New releases in Bollywood: 2009 Complete Guide Part 1

Finally. Two months, several tons of paper, litres of ink, and financial losses later, here we are, at the end of the rainbow – the end of the Producer-Multiplex strike in Bollywood.

The terms are yet to be finalized. The whole agreement will probably take shape by today, 8^th June, 2009. While the profit distribution rates seem decided upon, the other demands of the Producers, like more reasonable prices for movie-goers find no mention in the papers. We can only hope that they’ll have kept that in mind today.

With the strike at an end, several big films are on their way to our cinemas. Here’s a list of the most anticipated ones:

Anubhab: An Actor’s Tale

Release Date: 5^th June 2009

Director: Rajeev Nath

Starring: Sanjay Suri, Gul Panag, Jackie Shroff, Anoop Menon

Already released on 5^th June, Anubhab stars Sanjay Suri, Gul Panag and Jackie Shroff in chief roles. The banner and the trailers proclaim an offbeat film with a chance to leave its mark. Unfortunately, it could suffer from a shortage of any good story.

Read the review at NowRunning.Com

Kal Kissne Dekha

Release date: 12^th June

Director: Vivek Sharma

Producer: Vashu Bhagnani

Starring: Jacky Bhagnani, Vaishali Desai

Now this is one of the most publicized film waiting in line to get released. Directed by Vivek Sharma, the film looks suspiciously like a star son’s overhyped entry into Bollywood. When was the last time we saw that? Right, Love Story 2050. And Kal Kissne Dekha might very well end up doing a Love Story 2050, what can be guessed from the odd drifts of its story. Jacky Bhagnani (producer Vashu Bhagnani’s son) plays a college-goer who can see into the future. And therein starts an action filled tale of drama, adventure and saving-your-girlfriends stuff. Whether it becomes a fruitful or fruitless attempt is yet to be seen. Just bear this in mind: Jacky himself said in an interview, “Turn off your brains and watch this movie, it is solid entertainment.” Anyone like the first part of the sentence?

Vaishali Desai looks good in the songs. However, Jacky might at best be passed off as cute. Any further comments on his looks will need great leaps of imagination.

The music of Kal Kissne Dekha is by Sajid-Wajid. It doesn’t sound very bad for the most part. “Soniyo Billori” manages to mix the now compulsory Punjabi beats quite well. But the title track, “Kal Kissne Dekha” is pure crap.

Karma: Crime, Passion, Reincarnation

Release date: 12^th June

Director: M.R. Shahjahan

Producer: Dhiraj Kotkar

Starring: Vijayendra Ghatge, Alma Saracci, Carlucci Weyant

An American girl meets Indian boy themed horror story directed by M.R. Shahjahan. It takes a lot of sensible thinking, good scriptwriting, well-researched and innovative direction and inspired performances to make a successful horror story in India. And if reviews be heeded, Karma: Crime, Passion, Reincarnation has none of them.

Read the excellent review by Kaveree Bamzai.

Zor Lagaa Ke Haiya

Release date: 12^th June

Director: Girish Girija Joshi

Producer: Kartikeya Talreja

Starring: Mithun Chakraborty

A Hindi Mithun Chakraborty movie where he’s composed and serious, not playing the goof. Maybe it’ll be another National Award winning performance by him(the film has already won 4 International awards), but the trailers don’t seem very promising at all. Some children, a village, a homeless man – together they save a tree. It reeks of low budget, and what’s worse, an absence of a guiding story. It might ultimately fall into the Children’s film category which no adult would watch – except in during a strike – but I’m not sure. Here’s hoping  the performances are heartwrenching enough.

New York

Release date: 26^th June

Director: Kabir Khan

Producer: Aditya Chopra

Starring: Katrina Kaif, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irrfan Khan

Now here’s another biggie that’ll hit the theatres by the end of June. It stars three of the hottest and most sought after actors in Bollywood – John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Katrina Kaif. The three play a trio of friends in the background of 9/11 New York. With the World Trade Centre’s destruction, they come under the scanner in police interrogations. New York includes the much awaited nude John Abraham scene surviving torture, but sorry to disappoint you, nothing obscene will be shown – Abraham is conveniently covered by shadows at the right points.

The trailers make the film seem an impressive cross between Dostana and Dil Chahta Hai – a copy, yet impressive, as any well-portrayed story of friendship must seem. The rest of the trailers are filled with explosive visuals with a conspicuous lack of Katrina Kaif in the action parts. If these trailers are to be believed, New York seems to be trying to fit too much into too little a space. Too many facts will be hard to knit together in a single average sized movie.

