The assault of Bollywood's top guns has been so intense in 2004 that in the new year, big names like Shah Rukh Khan and Yash Chopra could take a backseat and let the underdogs take over.

What is striking about the line up of major films in store for 2005 is that after an overdose of movies featuring Shah Rukh and Salman Khan, the stars will more or less disappear from the marquees for most of next year.

Shah Rukh's calendar for 2005 includes producing a film to be directed by Amol Palekar in February, which going by the filmmaker's repertoire, will hardly be the stuff to entice the masses.

The actor, however, says: "It will be a typical Shah Rukh Khan movie. Simple, interesting and nice. And Rani Mukherjee is on."

Besides he will be doing a film with Karan Johar in April but given the lengthy post-production work that the filmmaker is known to indulge in, the film is unlikely to see the light of day this year.

Though many were hoping that Aditya Chopra's next would feature Shah Rukh and recreate the magic of the past, the actor says he has not been approached yet. As a result the only reasonable bet of seeing him in a masala entertainer will be in Farah Khan's next film. But the newly married choreographer-director is said to be in no hurry to wrap up the film this year.

Salman, on the other hand, has no big film ready for release in the near future. He is said to be working on his first Hollywood production, but there is no word from his producers about the release date of the film.

Salman's former girlfriend Aishwarya Rai will continue to sculpt a career in Hollywood, though her maiden foreign film - "Bride and Prejudice" - was seen as neither a true Bollywood extravaganza nor a Hollywood flick.

No big film of hers is slated for release in the domestic market barring a teenybopper romance with Zayed Khan.

Coming back to the male actors though, Aamir Khan will return to the silver screen but however hard he may try, his fan following is limited to urban sectors and is definitely not the kind that flocks for a Salman film.

Aamir's first film after a gap of nearly four years - "Mangal Pandey" - has the potential to be a blockbuster but given the track record of the maker of the film, it is likely to be packaged as an upmarket product aimed at urban crowds.

The film is a larger than life portrayal of the firebrand-revolutionary Mangal Pandey set against the backdrop of the 1857 Mutiny. It concerns a strong bond that developed between the heroic freedom fighter Pandey and his British commanding officer William Gordon (played by Toby Stephens).

The friendship is soon challenged, thanks to a charming young aristocrat, Emily Kent (Coral Beed), and then of course by the introduction of controversial new gun-cartridges among the troops.

Given the multiple financial and other crises that the film has been going through, its release date is not certain.