By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

The US retrospective of Amitabh Bachchan's films held last week has fetched the superstar the kind of notice that probably few other Indian actors ever had.

Though Amitabh himself repeatedly protests against aspirations to take his stardom westwards, the response to the retrospectives held in New York and Washington has overwhelmed him.

He modestly says the West didn't know about him. "So far the average American moviegoer's knowledge of Indian cinema has only been restricted to Satyajit Ray. The response to this festival came as some kind of a surprise.

"The doorman at New York' Alice Tully Hall where the retrospective was held said to me, 'I've been here since this theatre opened. I've never seen anything like this before'. These are indications of the changing values and importance of Indian cinema and its actors.

"We always knew that the expatriate Indian audience is full of love and affection for Indian cinema and actors. But to find Americans showing such interest in our films is fantastic."

According to Richard Pena, the programme director of the Film Society Of Lincoln Centre (New York): "Friday (April 15) evening was a dream. Every seat in the 1,096-seat Alice Tully Hall was filled, and there were reports of people outside buying tickets for as much as $300! (the price was $60).

"Bachchan was eloquent and often very funny. He spoke beautifully about acting, about Indian cinema, and about a range of issues. During the question-and-answer session, which lasted 45 minutes, he brought Abhishek on stage, much to the delight of the roaring crowd.

"The audience was probably about 80 percent South Asian, but what really impressed us was how young it was. There were many people in their 20s. Somehow, I thought Bachchan's core audience would be somewhat older, but this wasn't so in New York. It was an evening that we won't ever forget."

Later during the week, two of AB's films - Govind Nihalani's "Dev" and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Black" were screened in Washington. And the report from there was also overwhelming.

Darin Kinzer, who organized the festival at Washington, says: "I have been working for the film festival there for the last five years and have never seen the reception Bachchan (and Abhishek) received at the festival. We screened both of his films ('Dev' and 'Black') at the same location, which is a large, historic theatre. They were both sold out. There was wild cheering when they entered."

So is Amitabh ready to conquer the West? He laughs off the question.

"Please don't use a word like 'conquer'. It isn't as if we can take over world cinema. But yes, there's a market for our films out there, and we should tap it."