It seems to be the screen season of the supercars ? four-wheelers like Batmobile that have dazzled us with their daredevilry driven by hi-tech machismo or delighted us like Herbie with their hilarious pretensions to match up to man.

The Batmobile (picture far right bottom) is set to return in Batman Begins, based on Bruce Wayne?s first years as Batman. This vehicle will lack the refinement of previous cars but will have substantial weapons and jumping capabilities that mark the machine.

Disney is also getting ready with Herbie: Fully Loaded, reportedly with Matt Dillon at the wheel. This will be the fifth feature film in the Herbie series that started with The Love Bug in 1969.

The newest rider to vroom out of the superstable is Tiger (picture right). It is majestic, sleek, handsome and fearless. But unlike wild cats, it does not believe in killing. Tiger is a ?wild car?, the star of a show being beamed every Sunday morning at 11 am on Hungama TV. Brainchild of young prodigy Aaryan, Tiger is a mystery-solving, talkative car with loads of attitude. ?Tiger sounds somewhat like Amitabh Bachchan,? laughs Anuradha Ghakkar, creative director of the Hungama show.

The car draws from its illustrious predecessors. Its power of speech, for instance, is reminiscent of the car in Knight Rider (picture left), the incredible vehicle in the top NBC TV show aired from 1982. With David Hasselhoff, playing Michael Knight, at the wheel, the K.I.T.T or Knight Industries 2000, could talk, think and drive itself. It was designed to serve in fighting crime.

Tiger, too, is a car of many faculties. With the handsome neighbourhood cop Karan, it always arrives before there is any fatality. ?The show is meant for the 4-14 segment. We cannot show any violence,? explains Ghakkar. Another logic is embedded in the story. Like Batman Bruce Wayne, who saw his millionaire parents die, Aaryan has his mother?s death in a car accident behind him.

Tiger, therefore, never hurts anyone. ?It is bullet-proof but at best it scares people. You never know what ace it has up its sleeve. It can even throw banana peels at a crucial juncture,? smiles Ghakkar.

Armed with rubber bullets, turbospeed, maps and communication devices (much like a non-violent Batmobile), Tiger?s favourite pastime is to be one up on Karan, his guardian.

This cheeky mindset perhaps puts it in the league of Herbie, the little race car with a big heart and attitude.

Would it not be cool to get to ride around in such a car? Aditya Kapadia, who plays Aaryan, reasons: ?It would be fun to have a car that you could not only drive but also talk to. On the flip side, a car with a mind of its own might not always agree to drive you to wherever you would like it to.?

Having experienced Tiger?s tantrums, Aaryan would know. Yet, he feels, ?a car is a boy?s best friend?.

Especially if it is a supercar!