The opening of Krrish in cinemas on Friday attracted extraordinary attention, with India's 24-hour news channels giving over entire evenings to preview the film.

It was all too much for one fan, a hotel worker now in hospital in Delhi with multiple fractures after he got so excited during the film that he leapt from the balcony to the stalls in an attempt to emulate the on-screen stunts of actor Hrithik Roshan.

Bollywood films have always been full of improbable scenes in which the hero single-handedly defeats a dozen armed men. But Krrish is the first Supermanstyle hero, with extraordinary powers and a ridiculous costume.

In fact Krrish is more a mix of Superman and Spiderman . . . like Superman he is fantastically strong and can leap over buildings, like Spiderman he can climb buildings. His costume . . . ill-advisedly, given the heat in India and Singapore where the film is set . . .

is made of black leather.

Krrish is the work of Rohit Roshan, a major Bollywood director who is at the vanguard of attempts to emulate Hollywood. Keeping it in the family, he cast his son Hrithink . . . a major star in his own right . . . as Krrish.

The film is the sequel to Roshan's 2003 hit, Koif Mil Gaya, India's first science fiction film, which was heavily influenced by ET, with an alien with a glowing finger who gives extraordinary powers to Rohit, an everyday Indian. Krrish is the story of Rohit's son, Krishna, who has even more remarkable powers.