MUMBAI: If Bollywood stars want a foothold in Hollywood, vice versa also holds true. International pop stars doing numbers for desi films started as far back as Samantha Fox in Rock Dancer (1995).

More recently, there was Snoop Dog in Singh is Kingg, followed by Kylie Minogue in Blue and now Akon will be seen in Anubhav Sinha’s Ra.One starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor, which has music by Vishal and Shekhar.

A source reveals, “Ra.One is a SFX movie and director Anubhav Sinha wants to achieve Hollywood standards. Shah Rukh and Anubhav spoke about having an international pop singer in the movie, and SRK opted for Akon, who is popular with the youth.”

The source continues, “During a recent visit to Los Angeles, Shah Rukh met Akon and they had a long conversation on Indian and Western music. Akon will sing in Ra.One and this will be his debut in Bollywood. He has been signed for a whopping amount. Akon had performed last year at the closing ceremony of the IPL.”