Will these jodis hit the box office jackpot?

For decades, Bollywood producers followed tried and tested formulas. The audience was happy and their approval kept the money flowing in.

It wasn't just the screenplay or the climax which could be predicted, directors preferred to work with jodis who had established themselves at the box office.

Madhuri Dixit-Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor-Neetu Singh are a few of the names which come to mind.

Today it's a different scenario; everybody wants to experiment. Sometimes the strangest of combinations works such as Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone in Karthik calling Karthik or couples who reinvented themselves in new avatars like Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai.

With that in mind, here are a few of the couples expected to rock the box office this year:

Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori in Kites

We don't know whether casting an international actress was necessary for the plot of Kites. But it was a casting coup for Rakesh Roshan.

The stills, especially the sizzling love scenes between Hrithik and Barbara have made Kites the most eagerly anticipated film of the year. So far all films Hrithik has done under his father's banner have been superhits.

Let's hope Rakesh Roshan hits the jackpot this time too.

This is one couple who might redefine action scenes.

If Akshay is a fitness freak, Anushka is a brilliant dancer. When Anushka's not shooting she's constantly honing her moves.

Their film Patiala House is set in a Punjabi milieu, something both Akshay and Anushka are comfortable with.

People who have seen them at the shoot swear these two will walk away with the award for 'Jodi of the Year'.

One of Abhishek's biggest hits was Guru directed by Mani Ratnam.

Of course the film's release strategically timed a few months before the Abhi-Ash wedding helped tremendously. Now this trio returns with the bilingual Raavan (Raavanan in Tamil).

There's curiosity and hype about this film from the day it went on the floors. With the number of international projects Aishwarya has in hand, it should be fun to see her in a desi avatar for a change.

A couple of months after her split with Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika signed a film with Imran Khan titled Break Ke Baad.

Guess this was Deepika's way of telling Ranbir, she had moved on in life.

But considering the speed at which Ranbir Kapoor goes through relationships, Imran will always have plenty of leading ladies to choose from.

When this lady is not doing international projects she has been working with either husband Abhishek Bachchan or her favourite co-star Hrithik Roshan. But finally she returns with with Khakee co-star, Akshay Kumar.

It seems Action Replay has a '70s theme where both of them will sport a retro look. If the film is a hit we might just see them together again.

After all how many films can Akshay Kumar do with Katrina Kaif?

Priyanka is a trifle wary of working with not-so-established actors and with good reason.

Pyaar Impossible (opposite Uday Chopra) and Love Story 2050 (opposite Harman Baweja) fared miserably at the box office. But she made an exception for Ranbir Kapoor.

Apparently she loved Ranbir in Wake Up Sid. The director, Sidharth Anand believes these two are destined to be the 'Jodi of the Decade'.

But that's what Siddharth said about Ranbir-Deepika when he was shooting Bachna Ae Haseeno...

This film is expected to take Sonam Kapoor into the big league. It's been produced by Karan Johar who is known to be lavish with his budgets.

The debut director is Punit Malhotra, fashion designer Manish Malhotra's nephew. With so many Bollywood heavyweights supporting this venture, it might just be the surprise package of 2010.