HONG KONG- TWENTIETH Century Fox said on Wednesday it has established an Asian unit specialising in local productions, starting with India, becoming the latest Hollywood studio to venture into the region.

The new studio will be a joint venture with the Asian satellite broadcaster STAR, called Fox STAR Studios, the two companies said in a joint statement.

Both companies are units of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Fox STAR Studios will start out making Bollywood films in Hindi as well in other regional Indian dialects.

STAR India president for strategy and corporate development Vijay Singh will lead the Indian operation.

'We are in discussion for producing not only traditional Bollywood films but also innovating and targeting emerging genres,' Mr Singh said in the statement.

Fox STAR Studios will also branch into the Chinese-language and southeast Asian markets soon, the statement said.

Other major Hollywood studios producing Asian movies include Sony Pictures Entertainment with its Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, which invested in Ang Lee's Oscar-winning kung fu hit 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.'

Warner Bros. Pictures set up a joint venture with China's state-run China Film Group and Hengdian Group in 2004, and has invested in Hindi films.

The Walt Disney Co. last year released a Chinese-language children's movie that mixed live action and computer animation. It has also teamed up with Indian studio Yash Raj Films to make computer-animated movies.

It wasn't immediately clear where Fox STAR Studios will be based. -- AP