2012 HAS been annus mirabilis for Bollywood with 15 certified hits and an unprecedented, unparalleled eight films vaulting past the Rs 100-crore hurdle.
So, can 2013 beat this beefy benchmark? Can Bollywood tabulate even higher centuries next year? Buoyed by an omnipresent boom time, the Hindi film industry is certainly going to try besting last year, what with several big-name directors and actors having thrown their hats into the ring for 2013.
Chiranjeevi'son Ram Charan Teja hopes to make his mark in Bollywood with Apoorva Lakhia's remake of Zanjeer
Megastars teaming up with money-spinning filmmakers to pursue familiar box-office algorithms yield the most anticipated films of 2013. Yash Raj's Dhoom 3 will continue its eponymous franchise, with a major star (it's Aamir Khan this time) once again playing antagonist to lawmen Jai and Ali (Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra). The heroines have always had one brief — dhoom machale — and now it's up to Katrina Kaif to out-sizzle Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and company.
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra "pays homage to the sports of the country" in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
It's sequel time for Hrithik Roshan too; he will bring in Diwali with a bang with Krrish 3, his fourth outing with father Rakesh Roshan after three straight blockbusters. To make himself ship-shape for this F/X-and-stunt-laden thriller, Hrithik got the best trainers from UK and "underwent a 10-week transformation," according to the actor. But what he says he is relying on most is "the fabulous script; everything else — colour, songs, item songs, action — is decoration." While Priyanka Chopra will be abetting Krrish, Vivek Oberoi will be battling it out as a "mazedaar supervillain".
Vidya Balan shoots for Rajkumar Gupta's dark comedy Ghanchakkar
Another sequel, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2 will decide whether director Milan Luthria can pull off a hat-trick after the success of Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai and The Dirty Picture. This Akshay Kumar-Sonakshi Sinha-Imran Khan starrer is slated for an Eid release, a crowd-pulling holiday that has done wonders for Salman Khan of late.
Jacqueline Fernandez and Saif Ali Khan battle it out in Race 2
While there's no confirmation yet on whether Salman's breathlessly awaited next (buzz is it's Radhe, a remake of a Punjabi film) will keep his date with Eid, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone's first-ever collaboration with box office behemoth Rohit Shetty in Chennai Express is slated for 2013. This UTV-Disney thriller details SRK's character's journey from Mumbai to Rameshwaram.
Director Neeraj Pandey wishes to target more than just the box-office with the Akshay Kumar film Special Chabbis
Thirty years ago, the high-decibel revenge drama Himmatwala made the return journey from the South to Mumbai, and became a blockbuster. Sajid Khan is now readying "a homage to the old Himmatwala" which stars Ajay Devgn. With characteristic grandiloquence, Sajid says, "As a child, I have watched the film 36 times in the theatre! Now I want my audience to leave the theatres with a smile and a 'mazaa aaya' feeling. I know Himmatwala will make 100 crores in the first week itself."
Sushant Singh Rajput (centre) hopes to replicate his TV success in Bollywood with Kai Po Che!
It's not only about making a mark at the box office for our big names. Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Raju Hirani and Aamir try to make a perceptive comment in Peekay (slated for December), Akshay teams up with Neeraj Panday (of the widely acclaimed A Wednesday fame) for Special Chabbis and Prakash Jha readies his Amitabh Bachchan-Ajay Devgn starrer Satyagraha, which presents the middle class movement to renegotiate democracy. Unsurprisingly, Satyagraha is to be released on August 15.
The multiplex boom continues to afford filmmakers a chance to cater to an audience more welcoming of change; and many directors are playing for something deeper even without the benefit of having a megastar fuel their film. 2013 will witness the release of Vishal Bhardwaj's wacky-titled Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, Sudhir Mishra's indictment of sexual harassment, Inkaar, Rajkumar Gupta's Ghanchakkar (which Emraan Hashmi calls "a dark comedy with suspense"), Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Bhaag Milkha Bhaag ("My homage to the sports of the country," as the director puts it) and Shoojit Sircar's collaboration with John Abraham, Madras Cafe.
After winning reviews for Udaan, Vikramaditya Motwane will return on July 5 with Lootera, set in the 1950s. The film has been delayed by inclement weather and injuries but the cast can't stop gushing. Ranveer Singh raves, "I was in tears by the end of the narration; it's a golden script."
Ranveer will keep the romance flag flying high with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gujarati drama Ram Leela while Ranbir Kapoor will lead the charge of the bright brigade with Ayan Mukherji's Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and Abhinav Kashyap's Besharam.
As with any other year, 2013 has a plethora of male-oriented actioners such as the sequels Race 2 and Shootout At Wadala but unfortunately, there are all too few women-oriented films on the anvil. There is the National Award-winning director Vikas Bahl's Kangna Ranaut-starrer Queen, Madhuri Dixit's latest hurrah, Gulab Gang, and maybe the Mary Kom biopic with Priyanka Chopra (shooting has yet to begin). When will Katrina, Kareena Kapoor-Khan and Vidya Balan green-light projects headlining their names first and foremost? What price gender parity?
Two tangy
How would the world have known that sodium (Na) plus chloride (Cl) produces salt unless someone had the gall to do a laboratory test with the two ingredients? 2013 will witness the coming together of several new star pairs and director-actor permutations, all in the hope of sparking off a novel chemistry.
Anushka Sharma's full-of-beans exuberance will hopefully contrast well with Imran's understated charm in Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. She says, "Imran and I are working together for the first time in Matru... It's a fresh pairing but I had never thought we would have such a different look in the film." The normally dapper Imran sports a thick stubble and has done akhada-style exercises for the film, prompting Anushka to comment, "I think Imran looks hot in this film."
Later in the year, Anushka will also attempt to ignite chemistry with Imran's mamu, Aamir, in Peekay. Another heroine who can now claim to have worked with both uncle and nephew is Katrina, who did Mere Brother Ki Dulhan with Imran in 2011 and now pairs with Aamir for the first time in Dhoom 3. Height issues notwithstanding, Aamir and Katrina's long-burnished star appeal should prove a combustible combination for a guns n' gals thriller like Dhoom 3.
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
CID
6