Upala KBR (DNA; July 22, 2016)

Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken — the most popular male doll in the business — now has serious competition. A major toy company has reached out to Hrithik Roshan with the intent of having a special collection of toys featuring him. But not as himself but his characters from Krrish, Dhoom, Bang Bang, Jodhaa Akbar, etc.

A source close to the actor reasons, “Hrithik has a huge kiddie fan following. He struck a special chord with them after the release of Koi Mil Gaya. Kids love seeing him jumping from cliffs, beating up the villains, and dancing. So a leading Indian toy company having done their homework, approached Hrithik to ink a deal with him to release dolls of his popular characters. All the dolls will be priced in the same range to make them affordable to kids.”

The toy company has identified films with a high recall among the target audience. Once Hrithik gives his nod to the idea, requisite permissions from all his producers will need to come in. Usually, in India, the dolls are sold in retail markets with a corner created in malls, so a marketing strategy will be planned accordingly. If some of his producers refuse to let the brand use Hrithik’s character from one of his films, that character won’t be included.

Hrithik says, “I am a big fan of action heroes and superhero collectibles myself. So, if this works out, it will be very interesting.”

A doll collection based on a actor’s characters would be a first in India. Katrina Kaif and Aamir Khan had dolls, but for their individual films on a one-off basis.