.”

Lamour, who is known for his role in the successful Hollywood film, Swimming Pool, and who played Jesus on the screen for sustained periods in America, insisted: “We know that Jesus, before he started speaking (teaching), spent several years in India ? do you know that?”

Both Lamour and Natta believe their roles will further heighten the interest of French audiences in Indian cinema, which once did not extend beyond Satyajit Ray, but who have now been exposed to a number of Bollywood blockbusters such as Lagaan, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kal Ho Na Ho and Mother India.

Natta, who read philosophy, politics and economics at St Peter’s College, Oxford, was, like Lamour, paying her first visit to India.

“There has been an increasing interest in France for Bollywood,” said Natta.

“The directors who are well known are Satyajit Ray ? very much art house directors. It’s very new for France to discover Bollywood.”

The two stars of Hariom will be doing interviews with the media in France to promote the film, which has been directed by Bharatbala.

One woman who is an authority on Indian films in France is Martine Armand, a freelance programmer who has organised several festivals with Indian movies.

“In 1992, I did a retrospective of all the films of Satyajit Ray in Paris over a period of two and a half months,” she said.

Audiences in France, which has a tiny Indian population, compared with the 2.5 million people of Asian origin in the UK, have now started a flirtation with Bollywood. “I don’t know if this is a serious commitment or a passing fashion,” said Armand, who been visiting India for 25 years on film business.

There are reasons, however, to be optimistic. Over the past decade, Armand has organized Indian film festivals in other cities such as Vesoul, near Paris, as well as in Fribourg in Switzerland. Distribution of Indian films is mainly in the hands of two firms ? Carlotta and Bodega ? who are now dealing with a more receptive market.

“Two weeks ago, there was a premiere of Veer-Zaara at the Grand Rex Cinema in Paris which holds 3,000 people,” recalled Armand. “There were another 3,000 waiting outside. Preity Zinta, Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee, who came, received a standing ovation of 20 minutes.”

Bollywood films were now being shown, not only in Paris, but also in other cities, such as Marseilles and Lyon, and even a relatively small place, Bordeaux.

Lamour shows his tattoo

“Alongside Buddhadev Dasgupta’s Tale of a Naughty Girl, people have seen Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and Kal Ho Na Ho,’ said Armand. She added: “At Cannes this year, there are Bollywood people in the market, but there are also independent directors such as Ketan Mehta and Sudhir Mishra.”

Much admired for his Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi, made with only $ 600,000 ? “a third of the money came from France” ? Mishra told The Telegraph: “It will be released in France. The film has a French producer, Joel Fargs.” His new film, which tells of a marriage procession going from the bridegroom’s village to that of the bride in India of the 1830s, will also have French money and a co-producer, Elise Jalladean.

Mishra said: “The French are much more open to cinema from around the world.” But he added that the French preferred to see cinema in only the style they were used to rather than that of the country of origin. That might explain why foreigners find many French films tedious, consisting as they often do of talking heads, compared with the fast moving movies from America.

Mishra said: “When we look at some of the French movies in competition at Cannes, we often wonder about why they have been included.”