Not surprisingly, South Asians make up most of the audience in Hong Kong for Bollywood productions, but the films are winning a new following in the larger Chinese community. Tse has got to know a number of fellow fans through the internet. Some also contribute blogs, including Kristy Wong Yee-man, whose Namastehk has received than 20,100 views since 2008, and Martin Wan Kwok-wai, who writes the Bollywood in Hong Kong blog under the name Loso.

A City University language student, 20-year-old Wong was so taken by an offering at the Hong Kong International Film Festival three years ago that she has since watched more than 100 Bollywood productions.

'The lavish lifestyles and costumes depicted in the film were overwhelming. Then there was music and dance, elements that the Hong Kong Kong audience loves,' she says.

Last year, Wong even spent three months in Delhi learning Hindi so she could better understand the dialogue. She wore a sari every day and her stay with a local family gave her an understanding of the culture, she says.

For instance, when the woman ties a rakhi bracelet on a man's wrist, it means she regards him as brother rather than a lover. 'I saw [the custom] many times in the films but never understood it before,' she says.

Awareness of Indian cinema has also grown with the interest in yoga, with some centres offering Bollywood dance classes. The success of Danny Boyle's award-winning Slumdog Millionaire in 2008 was another boost.

Tse fell in love with Bollywood films after a friend loaned her a DVD of Devdas, a 2002 production about a man who drinks himself to death after losing his childhood sweetheart, which featured three of Bollywood's hottest stars - Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai.

'It was mind-blowing,' she says. 'I still remember the theme songs. It was exotic, fresh. The plots might sometimes be ordinary but, when placed against the social and historic background of India, are so much more interesting.'

While critics may dismiss the formulaic fantasies, Bollywood's outrageous merry-go-round attracts even movie professionals such as Lorna Tee Pai Shir. The general manager of Irresistible Films, a production company focusing on emerging directors, she says the escapist fare inspired her to go into filmmaking.

'Bollywood films are pure entertainment - you can laugh, cry, sing and dance. I can feel a whole array of emotions in a film, never a dull moment. It's colourful, crazy and just great,' Tee says.

Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sadness, a melodrama about strict parents and their rebellious son, got her hooked nine years ago.

'I remember a scene when the lead actor descended to a massive castle in England from his private helicopter, but then in the next scene he's at a pyramid in Egypt singing a song of love and passion. It completely takes me away from reality and that's when I decided I wanted to make films like this.'

She went on, however, to make films that reflect 'the darker side of human nature'. After coming to Hong Kong six years ago, the Malaysian joined Focus Film as a marketing manager and has since produced 10 movies. Sham Moh, about a young man looking to escape the burden of his alcoholic mother, and The Shoe Fairy, about a girl with a shoe fetish who loses her legs in a car accident, are among Tee's projects.

'I've never made a fun film in my life, but I enjoy watching Bollywood movies because they take me out of the realm of what I do.'

Tee was so plugged into the culture that at her wedding celebration two years ago she and her groom danced into the banquet hall Bollywood-style, chasing each other around the tables.

'Half of the guests weren't sure what we were up to, but we wanted to put some jazz into [the banquet]. And it was such fun. My relatives thought someone had hijacked the wedding,' she recalls, laughing.

Movie buff Sonia Wong Ka-yan had to discard many of her prejudices after catching the Hindi blockbuster Om Shanti Om at an HKIFF summer in 2008.

'Like many of my friends, I had this preconception about Bollywood films before I watched it,' she says.

'The storyline is straightforward rather than a pretentious effort to convey a message, but it had a bit of everything, from romance and suspense to adventure and action. The audience was excited, everyone was clapping and cheering at the end of the screening,' Wong recalls.

Captivated by the music and dancing, the final-year law student at Chinese University has since been trying to emulate the moves.

'There was a nine-minute sequence featuring 36 Indian celebrities - every single Indian superstar you can imagine. I've watched it on YouTube many times to learn the moves and the chorus,' she says.

Such enthusiastic responses encouraged entrepreneur Anita Garg to bring Bollywood productions to Hong Kong. Her event management company, Jade Group, has held occasional screenings of popular Hindi productions in cinemas over the past six years.

But Garg says the costs of distribution and booking a cinema are so high she has a hard time keeping tickets at more affordable levels. The screenings, often held at the weekend at multiplexes in Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom, cost HK$120 to HK$180.

'I have to pay the cinemas HK$40 to HK$50 for every seat and the distribution fee has gone up, so there's hardly any margin left,' Garg says. 'We end up pricing the tickets so high that some people who want to come can't afford it. It's a vicious cycle.'

The expense and irregularity of screenings means Sonia Wong has seen only one of Garg's offerings. 'Sometimes I don't even know when the films are screening, even though I want to go,' she says.

With pirated DVDs often hitting the market a week after a film is released, fans are easily tempted to take the cheaper option. But many find the main hurdle is the lack of legitimate access to Bollywood films.

'If the films were given general release instead of being limited to one or two theatres, they would be able reach a wider audience. But property is so expensive that cinemas can only survive by screening very big films,' Tee says.