Flying into trouble

Promo of Kites gets leaked on YouTube, Hrithik-Barbara affair rumours resurface.

Hrithik Roshan’s much-awaited film,

Kites

, hit a rough patch on Friday when a promo of the film, especially shot to be released with Shah Rukh’s My Name Is Khan on February 12, got leaked on YouTube. A shocked Rakesh Roshan, the film’s director, sprung into action and within a couple of hours, the leaked video was taken off.

However, comments started pouring in from those who had seen it and Hrithik’s sizzling intimate scenes with Mexican actress Barbara Mori became a talking point, fuelling rumours of an off-screen romance.

The rumours first surfaced during the shoot of the film.

“Oooh Hritik and Barbara look so hot,” wrote Chitra on a site, which uploaded the video, which shows Mori in a skimpy black bikini.

“We had sent the promo for international censorship and a fan uploaded it online. We tried to get them off, but it wasn’t possible everywhere. It has created a lot of hype around the film,” said Roshan.

“The moment we got to know of the leak, we took action to take it off but it kept coming back on more sites,” said a source from Reliance Big Pictures, the film’s production house.

In a related development, Roshan confirmed that Barbara Mori will not visit India until May, when the film releases.

“We are starting the promo activities soon and she won’t be part of them till May, but then she will be here for the release,” he said.
Hrithik’s wife Sussanne, known to be upset with rumours of his affair with Mori, is seen to be behind the decision to delay.

What’s wrong with Hrithik?
Amidst reports of him having lost two big brand endorsements — Coca-Cola and John Players — and reports of him not turning up for shoots, there’s speculation in Bollywood about whether all is well with Hrithik Roshan’s personal life.

A few months back, it was reported that Hrithik had confided in filmmaker Karan Johar that he could not get his Kites co-star Barbara Mori out of his mind. A source close to the actor says, “Hrithik seems zoned out these days.” The actor recently stood up the entire unit of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish. “After a long wait, Hrithik called in sick and refused to show up. Bhansali first decided to call off the shooting but then shot Aishwarya Rai’s scenes,” says a source on the sets of the film. When asked, Hrithik’s father Rakesh Roshan curtly replied, “Why is all this stuff written? I don’t believe it and you should not pay heed to it.”