A masked superhero who saves the world amidst dancing and singing like a pro, a gifted evil-basher who can make metal bend and a capped superman are all waiting in the wings to lay siege on the Indian marquees.

Starting Friday, these superheroes in varied hues will invade the senses of Hindi-film aficionados. The first will be "Alag", to be followed quickly with "Krrish", the most awaited of them all. The last but not the least will be Hollywood's "Superman Returns" that has been dubbed in three Indian languages.

While relative newcomer Akshay Kapoor will be seen as Tejas Rastogi who emits a frequency that affects metal and electronic items in "Alag", the title for Bollywood's first indigenous Superman-style superhero will go to Hrithik Roshan in "Krrish".

"Krrish" can leap from skyscraper to skyscraper sans a web or a cape and while battling evil he can break into impeccable song and dance routines. "Krrish" is a sequel, a rarity in Bollywood, to the 2003 blockbuster "Koi... Mil Gaya" that was considered Hindi cinema's first major science fiction film.

"Koi...Mil Gaya" had given Bollywood an E.T.-like alien called Jadoo who befriended a mentally challenged Rohit (Hrithik) and transformed him into a hero who beats bad boys, gets the girl and makes his mother (Rekha) very happy.

"Krrish" is the story of Rohit's son, Krishna, who possesses superpowers. Krishna is unaware of his abilities till he saves the life of a television reporter essayed by Priyanka Chopra.

Love blossoms between the two and he follows her to Singapore, where he encounters a psychotic inventor who murdered his parents and is now plotting to create a machine that can see the future.

Krishna becomes Krrish. A leather-suit and a mask replace the lungi or loincloth. Krrish manages to save the world and gets the girl.

Bollywood's A-list director Rakesh Roshan is hoping to be third time lucky in directing Hrithik. The father-son duo had struck gold in 2000 with "Kaho Na Pyaar Hai" that had catapulted Hrithik into unprecedented superstardom. A string of flops later, Rakesh had resurrected Hrithik's career in "Koi... Mil Gaya".

Hitherto, Indians have known only a couple of homegrown superheroes like the animated "Hanuman", the TV series "Shaktimaan" or the comic strip "Chacha Chaudhary". There is hardly any precedent for a Western-style superhero, though Indian mythology is brimming with spectacularly heroic men and women.

For Hindi films, the hero is nothing short of a superhero who can sing, dance and play musical instruments as he single-handedly beats up 50 men. But with urbane city dwellers demanding at least a modicum of realism, Hindi films are repackaging traditional heroes as superheroes.

"Our actors are seen doing heroic acts. But the execution is not good enough to take the stunt to that level of conviction," Rakesh Roshan told a daily. "What makes superheroes is the execution to make their feats look convincing and believable," he added.

In addition, the superheroes like those of "Alag" and "Krrish" go a step ahead of conventional heroes by mitigating the pain of people and animals alike. Apparently, Krrish is depicted as saving animals and Tejas cares for strangers, birds and animals.

But pleasing Indian audiences that have made "Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 2" the second and third highest grosser after "Titanic" is not going to be easy.

"Krrish" will hit the screens on June 23, avoiding a clash with Hollywood's "Superman Returns" which is scheduled to release on June 30 in all four versions - original (English) and dubbed Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

The other distinct advantage for "Krrish" will be its singing and dancing Krishna and a strong maternal angle, a must for Bollywood potboilers.

It is testing time for sequels in Bollywood. "Phir Hera Pheri", a sequel to blockbuster "Hera Pheri", released Friday to not-so-impressive film reviews. Though the film opened well, critics have panned it for not living up to the original.

Writer Neeraj Vora's take on Priyadarshan's "Hera Pheri" fails to reprise the magic Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty created in their now-iconic roles of Baburao, Raju and Shyam in the original. The presence of every comedian in the industry has over-thickened the broth.

The thumbs down to "Phir Hera Pheri" comes on the heels of a disastrous box-office performance of "Darna Zaroori Hai", which was Ram Gopal Varma's sequel to his "Darna Manna Hai".

It remains to be seen whether "Krrish" can win the box-office glory of "Koi... Mil Gaya".

In the past too, sequels have never really worked in Hindi cinema, presumably because audiences' attention time is too short. But, a slew of sequels have been announced, throwing conventional box-office wisdom to the winds.

The other notable sequels under production are those of "Dhoom" and "Munnabhai M.B.B.S".

"Dhoom 2" is expected in October. The sequel of Sanjay Gadhvi's motorcycle epic is John Abraham-free (apparently, he'll be back for "Dhoom 3"), but stars Hrithik and Aishwarya Rai as the baddies.

The sequel to "Munnabhai M.B.B.S" will feature Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi. Vidya Balan has replaced plain Gracy Singh.

"Munnabhai M.B.B.S" has become the first Bollywood film to be officially adapted by Hollywood filmmakers. According to media reports, "Munnabhai M.B.B.S" will be remade as "Gangster MD" starring Chris Tucker, the Hollywood action star, in the lead role.