I wouldn’t be giving New York too much credibility. It might be a hit – it seems to have all the ingredients ready – but most probably not a good film.

Kambakkht Ishq

Release date: 10^th July

Director: Sabir Khan

Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Sylvestor Stallone

Three ‘K’ s in the name. Will this numerological tweak work to make the film a hit?

Maybe. Kambakkht Ishq, starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, with Sylvester Stallone in the background, is one of the most promising films that’ll be released this year. Promising in the Akshay Kumar potboiler sense. Not the sense Chandni Chowk to China was. A stuntman and an aspiring-to-be-a-model surgeon fall in love – what happens next? We’re all awaiting this movie to know more.

Aladin

Release: 24^th July

Director: Sujoy Ghosh

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sameera Reddy, Juhi Chawla

One of those rarities – a fantasy movie in Bollywood. Oh, I mean the fantasies in Bollywood movie are adequate enough, but Aladin is a magical adventure-based fantasy like Harry Potter. And Director Sujoy Ghosh lays claims to it being influenced directly by the harry Potter series.

Aladin is still the story of the boy Aladin (Riteish Deshmukh) and the genie (‘Genius’ the genie, played by Amitabh Bachchan) residing in a magical lamp. But reportedly, much has been changed to fit the demands and expectations of the modern cinegoers.

Here’s the take: Aladin show great potential. It is dark, and rare in its niche in Bollywood. Except for the fear of the fact that most high budget and high aim films in recent times have seen themselves going up in smoke, Aladin should manage to be a tad more sensible and build in all the high-on-adrenalin swashbuckling stuff such movies need.

Blue

Release Date: Unknown

Director: Anthony D’Souza

Producer: Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd.

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Lara Dutta, Zayed Khan, Katrina Kaif

Blue is a pathbreaking new film – or one that could well be. With a budget of over 100 crore rupees, a stellar cast comprising Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, and a totally experimental premise, Blue comes only second to the Three Idiots as the most anticipated film of 2009.

It is India’s first “official” underwater film, with overreaching attempts at getting the right “international” feel to it – just look at the number of foreign technicians on the set. Predictably, it is a thriller with lots of underwater scenes and fighting and treasure hunting. At least it has the correct amount of suspense and dark mysterious feel in its initial promos.

And oh, it also includes a song by Australian singing sensation Kylie Minogue. For once, no stone has been left unturned.

Watch out. Blue could just be one of the biggest hits of 2009.

Kissan

Release: Unknown

Director: Puneet Sira

Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Sohail Khan

Starring: Sohail Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Jackie Shroff, Dia Mirza, Nauheed Cyrusi

Kissan looks suspiciously like a happy-Punjabi-farmer-fighting-trouble sort of story, the thing that the Deols look good in. And yes, to put speculations at rest, Sohail Khan does have at least one scene in the movie where he manages a Bobby Deol act. Not cool.

The only ray of hope is that Kissan is produced by UTV Spotboys’ Ronnie Screwvala, and his films are generally offbeat and brilliant. Let’s see who tilts the balance further – Screwvala or Sohail Khan. With every hope and wish that the story is something new, will Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan get their much awaited first hit in Bollywood?

I won’t put too much hope on Kissan doing that.

Runway

Release: 30^th June, 2009

Director: Sunil- Praful

Producer: Rita J. Shukla

Starring: Amarjeet Shukla, Tulip Joshi, Lucky Ali, Sharat Saxena, Shawar Ali, Deepal Shaw

A very obscure film so far. One of the most obscure, in fact. It has plenty of running, fighting, chasing, blood, and probably – revenge for a messed up past.

Except for one or two trailers that have been released, each sporting Hollywood style dark presentation, nothing is known of this movie.

It seems promising because of two reasons – one, the immediate reaction to one of the trailers; two, it comes from a little known banner, and as we know, they’ve been carrying out many upsets in recent years.

However, Runway also seems too ambitious on a weak premise. That inclination to gimmick might be its easy road to failure.

I’d give Runway a fair amount of credibility. It just might turn out an above average film which will hearten others to follow that ambition.

