Hrithik may also be helped by the fact that his debut venture is a typical masala film, of the type that Filmkraft specialises in. Kaho Naa... has all the so-called magic ingredients that makes a genuine Bollywood potboiler. Whether it whets the public's palate is to be seen.

Rohit, a car salesman whose great dream is to be a pop star, falls in love with rich gal Sonia, and she with him. The first half of Kaho Naa... traces the romance through a fun-filled cruise on an unbelievable ship, replete with sails andtropical sunsets, and a brief idyll on a lonely island.But that's when the father (Anupam Kher) steps in as the proverbial kabab mein haddi. Result: Rohit goes away promising to return only when he has made his fortune and rendered himself fit to marry Sonia. And he gets into a fair way of doing that, getting on to the stage and cutting a popular album.

Unfortunately, while he's doing all that, he also happens to witness the murder of a police commissioner by the film's baddies, Mohnish Bahl, Ashish Vidyarthi and Dalip Tahil, who are hand in glove with Sonia's father. Bahl and Vidyarthi, who are police inspectors, manage to kill off Rohit and believe that all's well that ends well.

Not so, for a pining Sonia gets sent to New Zealand, where she finds a Rohit look-alike, Raj Chopra, who sings for a hobby. Raj has an advantage over Rohit: His songs are sung by Lucky Ali! Not unnaturally,-this is Bollywood, remember,-Raj falls in love with Sonia, and intrigued by her refusal to reciprocate, follows her backto India. Almost as soon as they land, the two get embroiled in a mad chase with Vidyarthi, who's the only one who's seen Raj, convinced that Rohit is back to avenge himself. A grand stage show for the finale, the kidnapping of the heroine, some smart stunts later, the baddies are dead, Kher in handcuffs, and the hero and heroine back in New Zealand for the ring ceremony.

A word here: Rohit's death scene is the most picturesque ever seen in a long time. The underwater photography is a marvel-the gruesomeness gets completely blurred into the magnificence of the surroundings. The music is as mellifluous as that of most of Filmkraft's ventures. Truly, Rakesh Roshan's greatest asset is his composer brother, Rajesh Roshan.

--Mimmy Jain