Summer splash in Bollywood

Big Budget

As the over month-long tournament grabbed eyeballs, major releases were held back.

The first biggie lined up for release is Sajid Nadiadwala’s comic caper Housefull on April 30. Yash Raj films’ Badmash Company, starring Shahid Kapur and Anushka Sharma, will hit the screens on May 7, Hrithik Roshan-Barbara Mori starrer Kites on May 21, followed by Prakash Jha's political thriller Raajneeti on June 4 and Mani Ratnam’s Raavan on June 18.

Trade analyst Amod Mehra said the film industry will be closely watching the performance of these big releases. The first look of Raavan has already created a buzz. Abhishek and Aishwarya will be seen together in the movie after three years.
Their last film with Mani Ratnam was Guru and soon after the release, the two actors were engaged to get married. In Raavan, Abhishek will be seen in a negative role while Aishwarya has been paired opposite Tamil superstar Vikram.

It was speculated that Abhishek plays the character of the Naxalite leader Kobad Gandy but the actor refuted it on his micro-blogging account Twitter. In Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti, a lot has been said about Katrina Kaif’s character of a widow plunging into politics and that it was based on UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
But its director said there was nothing in common between the two, except they both look beautiful in a sari.

Mexican beauty Barbara Mori is already in Mumbai and will join the promotional campaign of Kites, which is expected to start next week.
Kites will be Hrithik Roshan’s first film in two years after Jodha Akbar. Housefull has been directed by Sajid Khan and has a host of actors like Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Deepika Padukone among others.