Jashnn: The Music Within

Release: Unknown

Director: Raksha Mistry Hasnain S Hyderabadwala

Producer: Mukesh Bhatt

Starring: Adhyayan Suman, Shahana Goswami

Produced by Mukesh Bhatt, Jashnn: The Music Within seems pretty much akin to the cliched tale of a nobody who became a somebody and his life of love, trust and betrayal. You get the drift. I won’t bet much money on it till more facts come to light.

Did I mention who the hero is? Our very own loverboy from Raaz: The Mystery Continues, Adhyayan Suman! In the teaser song, his face is still curiously devoid of emotions. Seriously, I hope he has taken some acting lessons in the meantime, for otherwise this musical seems doomed.

Visit the official site at Jashnn.Com

De Dhana Dhan

Release: unknown

Director: Priyadarshan

Producer: Venus Productions

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Neha Dhupia, Sameera Reddy

Being dubbed Priyadarshan’s most complex film yet, equally little is known of the Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif starrer De Dhana Dhan. The hit duo could give us yet another blockbuster in this movie slated to be released in the later part of the year.

Veer

Release: Unknown

Director: Anil Sharma

Producer: Vijay Galani

Starring: Salman Khan, Zarina Khan

Behold – here comes Salman Khan’s six pack superhero act inspired by Aamir Khan’s Ghajini and Hrithik Roshan’s Krrish combined. It is supposedly the story of the Warrior King Veer (Salman Khan) slaying enemies. The story – if one must expect anything such – has been written by the star Salman Khan himself.

Even before the shootings began, Veer attracted enough attention with first Salman Khan choosing a Katrina Kaif lookalike for his heroine. Then there was a saga of touching friendship which ended in Salman accepting Aamir Khan’s suggestion and dumping alcohol for a few months. More melodrama than even Veer has, probably.

Expectedly enough, this movie would probably be labeled “strictly for Salman fans”.

3 Idiots

Release Date: 25^th December, 2009

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

Producer: Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Starring: Aamir Khan, R. Mahavan, Kareena Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Mona Singh

Here it is – probably the most anticipated film of 2009 – 3 Idiots, slated to be released on 25^th December, 2009.

For the past two years, Aamir has been releasing his films in the Christmas season, and each of them – Taare Zameen Par and Ghajini – has been a superhit. There is no reason why 3 Idiots will be a deviation.

The reasons are plenty. One, Rajkumar Hirani. He’s the guy who gave us the lovable Munna bhai. Secondly, Aamir himself. He is known to choose his films only after much scrutiny, and he has hardly slipped in the estimate of a script in the recent years. Thirdly, the rest of the cast – Madhavan and Kareena Kapoor to be exact. They’re enough to set any film ablaze.

Fourthly, and here is an equivocal detail – the film is “inspired” by Chetan Bhagat’s “Five Point Someone”. Good as Chetan Bhagat’s books may seem in print, we all saw what came of his One Night at the Call Center which was turned into “Hello”. On the other hand, 3 Idiots is only “inspired” by Chetan Bhagat and not a ditto copy, which spells hope for a good movie.

In the end, I’d put much of my money on this movie. Primarily for Aamir Khan. Although I may not be a fan of some of his acrid ways, he is the most dependable success formula in Bollywood at the moment.

Raavan

Release: Diwali

Director: Mani Ratnam

Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Govinda, Prithviraj, Manisha Koirala

So little is known of this movie that there isn’t even a poster available!

Loosely based on the mythical story of Ramayan, Raavan is a modern age take on the old story of Ram-Sita-Raavana. The twist? Sita falls in love with Raavana.

Well, you know what to expect. Just like Dev D, Raavana would probably do good on the “adaptation-along-modern-lines” front. The rest of the film’s details are very jealously guarded, so we’d have to still wait a bit to know how the 21^st century Ramayana unfolds.

Kites

Release: Unknown

Director: Anurag Basu

Producer: Rakesh Roshan

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Kangna Ranaut

With a successful Cannes run under its belt, Kites is the story of love reaching across borders. Hrithik Roshan is a salsa teacher, the Mexican beauty Barabara Mori his student. Inevitably, they fall in love.

Now this movie can be something. Seriously. The desi-meets-videsi fomula gets a twist here with the hot hunk Hrithik Roshan redefining the desi man in the genre. And who in India doesn’t love musicals?

Definitely worth a watch, the soon to be coming Kites.

Wow, that was a whole lot! One of the most heartening trends I notice in the above list is that the movies are of such a great variety – hardly to be found in such a list of Hollywood movies either –  not just romantic potboilers. Now if only they can rock the box office, well, what more could one ask?