Beginning with Bhoot, which opens in the second week of May, Bollywood is all set to unleash a flurry of stars on the audience.

"It's the only way to get them [the audiences] into the theatres," says Suneel Darshan, whose production, Andaaz, scheduled to release in May, stars Akshay Kumar with two beauty queens, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra. It isn't a film with a big starcast -- not if one goes by the standards set by Suneel's brother Dharmesh, whose underproduction drama, Bewafaa, stars Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Sushmita Sen, Manoj Bajpai and Shamita Shetty, with Kareena Kapoor in the central role.

"If you can't beat television for drama, combat the medium with stars," says Suneel.

Ram Gopal Varma, who worked with newcomers before Company, seems to agree. His much talked-about Bhoot stars Ajay Devgan with Urmila Matondkar, Fardeen Khan, Rekha, Nana Patekar, Victor Bannerjee and Tanuja. "You almost make it sound like Jaani Dushman II," chuckles Ramu, referring to the 2002 movie that featured everyone from Akshay Kumar to Raj Babbar. "My film needed the actors it features. Tomorrow, I can work with new actors again."

No one -- including the newcomers themselves -- is convinced they can pull in the crowds. Aashish Chowdhry, whose debut is buttressed by Ajay Devgan, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon and others in Harry Baweja's mega-starrer, Qayamat (another May release), says, "No one is coming to the theatres to see newcomers. So I deliberately chose to launch my movie career with big stars. This way, I'll at least be noticed."

Qayamat also marks former Miss India Neha Dhupia's debut.

Veteran producer Arjun Hingorani's son Amit is playing safe too -- he will debut with Sunny Deol in Kaise Kahoon Ke Pyar Hai, which may release in May.

The star system has never been more in vogue. Producers who can afford to do so are making a beeline for the stars, and are ready to pay them any amount. Kareena Kapoor, who is in much demand among filmmakers, is being offered a whopping Rs 1.5 crores (Rs 150 million) by several producers.

Smaller filmmakers find such expenditure sinful at a time when the industry is going through an acute financial crisis. But well-to-do producers are happily forking out the moolah to add star value to their films and ensure audiences fill the theatres at least on Fridays.

Many star-studded films are readying for release in coming months, chief among them being Sooraj Barjatya's eagerly awaited love triangle, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan) and debutant director Prabal Pandey's Darna Manaa Hai, an episodic horror film featuring Shilpa Shetty, Esha Deol, Nana Patekar, Vivek Oberoi, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpai and Antara Mali.