Kites’s website launched

Kites has made it to the Cannes Film Festival and Hrithik and Barbara are all set to walk the red carpet on Sunday. The official website of Kites has been launched. Take a look:

I could watch kites flying forever up in the sky, free, dancing in the sky with no worries...


Like two lovers, they meet, they fight, they embrace, they almost become one...


But it is not the will of the kites that makes them dance in the sky...


Someone else always holds the strings…


You must have noticed that there is no sign of Kangana Ranaut at all in the film’s first look, which focuses only on Hrithik and Barbara, who make a scorching hot couple. We wonder if she is the surprise package of the film.

Hrithik, Barbara Mori get too cosy at Cannes

While it's chilly in Cannes, the lead pair of Kites 'keep each other warm'; the duo appears quite comfy with the 'closeness' they share

Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori seem to have thrown caution to the wind. The twosome were spotted dining in close comfort at the Croisette restaurant in Cannes after the Kites press conference.

Says a source, "Their chairs were too close for comfort. Considering that it is cold in Cannes, the duo seemed to be giving each other a lot of warmth."

Barbara and Hrithik also attended the India Party thrown by Vijay Mallya on a luxury yacht. Says a source, "Hand-in-hand, they looked pretty cosy, even as papa Roshan walked a discreet two steps behind."

It is learnt that Hrithik did not accompany his dad and Kites director Anurag Basu when they flew into Cannes. Hrithik left a day later and without biwi Sussanne. Barbara jetted into the festival from Mexico.

Papa sanctions Hrithik-Barbara kiss!

Rakesh Roshan is in a bittersweet mood.

The filmmaker, who went to Cannes to showcase his next venture Kites, spoke to BT about the buzz around the film because of the onscreen chemistry (and kiss) between the lead pair — his son Hrithik and Mexican model-actress Barbara Mori — that reportedly carried on off the sets in Mumbai. Rakesh, who has made half a dozen blockbusters including Khudgarz, Khoon Bhari Maang, Karan Arjun, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, Koi Mil Gaya and Krishh, is aware that the hype and the hoopla surrounding Kites is something else. Happily, this has translated into business for him, and the worldwide rights of Kites have apparently been sold for Rs 150 crore. But Rakesh, who accompanied Hrithik and Barbara to the international film festival at Cannes, cannot help feeling as infuriated about the whole thing as he is excited.

Were the steamy scenes in Kites added to woo the international audience?
There will be two versions of Kites, one for the Indian market and the other for the international. To assume we added steamy scenes to woo an international audience is ridiculous! We’ve just made a film where we have changed the rules. And there is some intimacy between Hrithik and Barbara because they’re playing a couple in love. Hrithik had to kiss Barbara, what else could he do? Sing songs
with her like we do in our Hindi movies? It is his job as an actor to do what the filmmaker tells him.

Were you embarrassed watching their intimacy on the sets?
I fail to understand why everyone is asking me this question. It is silly. If as a filmmaker I can watch Hrithik jumping from a five-storey building in Krishh, why should I be uncomfortable watching him do a kiss? It is his character in Kites who is kissing Barbara. It is just a job.

Do you agree that Kites is your most hyped film?
I know there is huge excitement, and expectation, over Kites. I’m not doing anything deliberate to hype the film. We showcased it at the film festival and the international media went gaga over it. I was at Vijay Mallya’s party in Cannes and everyone was curious about Kites. Most western newspapers and magazines have written about Hrithik. For me as a father and a filmmaker, it’s a proud moment.

What's happening in Bollywood!

Hot women like Bipasha Basu, Shilpa Shetty and Diana Hayden dominate today’s line up with an exception

Fa Girl: The uber stylish and sexy Bipasha Basu launches Fa’s men’s deodorant. They may never say it, but women love using men’s deodorants and perfumes. We love her electric blue belt and chunky wedges.


Coffee Date: A winning contestant enjoys coffee with Diana Hayden at Bandra’s Carter Road CCD outlet.


Coupling: Teejay Sidhu and hubby Karan Vir Bohra enjoy their cuppa at CCD Carter Road


Cover Girl: Shilpa Shetty sets the June 2009 cover of Grazia on fire in an Azara by Alpana and Neeraj white mini.


