April 30th sees India'ssummer movie season kick off with the release of Shah Rukh Khan-starrer theUS$5m Main Hoon Na.

The film, which is beingreleased by Eros Entertainment, marks the debut of director Farah Khan whochoreographed Bombay Dreams. Thecast features Suniel Shetty, former Miss India and Miss Universe (1994)Sushmita Sen, Zayed Khan, Amrita Rao and Naseeruddin Shah

Shah Rukh plays Major RamPrasad Sharma who is responsible for the success of "Mission Milaap" - anambitious project aimed at bridging the political gap between India andPakistan.

Indian filmmaker ManiRatnam's latest film Yuva gets its world premiere during the fifth IndiaInternational Film Academy (IIFA) Awards show to be held in Singapore from May20 to 22.

Ratnam made the US$5m Yuvain three languages: Hindi, Tamil and Telugu (dubbed from the Tamil version).The Hindi Yuva stars Ajay Devgan, Rani Mukherjee, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena,Abhishek Bachchan and Esha Deol.

The Tamil version,meanwhile, stars Madhavan, Siddharth, Mira and Trishna, with Esha Deol beingthe only common actress in the two films. Rathnam plans to release the moviesworldwide with 500 plus prints - of which 125 (a mix of Hindi and Tamil) wouldbe targeted at overseas audiences.

After its huge box-office successwith Kal Ho Naa Ho , Yash Raj Films will release, the US$2m Hum Tum(You & Us) on May 28th. The film was directed by Kunal Kohli and starsSaif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherji.

The most expensive of thesummer releases is the UTV movies-produced US$6.5m Lakhshya. This isdirector Farhan Akhtar's second film after Dil Chahta Hai and starsHrithik Roshan and Priety Zinta along with superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

The film will have acountrywide opening in 500 theatres across India on June 17, with a further 100 prints struck for overseasterritories.

Other mega budget films witha planned summer release include Amitabh Bachchan starrer Deewar - LetsBring Our Heros Home - a US$20m thriller; Abhishek Bachchan-starrer Run(US$2m), Boney Kapoor's Bewafa (US$4.5m) and Ashwariya Rai starrer Kyun'Ho Gaya Naa which cost US$3.5m.