MUMBAI (AFP) – First came offshore locations, then foreign special effects experts, fashion designers and movie titles. Now the songs that drive Bollywood and the country's music industry have gone international.

What was once dismissed as a passing fad has now become the norm, with an increasing number of English lyrics being used in Hindi soundtracks, reflecting the lifestyles and aspirations of more worldly young Indians.

The latest hit song is "Tera Hone Laga Hoon" (I'm Falling For You), from the movie "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani" ("An Amazing Story Of Strange Love"), starring Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor.

"Shining in the setting sun like a pearl upon the ocean. Come on, feel me. Girl, feel me," the song goes.

For Irshad Kamil, who wrote the words, using English is a natural progression given the increasingly outward-looking perspective of Bollywood, which is seeking newer, potentially more lucrative, audiences abroad.

Hollywood studios are also looking to tap into the 2.2-billion-dollar industry and its production expertise.

"Bollywood heroes are playing characters that have Western orientation and therefore such words have become essential to write in the lyrics," said Kamil.

"There is a demand for it in the script and therefore as a lyricist we have to give such one liners in Hindi songs and that has become quite popular."

Even in the mid-1990s, Hindi-language films still reflected traditional themes of chaste love, hard work and family values, with soberly dressed heroes and heroines overcoming social divides or poverty in stylised song and dance.