Roshans cooked up Hrithik-Barbara love story!

‘Hrithik is close to Mexican hottie Barbara Mori’ rumour was apparently spread by the Roshans themselves to promote their film Kites, as revealed to HT City by a source close to the family.

When Hrithik and Sussanne Roshan walked the ramp at the IIFA on Friday night, they looked like a perfect loving couple. And that is exactly what they are, now it turns out, since the ‘Hrithik is close to Mexican hottie Barbara Mori’ rumour was apparently spread by the Roshans themselves to promote their film Kites, as revealed to HT City by a source close to the family.

HT Image

The plan was blurted out by this close friend, who was backstage and tipsy. When Hrithik and Sussanne kissed before going on to the runway, this friend called out, “Hey, don’t do that, it’ll spoil your strategy.” The source let out that all the statements made by the family, including Sussanne’s statement that no one could break her marriage, were calculated to keep people hanging on to every word written about the drama. Multiple mentions of Mori’s name, followed by obvious denials of an affair by Hrithik and other family members, would, of course, keep the film alive in public memory.

In fact, another family friend claimed that even the recent split between Kites cast member Kangana Ranaut and Adhyayan Suman hints at a publicity gimmick. “They are part of the same strategy. Rakesh Roshan is keen to show that Kangana is single as part of the promotional plan,” says the friend. The Roshans were unavailable for comment.

Planned ‘rumours’ of a split or affair to promote a film or brand is not new to Bollywood. Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan cooked up a story of their split before a brand campaign last year.

This was, apparently, Sussanne’s first runway outing and she was nervous. But she did it to support sister Farah, a jewellery designer. “She had to convince me [to walk], but I’m sure we’ll be great,” Hrithik said before the show.