The world's first exhibition of photographs copied by Bollywood artists onto large billboards across India is to be launched at the Contact Theatre, Manchester this week.

Dr Rajinder Dudrah from The University of Manchester, who is curating the show which will go on tour across the UK, says Bollywood's 'Action Stills' are not given the attention they deserve as important aspects of Bollywood culture.

Scenes from the stills featuring Bollywood stars are routinely copied onto hand-painted billboards across India.

The show's images were taken by Bollywood photographer Damodar Kamat and have also been also used for posters, press and magazine advertising.

The exhibition consists of 40 images which documents the importance of the genre to the growing Bollywood scene in the UK and internationally.

The 'action stills' have been loaned to Dr Dudrah and the curatorial team by Kamat Foto Flash studios whose archive is in Mumbai, India.

The show has been supported by Punch which organises music events, seminars, workshops and festivals and Shisha, an agency for contemporary South Asian crafts and visual arts.

Dr Dudrah said: "While there are many exciting elements to the Bollywood film industry that have been recently highlighted in the international media, the publicity and marketing factor known in the Bollywood film industry as 'Action Stills' has been overlooked.

"The exhibition will pay homage to this neglected area of Indian film publicity while also offering an insight into the many and varied images that this form of media production has given rise to.

"I think this fascinating tale about the global rise of Bollywood will provide mainstream, as well as South Asian audiences, a means through which they can find out about the key elements of Bollywood cinema.

"It will show how it has evolved in the UK and its relevance to the wider music and film scene today."