Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings at a single bound look, up there in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's ... Krrish?

Thanks to a barrage of television promos, huge billboards and countless merchandizing spinoffs, India is set to get its first home-grown superhero when "Krrish" opens at cinemas across the country tomorrow.

Movie insiders say the film is set for huge success because not only can the eponymous hero tackle villains and save the world, but he can also do so while singing and dancing a talent Hollywood superheroes such as Batman and Superman have kept hidden under their supercloaks to date.

"This is going to rewrite box office history. The craze for the film is un-paralleled," said Taran Adarsh, a leading Bollywood critic and box office analyst.

"In a way, Bollywood heroes have all been superheroes but this is the first time we are going to have a superman-style superhero in Hindi films," he said.

The US$10 million film, a costly production by Bollywood standards, is a sequel to the 2003 blockbuster "Koi...Mil Gaya" (I Found Someone), considered Hindi cinema's first major science fiction film.

In it, an E.T.-like alien comes to earth and is saved by Rohit, a kind but dim-witted youth. Before returning home, the alien transforms the nervous, cocooned boy into a powerful hero who avenges his tormentors and, of course, wins the girl.

"Krrish" tells the story of Rohit's son, Krishna, who is born with all his father's superpowers and more, but is unaware of them until he follows his lady love, a television reporter, to Singapore from his pastoral idyll in India.

'From the heart'

There he meets with Siddhant Arya, a megalomaniac scientist on the verge of changing the future forever.

Between Arya and his destructive dreams stands Krishna who must transform into Krrish the suave superhero in a black leather ensemble and a half mask to save the world.

But "Krrish", played by Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan, is no Superman. He is more.

Well-built with a heart of gold, blessed with special powers that make him fly and a superhuman intellect, he also breaks into song and dance to woo his lady love.

"I have made Krrish from my heart because I know he is one superhero who is going to find a permanent place in your hearts," said Rakesh Roshan, the director and Hrithik's father.

The father-son team has been an Indian success story both with the critics and at the box office.

Hrithik, whose Rambo-like physique and dancing skills make him a hit with young women, attained superstar status with the phenomenal success of his debut film, "Kaho Na...Pyar Hai (Say You Love Me), in 2000.

A string of flops followed, but his father resurrected his career with the blockbuster "Koi...Mil Gaya".

Krrish promises to be even bigger if the slick website, http://www.krrishthemovie.com, is anything to go by.

The movie boasts spectacular special effects and in true Bollywood fashion song and dance.

The film opens today in Singapore, where much of it was shot.

Source: China Daily