Team Cinemaholic
Bollywood hasn’t produced many great films in the first half of this year. Except for a few movies most of them were disappointing. Will anything change in the remaining second half of the year. We certainly hope so. Let’s look at some of the promising sounding upcoming Bollywood movies in 2017.
6. Chef
Release Date: 6th October
Director: Raja Krishna Menon
Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Sobhita Dhulipala, Padmapriya
Why Anticipate? : Jon Favreau’s ‘Chef’ isn’t great by any stretch of the imagination, but it still is a very well made feel-good movie, and it would be interesting to see how it is adapted into an Indian setting. Raja Krishna Menon impressed us last year with ‘Airlift’ and it remains to be seen if he can recreate the magic.
5. Toilet Ek Prem Katha
Release Date: 11th August
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar
Why Anticipate? The film’s storyline appears to be a bit similar to a Tamil film ‘Joker’ which released last year to heavy critical acclaim. Since there is no confirmation from the makers regarding the inspiration, we would refrain from calling it a remake. Nonetheless, the casting of Akshay Kumar with Bhumi Pednekar is enough to leave us grinning with joy.
4. Baadshaho
Release Date: 1st September
Director: Milan Luthria
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, Ileana D’Cruz
Why Anticipate? : Luthria has been a hit or miss – his last feature ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobara’ was a colossal disappointment, but we still believe he is a talented filmmaker and hope ‘Baadshaho’ will go more along the lines of ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai’ and ‘The Dirty Picture’, two of his finest works.
3. Padmavati
Release Date: 17th November
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor, Deepika Padukone
Why Anticipate? Bhansali and team swept us off our feet with ‘Bajirao Mastani’. With ‘Rani Padmavati’, the stakes as well as the expectations will be even higher. Ranveer Singh (who was exceptional as Bajirao) plays Alaudin Khilji, a ruler from Delhi who invades Mewar to capture Ratan Singh’s wife, the exquisite Padmavati (Deepika Padukone). Ratan Singh is being played by Shahid Kapoor – his first collaboration with Bhansali. Exciting enough!
2. Simran
Release Date: 15th September
Director: Hansal Mehta
Starring: Kangana Ranaut
Why Anticipate? : Hansal Mehta’s last feature ‘Aligarh’ was a regular fixture in most of the “best of” lists of 2016, and the talented director returns with a drama starring Kangana Ranaut. Not much about the film is known, but considering the roll that Mehta is on with ‘Shahid’, ‘City Lights’ and ‘Aligarh’, we are looking forward to this one.
1. Secret Superstar
Release Date: 19th October
Director: Advait Chandan
Starring: Zaira Wasim, Meher Vij, Aamir Khan
Why Anticipate? : The only reason why this movie finds a mention in this list is because it an Aamir Khan Productions feature, starring Khan (albeit probably not in the lead). Now if you are wondering why this matters, take a look at the movies produced by Aamir Khan Productions till date – ‘Lagaan’, ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’, ‘Peepli Live’, ‘Dhobi Ghat’, ‘Delhi Belly’, ‘Talaash’ and ‘Dangal’. You get the idea, don’t you?
