May 16, 2010, New York City: A flurry of Bollywood stars descended upon the AMC Empire Theater in Times Square to celebrate the premiere of Kites, Rakesh Roshan’s latest offering through Big Pictures and Reliance Media.

Opening May 21^st on 2300 screens around the globe, Kites promises to be the biggest release the Indian Film Industry has ever seen. The premiere was attending by a who’s who including Mira Nair, Karan Johar, Gauri Khan, and the stars themselves, Hrithik Roshan, Rakesh Roshan, Rajesh Roshan and Anurag Basu, the film’s director, amongst others.

Kites centers around Jai played by Hrithik Roshan, a small time hustler who eeks out a living as a dance instructor in the glamorous underworld of Las Vegas. As luck would have it, Jai meets Gina (Kangana Ranaut), the daughter of the owner (Kabir Bedi) of Vegas’s largest and most powerful casino and the two begin a relationship. During a weekend at her family’s beach home, Jai meets Gina’s brother Tony (Nick Brown) who is celebrating his engagement to his Mexican fiancé Natasha played by Barbara Mori. Jai and Natasha fall inseparably in love and what ensues is a high speed chase from Vegas to Mexico.

Directed by Anurag Basu who previously had only down small budget movies, Kites is a gorgeous cinematic venture that is decidedly removed from the typical Bollywood genre.

Rakesh Roshan says of Basu, “I saw Anurag’s Gangster and I loved his work. I called him to the office and told him I wanted Hrithik to work with him. I told Anurag the story line for Kites and he said the plot was so new, so fresh. I said why don’t you direct it…today we need to make a good film for Hrithik. Anurag worked on the story line for a month and came back to me with a storyline, which I liked very much. I took it to Hrithik and he got very excited and that’s how Anurag got the film. In India we usually give breaks to new actors but rarely to new directors or cameramen. I always do that. Anurag is not new, but this is his first big-budget film.”

Basu comments, “I think making smaller films are more difficult because you have to shoot on a shoestring budget. But this time I had a free hand. Rakesh said don’t worry about the budget, just write the film. I knew Mr Rakesh Roshan, an experienced producer who has made many huge movies, was watching over this film, and that was always in the back of my mind, so I was very relaxed. I knew nothing can go wrong, he was there.”

The film is first and foremost an epic love story between Hrithik and Mori and their on screen chemistry is tangible. Although her lines are mostly in Spanish and his waver between Hindi and English, the intensity of their interaction brings forth a unique relationship that is both believable and passionate.

“Films are starting to become more real,” says Hrithik. “They are a slice of life and the film needs to be a journey that will inspire you or help make sense of your own emotions.”

 

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