In case you've been wondering where some of our biggest stars have gone, here's a clue: they've been re-charging their batteries and getting ready to strike again.

The first one to make a whopping comeback is the gorgeous Urmila Matondkar. Her last release, after a series of high-profile appearances throughout 2003, was the much-lauded "Ek Hasina Thi" in January 2004.

Thereafter she was absent from both media and celluloid attention.

"It isn't as though I deliberately chose to stay away," she explained with a laugh. "But at this stage of my career I can't do any and everything that comes my way... I'd rather wait for the right opportunities, make my moves carefully."

Now after an absence of a year-and-a-half, Urmila is all set to return with the supernatural thriller "Naina" on May 20. It features Urmila in a sinewy central role. In a manner of speaking, she's both the hero and heroine.

"I guess the centrality did attract me. But more than that, it was the uniqueness of the role. I just love taking on challenges," Urmila maintained.

Also up for a grand return is north India's favourite he-man. Long missing from the marquee, Sunny Deol returns with the Crocodile Dundee-styled comedy "Jo Bole So Nihal", directed by his old favourite Rahul Rawail.

Deol, who was last seen in the disastrous Pakistan-bashing "Maa Tujhe Salaam" and a cameo in the super-disastrous "Rok Sako To Rok Lo", is counting on his new film to bail him out of his mid-career crisis.

And what about Govinda? Does anyone remember this comic virtuoso-turned-politician's last screen presence?

Govinda returns with the long-delayed comedy "Khullam Khulla Pyar", where he's paired with - of all people - Preity Zinta.

The film, ready and complete in the cans for three years, is scheduled for release in the last week of April alongside the slick "Kaal". Whether audiences are still keen to see Govinda, we shall soon know.

Then there's Karisma Kapoor, long-married and retired, making a belated appearance as an obsessive lover girl in Suneel Darshan's "Mere Jeevan Saathi" in May. Karisma's last release was the whodunit "Baaz" more than a year ago.

Out of sight out of favour? We shall soon find out.

Then Rekha. Vintage sex appeal will ooze out of screen when she pairs with Mallika Sherawat in the chick flick "Bachke Rehna Re Baba" in May.

Of late, the ageless diva hasn't been seen anywhere except at awards functions. She did make furtive appearances in Ram Gopal Varma's "Bhoot" and Rajesh Roshan's "Koi ... Mil Gaya" in 2003 but all has been quiet on the Rekha front ever since then.

Do audiences really want to see the magnificently talented and the monstrously neglected Tabu, who's going to be seen in Raman Kumar's "Sarhad Paar" and Khalid Mohamed's "Silsilay" this summer, after an absence of nearly a year-and-a-half?

The long-forgotten Kannada maestro Girish Karnad is also making a comeback after years in Nagesh Kukunoor's "Iqbal"?