Dil Se (From The Heart), a Bollywood musical about a radio reporter who falls in love with a suicide bomber plotting to blow up India's President at Delhi's annual Republic Day parade, made history by becoming the first Indian film to break into the British top 10, grossing just over a quarter of a million pounds at the box office in its first week.

But the biggest surprise of all is that while British Asians have flocked to the film, in India it has pretty well bombed. Even here, many admit they're going for the soundtrack rather than the film itself.

Munish Kalia, manager of the Harrow Safari Cinema, can't believe his luck. ``I will keep showing it as long as the crowds keep coming. Ithink this movie will run for six months, it will just keep on running.'' But even as he turns people away, he makes no great claims for it. ``I like the songs but I don't like the movie. People say it's too slow, too arty.''

Though he too is raking it in, Ajaib Sawan of the Piccadilly Cinema in Birmingham, is equally unimpressed: ``It's doing good business but people say the film is crap. They're coming for Shah Rukh Khan (the movie's male lead) because he is so famous.'' Back in Mumbai they are already calling it a flop.

Director Mani Ratnam admits it got off to a desultory start there, but claims his films are often slow to catch on. ``It's been very good in certain places, particularly abroad, and it is growing as time goes on,'' he told The Guardian. ``It happens that way when you make a film that is slightly different from the conventional. It takes a little time to pick up.'' But Dil Se does prove two things -- the previously unrecognised box office muscle of the Asian community andthe power of the soundtrack.

Bollywood movies have traditionally been sold on their songs, a lesson that Hollywood itself has been quick to take heed of in the wake of the success of Titanic. Kumar Ahuja, whose family firm Eros International are distributing Dil Se, says: ``The music is always released before the movie opens. That way people know a movie is coming with fantastic music. If people don't know about the good music, they won't come for the film. It's the songs that Indian people love.'' The main song from the film is Chaiyya Chaiyya (roughly translated as Jingle, Jingle) sung by Sukhwinder Singh, under the musical direction of A R Rahman, a legend in Indian cinema.

Kumar claims almost 100,000 copies of the soundtrack have been sold in Britain alone in the past six weeks, through small Indian music shops. He deflects criticism about the quality of the film: ``The movie is really good and the film is really well made. The movie is different to the other Indian moviesaround.

``Usually in a Bollywood movie, it's always love stories, love stories, love stories, or just fighting. This is different. Yes it has a love story, but there's no fighting -- just five minutes I think -- it's a very entertaining movie. It has a political theme, but the way it is made it is so beautiful, the audience leaves happy.''