Rakesh Roshan was initially hesitant to cast Barbara in Kites

When Rakesh and director Anurag Basu first met Barbara for 'Kites' story narration in Los Angeles, the actress just had inch long hair as she had gone completely bald for her role in a Spanish film.

She had just completed shooting for her film 'Cosas Insignificantes' (Insignificant Things) that spoke of the intricacies of human relations.
Barbara had shaved her head to express solidarity with her son who loses hair in the film due to cancer.

Rakesh admits that when he saw his future heroine with only one inch long hair, he was hesitant to sign her on.

"I was aghast," said Rakesh. "I asked her how we would shoot with her six months down the line, but she was confident that her hair would grow or else she suggested that she would put hair extensions," he said.

Director Anurag added, "Barbara looked beautiful in short hair too. I had an option to have her with short hair in 'Kites', but in our industry actresses generally don't have short hair."
"So later when she came to India, we did some look tests with Barbara in short hair and also with hair extensions and she looked even prettier in long hair," Anurag said.