Akon in Shahrukh Khan's Ra.1

Nevada (US), (ANI): American singer-songwriter Akon is reportedly appearing in Bollywood big-budget action film Ra.1, starring megastar Shahrukh Khan.

Akon, 36, and Filmfare winner Shahrukh reportedly met in Los Angeles (USA) recently. Akon, besides singing one song, will reportedly form part of the cast. Directed by Anubhav Sinha (Tum Bin), science-fiction superhero hi-tech film Ra.1 is written by David Benullo (Shadow Man), cinematography by Ueli Steiger (The Maiden Heist), and music by Vishal-Shekhar. Besides Shahrukh, it also reportedly stars Filmfare winners Kareena Kapoor (Jab We Met) and Vivek Oberoi (Company).

Shahrukh reportedly plays a Miami software engineer Shekhar in the film, who as a video-game hero takes on his self-created techno-monster Ra.1. Shooting locations include Miami (Florida, USA) and Shahrukh"s wife Gauri Khan (Billu) is the producer.

Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, welcoming this Bollywood-Hollywood music collaboration, pointed out in a statement in Nevada (USA) today that while adapting to Western music, we should not completely forget India"s rich musical heritage, elements of whose theory go back to Sama-Veda.

Grammy nominated Akon of Senegal background, born as Aliaune Badara Akon Thiam, has 40 Billboard Hot 100 songs. Various other international pop stars have done numbers for Bollywood in the past, like Samantha Fox (Rock Dancer), Snoop Dogg (Singh is Kinng), and Kylie Minogue (Blue).