But Does He Have A Fortress Of Bollitude?

I guess it was only a matter of time...

IS the next big thing in superheroes a masked man who leaps from skyscraper to skyscraper, saves the world and suddenly breaks into song? Audiences will find out on June 23, when "Krrish" — a film that showcases Bollywood's first fully realized Superman-style hero — reaches screens.

(snip)

"Krrish" is the story of... Krishna, born with the superpowers the alien bestowed upon his father, and then some.... Krishna is superintelligent and has a handy sixth sense. He has great physical strength and is able to leap, like Spider-Man but sans web, among the trees.

After his parents are killed, Krishna is raised in an isolated village by his grandmother. But the pastoral idyll is disrupted when an alluring television reporter arrives in the village to learn hang gliding. He rescues her after an accident, and romance blooms. Krishna eventually follows her to Singapore, where he recognizes his special powers and also encounters the archvillain, a psychotic inventor who murdered his parents and is now plotting to create a machine that can see the future. Krishna becomes Krrish, a sleek, leather-jacket-clad flying machine, and, naturally, saves the world.

(snip)

["Krrish"'s $10 million budget] is considered huge in Bollywood, but is small by Hollywood standards. The Warner Brothers movie "Superman Returns," which is set to be released a week after "Krrish" (in India, too), cost more than $200 million.

Still, many in Bollywood are convinced that "Krrish" will corner the Indian market. The director Shekhar Kapur, who is currently creating a series of comic books drawn from Asian mythology, said in an e-mail interview that Indian viewers would see the film because "Krrish can dance and sing, and Spider-Man cannot, but mostly because Krrish is more rooted in our culture."

(snip)

But does Krrish really sing? Hrithik Roshan dodged the question when asked, and said only, "Well, Krishna sings."

This is actually pretty cool, and I'll be rooting for "Krrish" to do well, although I tend to have trouble relating to Bollywood films (cultural differences, presumably).

And for the record, I really don't think a singing Spider-Man would be a big draw for me, although I would kinda like to see a singing Batman. Or, more accurately, I would like to see the expression on the shadowy and mysterious Codename V's face upon learning of the existence of Bat-Tastic! The Musical. If I were filthy rich and more than borderline insane, I would make it happen exclusively for that reason.

UPDATE: I already have a title for the Bat-Tastic! sequel: Riddler On The Roof.