Who’s the next Superman?

After playing physically and mentally challenged characters on-screen, actors are increasingly showing an interest in playing heroes with superpowers.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s next release Ra.1 sees him play a superhero in a film with a massive budget and mind-boggling stunts, special effects and international artistes. “I’m doing this film for my kids, Aryan and Suhana. Hopefully they’ll like it,” the actor had earlier said. 

South Superstar Rajinikanth also played a larger than life character in Shankar’s Robot which went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year.

Hrithik Roshan played a superhero in Krissh and played a man with super powers in Koi Mil Gaya.

Abhay Deol played a super-man in Honeymoon Travel’s Pvt Ltd. Mallika Sherawat oscillated between playing a woman and a snake in recently released Hiss. Though the film failed to click at the box-office, Mallika managed to grab eyeballs.

Another actor who is gearing up to play a superhero is Kunal Kapoor. The actor will soon start shooting for Anurag Kashyap’s mega budget action film, Doga. Visibly excited about the project Kunal says, “I have a lot to prepare and that includes working on my body.” He jokingly adds, “Finally I will also know what it feels like to wear my underwear over my pants.”

Akshay Kumar, who has played action roles before, is now looking forward to playing a larger than life character. Like Shah Rukh, Akshay too is doing it for his son Aarav, who is fond of the genre.

Says a source, “For Aarav, his dad Akshay is a hero. Akshay knows Aarav will love to see him play a larger than life role and this is one of the main reasons he wants to play a role like that.”

Sunny Deol is also waiting for a similar role to come his way. “ I have done action and now I would love to play a superhero. It is something I have been wanting to do for long.”