They Cannes: Hrithik, Barbara and Rakesh Roshan walk the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival to promote Kites. Hrithik and Barbara look smouldering


Lucky Girl: Former beauty queen Parvathy Omanakuttan is a lucky girl to have made it to the Cannes Film Festival. She graced the red carpet at the premiere of ‘Fish Tail’.

Kites - First Look

Hrithik's Kites to be marketed at Cannes 2009

Hrithik Roshan starrer mega-budget "Kites" will be among a bouquet of films that will be marketed by Reliance BIG Pictures at the 62nd International Cannes Film Festival, starting May 13.

Directed by Anurag Basu, "Kites" also stars Barbara Mori, Kangana Ranaut, Nick Brown and Kabir Bedi in pivotal roles.

The entertainment arm of Indian business conglomerate Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group will market 18 films in all including various films in world cinema and popular cinema categories.

Hindi films such as director Piyush Jha's "Sikandar", comic capers "Do Knot Disturb" directed by David Dhawan, "Well Done Abba" by Shyam Benegal and Vinod Pande's "Chaloo Movie", which are in various stages of production, will also be promoted at the festival this year.

Meanwhile, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have also left India for Cannes. Ash has been attending the event as an ambassador of cosmetics brand L’Oreal Paris.

Strike wont affect us: Rakesh Roshan

Rakesh Roshan and Big Pictures have been able to circumvent the current producers-multiplex deadlock to take Kites to the Cannes International Film Festival 2009.

Defends Rakesh, "Why should the strike affect our visit? We are not breaking any of the conditions laid down. We're not screening our film publicly or for the media at Cannes. This is a screening only for potential buyers from the West."

Rakesh will be accompanied by his son Hrithik who stars in the film. Director Anurag Basu will also accompany them. Actress Barbara Mori, too, will be flying in from Mexico.

The Kites unit will be in Cannes from May 14-17. They'll be staying at The Martinez.

Rakesh who is frantically working to complete all the formalities, says, "We'll be screening a specially-prepared trailer of Kites on May 15. On May 16 , we we will screen the film at Cannes for internantional buyers."

So far, all of the filmmaker's productions have been very desi in their appeal. Kites is being taken to an international audience. And Cannes is the first stop, therefore very important.

Says Rakesh, "We hope to pitch Kites as our production house's first truly international product. Cannes is a very important venue for international cinema. That's why we've made sure to complete the film in time although Anurag Basu and I have been working against time to do so. But we've managed."

Cannes update
Though Sajid Nadiadwala might have said he won't be taking Kambakkht Ishq to Cannes, entertainment studio Eros International is definitely taking the the film to the festival. "We introduce three film projects (KI, Love Aaj Kal and Aladin) at Cannes," says Sunil Lulla of Eros.

Producers’ strike to end tomorrow

The producers’ the distributors’ strike against multiplexes, on account of profit sharing, looks as if it may finally come to an end. Both sides have agreed to meet to discuss the issue tomorrow. The strike, which began on April 4, had producers and distributors demanding a 50 percent cut of the profits made by multiplex owners.

We asked Chairman of the United Producers and Distributors Association Forum, Mukesh Bhatt, who supported the strike reasoning that filmmakers work hard and multiplexes should not be the only ones reaping the profits. He said, “I am not an astrologer who can predict what’s going to happen but we are meeting tomorrow with positive mindset. Let’s hope that the issue gets sorted out.”

Ramesh Sippy, director of the cult film Sholay (1975), who is also a member of the committee, said, “We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow; how can we tell? It also depends on what the other party says and what they have in mind. So let’s see.”

On the other hand, Sudhir Mishra, who has produced the ready-to-release Sikandar, seemed more positive about tomorrow’s meeting, saying, “It would be good to see the issue sorted out at tomorrow’s meet. A lot of films have been put on hold because of this strike. We are all hoping the outcome of the meeting is positive.”

Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh echoes Mishra’s words, saying, “I think the matter will be sorted out at tomorrow’s meeting. I am very optimistic in every aspect of life and would not like to think about the negative side.”

According to Mukesh Bhatt, the venue of the meeting has not been decided on yet.