Undoubtedly, one of the most awaited movies of the year and one of the forthcoming biggies that could provide some respite to the current abysmal state of Hindi cinema. "Armaan", starring Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Preity Zinta, Gracy Singh and Randhir Kapoor, the movie is slated for a mid May release.

Honey Irani, one of the most accomplished and gifted writers of the industry, makes her directorial debut with "Armaan". For the first time Hindi cinema lovers will get to see the work of the talented combination of Honey Irani and ex-husband Javed Akhtar. If this doesn't get an avid lover of good Hindi cinema enticed into paying a visit to the cinema halls, look out for more. The movie will have Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor sharing the screen for the first time and even though Anil Kapoor had a minuscule role in Ramesh Sippy´s "Shakti", the two never shared the screen together.

"Armaan" as the title signifies is the film about one's desire and hopes and how a son goes to fulfill his father's dream. The movie is about the "armaan" of Dr. Siddharth Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan) to build a state of the art hospital providing indiscriminate treatment to its patients and for a person who has sacrificed many things in life, this is his ultimate goal. Dr. Akash Sinha (Anil Kapoor), a respected neurosurgeon, is equally devoted to help realize his father´s dream until fate has some different plans for him. Akash is caught between the complexities concerning the two ladies in his life, Soniya Kapoor (Preity Zinta) a rich, arrogant young woman and Neha Mathur (Gracy Singh), a fellow doctor. This trouble leaves him in a dilemma where he is forced to choose between his love for Neha and his duty towards fulfilling his father's dream. The story leads to an unusual and unconventional climax where the director tries to explore the intricacies of human relationships. The movie is set against the medical backdrop and explores the mechanics of the medical profession and revolves around the lives of doctors and their "Armaan".

Honey Irani, who made her debut as a scriptwriter with the superlative "Lamhe", has once again written the story and screenplay for her directorial debut. Javed Akhtar who is also said to have a substantial contribution to the script, has penned the dialogues and the lyrics. Javed Akhtar's association with Amitabh Bachchan requires no introduction as he has written some of the most superlative scripts like Deewar, Trishul, Zanjeer and many more. Javed Akhtar´s combination with Anil Kapoor has also given some equally superlative scripts like Mashaal, Meri Jung, Mr. India amongst many others.

The technical department of the movie is pretty similar to what Honey Irani´s son Farhan Akhtar used for his directorial debut "Dil Chahta Hai". The movie has art direction by Yunus Pathan (Dil Chahta Hai) and Kiran Khanna and editing by Shirish Kunder. Shot in sync-sound and the exquisite locales of Mauritius, the movie has music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and going by the early response, the trio seems to have come up with some unique and melodious tunes.

Lets hope Honey Irani can recreate the same magic with her directorial debut that she had created 12 years ago with her debut as a scriptwriter for Yash Chopra´s "Lamhe".