MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor, who plays a stellar role in UTV Motion Pictures' Heroine has become favourite of different brands. In other words, it can also be said that she leads the brand race.

After The Dirty Picture and Kahaani, women-centric films have been garnering all the right attention, not just for being glamorous, but with great content and author-backed role, they are also collecting a moolah at the box-office.

But Kapoor has gone ahead and has managed to get maximum brands for her upcoming film Heroine. Trade pundits say she is 'leading and coming at par with her male colleagues in the industry'. Her much-awaited film has managed to get over eight brands on board. This is by far the most for any heroine-oriented film. Besides Lakme, Head and Shoulders and Monarch Universal for whom Kapoor already endorses, other brands like Cera, Rupa, Jealous 21 and the likes have also associated with the film for in-film integration and various media associations.

While Lakme is launching Heroine-branded makeup under the Absolute range endorsed by Kapoor, apparel brand Jealous21 will soon be launching a special clothing line inspired by the clothes worn by her in the film. Industry sources estimate at least Rs 15-20 crores of brand spends to be blocked for promotions around Heroine.

"My director Madhur Bhandarkar and producer UTV's vision is finally ready and I am glad I could live through Mahi the character. It's been an exhilarating experience and Madhur has pushed the envelope to bring out a strong performance from me. Heroine is a women oriented film and I am happy that brands today are open to associate with such films which was never the case before. The trend is changing and I'm glad to have instigated it," said Kareena Kapoor.

Heroine has an author-backed role for Kareena and Madhur's zeal to make it the way he had envisioned has prompted many brands to see an opportunity worth associating. Even though it's a heroine led film, because of its sheer content and Kareena's strong brand recall, we have successfully managed to have key brands on board. The product placement is integrated with the film's storyline in a manner that is inherent to the narrative and accelerates the story further." Observed Disney UTV executive director - marketing, studios, Shikha Kapur.

It may be interesting to learn that the Vidya Balan-starrers Kahaani, The Dirty Picture and No One Killed Jessica had no brands associated with them, while the Priyanka Chopra-starrer Fashion had brands like Sunsilk, Lenovo, Reebok and Kimaya associated with it and the Sonam Kapoor-starrer Aisha had Loreal, Christian Dior Couture and DLF Emporio associated with it.