Gaulish heroes Asterix and Obelix are all set to descend on India speaking fluent Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu, not to forget Hindi.

The newest film based on the popular French comic strip titled Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra' will be released in the country in the four languages besides English.

The English and Hindi versions will hit the screens across India during Christmas but the Tamil, Telugu and Punjabi versions will have to wait a little more.

"The film will be released in India around Christmas," says Inderjit Singh, whose company has bought the distribution rights for the film in the Indian sub-continent, including Pakistan.

Though the dubbing work for the Hindi version is being completed, it was yet to be done for Tamil and Telugu, says Singh who had also distributed the first Asterix film, 'Aserix and Obelix Takes on Caesar' in India three years ago. The Tamil version of the film was a huge success in Tamil Nadu.

"We are also planning to dub the new film in Punjabi," says Singh, who was inspired by the success of Hollywood films dubbed in Punjabi in Pakistan.

According to him, the jokes and punches in the film will be enhanced by the flavour of the Indian languages. In the film, its director Alain Chabat (who has written the script and also acts as Roman Emperor Julius Caesar) makes fun of modern lifestyles by taking swipes at mobile phones and discotheques. One of the film's characters is called Cellularis, whose dialogue is interrupted by a mobile phone call in the 50 BC Egypt.

"It is very very special for us to see the Hindi release of the film," said Michelle Darmon, the head of communications for Asterix director Chabat, who could not attend yesterday's screening after he fell ill in Los Angeles.

The Hindiversion is part of the beach cinema at IFFI.

"Humour goes through boundaries so that everybody can laugh," she said. Super model Noemie Lenoir, who plays a courtesan in the film, agreed: "I like comedy films. I want everybody to be happy and enjoy themselves." The film, which is about a friendly fight between Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and Caesar, will be helped in its distribution in India by the French government, which has kept aside a special grant for the purpose, according to French Ambassador Dominique Girard, who was present when the English version of the film was screend at the Cinema of the World section of the Goa International Film Festival of India (IFFI) last evening.

The French government will bear half of the dubbing costs while the state-run Centre National de la Cinematographie will share up to 30 per cent promotion costs.