Two of India's biggest actors, including a star Julia Roberts once called the most beautiful woman in the world, drew thousands to a film premiere Thursday -- in Toronto.

Some fans paid $500 for tickets to the gala screening of "Guru," in a rare film event for Canada's South Asian community.

Police estimated 1,200 fans were lined up outside the historic Elgin Theatre, some waiting up to six hours just to catch a glimpse of the film's stars: Abishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai.

"She is so beautiful!" one fan said of Rai, who also models for L'Oreal cosmetics.

Bachchan and Rai are a couple both on and off the screen. Many had speculated that the couple would announce their engagement at the premiere. But Bachchan told Canada AM that he would rather fans not focus so much on his and Rai's private life.

"I gladly share my work with everyone so I've never really understood the excitement and why people have been so inquisitive to know what I'm doing in my private life. When there is something to be told, I'm sure that we will definitely say something.

"But as of right now, we're very busy working, we've done our work, we're here in Toronto, we're enjoying the moment, we love being here. It's been a fantastic reception. We would much rather focus on that."

The producers of "Guru" picked Toronto for the screening after another Bollywood film, "Never Say Goodbye," attracted massive crowds at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"Bollywood films do play here, but this is an even bigger deal because this is a world premiere," says film critic Richard Crouse.

Mayor David Miller said the screening shows that Bollywood is increasingly looking at the North American market, especially multicultural cities like Toronto.

Last year, Bollywood films earned an estimated $40 million in Canada.

"To have the premiere of this film is terrific, shows respect for the South Asian community here, and honours Toronto's stature in the film world," he told CTV News.

"Guru" is based on the real story of a young man, who rose from his poverty in the 1950s to become one of India's leading textile merchants. In the film version, the character takes unethical steps to achieve his success.

Based loosely on the story of Dhirubhai Ambani, one of India's leading industrialists, the producers say it's also a story about anyone Indian who started from scratch and succeeded.

Like all Bollywood films, it has plenty of humour, singing and dancing.

"We have a lot of songs much that's because our culture is very musical," Bachchan says. "I think a unique aspect which might be more different to the Hollywood films is that we have a lot of song and dance, a lot of pomp and pageantry, always poetic justice. And we do it at a hundredth the price that they do it in Hollywood."

With a report by CTV's Denelle Balfour