Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bollywood musical Bombay Dreams is extending its run by six months following a huge demand for tickets.

The musical has bucked the trend of some big shows which have struggled to bring the audiences.

Critical success Kiss Me Kate has announced the curtain will fall for the final time in August after less than eight months because of dwindling ticket sales.

Lord Lloyd-Webber closed two of his own long-running musicals - Cats and Starlight Express - to make way for his new venture.

Raza is getting mobbed by young girls outside the theatre every night

Lord Lloyd-Webber

Bombay Dreams, which opened in June, has seen 125,000 people come through the doors of London's Apollo Victoria Theatre.

Now an extra 500,000 tickets have gone up for sale after its run was extended to March 2003.

"We were nervous about how the show would be received because we knew we had something very different," said Lord Lloyd-Webber.

"But it seems to have absolutely captured the imaginations of people who don't normally go to musicals. The audience is different from any I have seen for a long time.

"We wanted to make people feel that musicals are hip and cool again. Musicals were losing a younger audience and I think we have gone some way to reversing that."

Slums

The show was composed by Bollywood veteran AR Rahman while Goodness Gracious Me actress Meera Syal wrote the script.

Bombay Dreams tells the story of a Bollywood film director's daughter, played by 21-year-old Preeya Kalidas.

Her character falls in love with a boy from the slums, played by Raza Jaffrey, who has appeared in Abba musical Mamma Mia! and TV soap EastEnders.

"The cast are young and I don't think they know what's hit them. Raza is getting mobbed by young girls outside the theatre every night," added Lord Lloyd-Webber.