The Hindu Business Line : Watch-list for 2008

Some big names, missing in action for a while, will be back. Subhash Ghai, who hasn’t directed since his 2005 debacle Kisna, is hoping to make a kill with Yuvraaj.

Coming soon: Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodhaa Akbar.

Shubhra Gupta

If there’s one thing definite in showbiz, it’s that nothing is.

The year that just went past, despite everything you’ve heard to the contrary, was a good year for Bollywood, especially because of the emergence of a bunch of exciting new voices. Plus a heart-warming directorial debut by a superstar: Aamir Kha n’s Taare Zameen Par, with a terrific performance by eight-year-old Darsheel Safary, showed parents and children a new way of seeing.

And that’s what movies are all about. They show and tell, and make magic. Indian audiences may still not be at the point where they will drop everything and embrace a startlingly different idea. But they have been steadily turning their back on the shoddy, and the old. Hollywood rip-offs are fine, as long as they are Indianised, and packed with identifiable names (not just an amorphous Ram, but the whole caboodle — Ram Shankar Nikumbh, Khan’s distinctive name in TZP) , fresh humour (slipping on a banana peel is no longer as funny) and lilting melodies.

PVR Pictures first production TZP started slow, but has crossed into 2008 holding steady at the box office. Its home-grown advantage means it has the best and the most number of screens in all PVR theatres. It’s also a movie which has been getting a lot of positive word-of-mouth: almost everyone this writer has spoken to in the past three weeks, since the film’s release, has liked the film.

Anees Bazmee’s Welcome, the other film released on the same day as TZP, is already on the biggest grosser list of last year. It cements Akshay Kumar’s position, making it his fourth consecutive hit of the year. Its premise was stolen from a Hollywood film, but it had Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor in great nick, and Akshay doing his thing: he is the first star, after Amitabh Bachchan, to combine the ability to do action and be funny at the same time.

New releases

While these two films are making whoopee, cast your eye on some of the hopefuls lined up for 2008. Some big names, missing in action for a while, will be back. Subhash Ghai, who hasn’t directed since his 2005 debacle Kisna, is hoping to make a kill with Yuvraaj, starring Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. Advance stills show opulent sets and larger-than-life characters, a Ghai speciality.

But the first mega-budget movie of the year will be UTV’s Jodhaa Akbar, directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar, back on the big screen after his 2004 socially-aware Swades. Indian audiences aren’t terribly thrilled with historicals, but knowing the director’s penchant for doing things the way they ought to (remember Lagaan?) and going by the promos already out, we can expect grand visuals, intriguing character sketches, and interesting situations. And a passion for authenticity means that Jodhaa Bai aka Aishwarya Rai is wearing jewels which go all the way to her waist, and the other perfectionist Hrithik Roshan, who plays her Akbar, has the kind of armour the original Mughal emperor had, in his pictures in our history books.

Aziz Mirza, who returns after five long years, will be out with his first non-Shah Rukh movie, the Tips-produced Kismet Connection, a rom com starring Shahid Kapoor and Vidya Balan. Kapoor is red-hot right now, given the success of Jab We Met in which he rocked with his ex-girlfriend Kareena. News of the ongoing real-life break-up fuelled interest in the movie. This could be the couple’s last film together, but the first time, ironically, they actually looked and felt like lovers.

If all goes on schedule, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra should be out with Dilli 6 in the second half of the year. Mehra’s new film, after the iconic 2006 Rang De Basanti, has been long in coming. It’s been beset with casting hassles; finally, Abhishek is firmly in, after being in and out for months, and his co-star is the fresh-faced Saawariya lass Sonam Kapoor. Currently, shooting is on in Rajasthan where amazingly life-like sets from the Capital have been created: Purani Dilli’s Chandni Chowk, where a lot of the movie has been set, was proving too hard to film in — the medium-statured Aamir Khan could get by hidden in a burqa when the unit was there for RDB, but for the long-limbed Abhishek to do the same would be impossible!

Will fortunes revive?

2008 could well be the year of reviving fortunes for those who failed the previous year. One of the biggest budget extravaganzas which flunked the box office test was Nikhil Advani’s Salaam-e-Ishq.

The director, who helmed the successful Kal Ho Na Ho, will be hoping for better luck with Chandni Chowk to China, an action thriller starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, who is currently on top of the world after her smash-hit Om Shanti Om. The buzz is that it will be shot on location in China, and that will be a first for an Indian film.

Yashraj Films will be quite happy to see the back of 2007, the year they had a film out every other month, and nothing really worked, except for the unexpected success of Chak De, India. This year, they have Tashan, a slick thriller with stars who are back with the banner after a long gap: Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. Perhaps a break from Rani Mukerji, who lead starred in both Lagaa Chunari Mein Daag and Tara Rum Pum, will bring freshness: sometimes, a totally new combination can do the trick.

And the man who got the worst drubbing of his life with what is undoubtedly one of the worst movies of last year will also be back, in a bid to recover lost ground. Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag, that ghastly remake of Sholay, showed just how wrong a seasoned director could go. Sarkar Raaj a sequel to his successful Sarkar, will have Amitabh and Abhishek again. It will also have Aishwarya, the junior Mrs Bachchan, to give them company.

With its combination of old stalwarts and new tales, 2008 looks set to repeat last year’s story. Out today is the Ajay Devgan starrer Halla Bol, helmed by Rajkumar Santoshi, another veteran seeking better times.

Picture abhi baaki hai!

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