After one of really bad year at movies in 2017, its time to look at what is in store for 2018. Some expected ones in the list and some surprises.
Here's the list of my Most Awaited Hindi Movies :
P.S : The release dates are subjective to change..
Mukkabaaz (January 12)
directed by Anurag Kashyap, starring Vineet Kumar Singh, Zoya Hussain, Jimmy Sheirgill, Ravi Kishan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Plot :
A lower caste boxer and his struggle to make his mark in the boxing world.
What To Look For :
Vineet Kumar’s performance and Anurag Kashyap direction (after a good comeback with Raman Raghav 2.0 in his last film) makes this a very eagerly awaited movie for me. ‘Paintra’ trailer set the great vibe, and then there’s Nawaz cameo (re-do of DevD’s emosanal atyachar) in ‘Mushkil hai apna mel priye’ song. Inspired from true events, with Jimmy and Ravi in supporting roles, debut of Zoya who plays mute girl that symbolizes women of today, and tussle of upper caste with lower caste with added political sequences based on beef, it doesn’t really look like anything can go wrong with this film. Bit early but I have a feeling Vineet will be among top5 actors list when 2018 end year lists/awards comes out. Lets see!
Aiyaary (Febuary 9)
directed by Neeraj Pandey, starring Manoj Bajpayee, Sidharth Malhotra, Rakul Preet, Pooja Chopra, Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah, Adil Hussain, Kumud Mishra
Plot :
A drama thriller about 2 Army men who have different ideologies as the story covers various topics from corruption to artillery scam to patriotism.
What To Look For :
From trailer it directly takes you back to ‘A Wednesday’ with the narrative going at both sides on a call where one guy appears to be negative i.e Sidharth in this case who very much like that film I think would turn positive (sorry for spoilers, just a guess). And the background score reminds of ‘Special 26’ and ‘Baby’ which is good news, because Neeraj Pandey’s only weak/average film has been Dhoni, and Aiyaary is totally in the league of films where you expect Neeraj to nail it. Unlike others, I feel Sidharth would do well in this role, also keen to see Rakul for first time (didn’t watch Yaariyan). And the entire ensemble cast with that powerful trailer ensures that you just gotta have high expectations from this film. Would love to see how he builds up both narratives of Manoj and Sidharth towards a big ending.
Pari (March 2)
directed by Prosit Roy, starring Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chatterjee, Rajat Kapoor
Plot :
Nothing has been out yet, except that its a love story with a horror backdrop in terms of atmosphere.
What To Look For :
Its 1-1 for Anushka’s produced movies, if ‘NH10' was an excellent film then ‘Phillauri’ was complete opposite of it that left me disappointed. Pari ever since its stills started coming has looked interesting, and if Anushka’s interviews are real then this could be more of a psychological horror love story, and not a routine horror movie. No idea what this film deals with, Anushka playing a abuse victim is one possibility. Also, looking forward to see Kahani fame ‘Parambrata Chatterjee’ who hasn’t done much noteworthy hindi films ever since, this could be his next good performance. And there’s the ever reliable Rajat Kapoor also in the cast. Fingers crossed that this movie turns out to be a hard-hitting and revive the trust that I somewhat lost with her last movie.
Blackmail (March 30)
directed by Abhinay Deo, starring Irrfan Khan, Kirti Kulhari, Arunoday Singh, Divya Dutta
Plot :
A married man stuck in a monotonous nine to five unexciting job, one day finds out that his wife is having an affair. He decides to blackmail her that turns into a rollercoaster ride.
What To Look For :
I am not really a fan of Abhinay Deo films, even his Delhi Belly doesn’t have the repetitive feel for me. But the story gives scope for some brilliant comic moments for Irrfan who I believe would nail it. And I have loved Kirti in both Pink and Indu Sarkar (despite the movie having Madhur stamp over it), would be great to see her in a different kind of role here.
October (April 13)
directed by Shoojit Sircar, starring Varun Dhawan, Banita Sandhu
Plot :
Story revolves around love and relationships.
What To Look For :
Almost nothing has been revealed about the story of film, but since its Shoojit so you can expect it would be Varun’s 2nd off-beat film after Badlapur and that is a welcome change for people like me who get tired of watching him in routine comedies (not denying he entertains in them). With Imtiaz losing his 100% awesome films record last year (I liked JHMS but it certainly wasn’t the level Imtiaz films have), so the question is will Shoojit maintain his perfect record or not. All his films like Vicky Donor, Madras Cafe and Piku have been terrific (I haven’t seen Yahaan so no idea if its good too). Banita making her debut would make for a interesting fresh pairing. Keen to see if Shoojit keeps the setting light as his last movie or goes darker this time. I hope its the latter.
2 Point 0 (April 14)
directed by S. Shankar, starring Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson
Plot :
Dr Vaseegaran is forced to reassemble Chitti in order to stop a deadly winged monster.
What To Look For :
Without a doubt, Rajni vs Akki will be the main usp of the movie (for neutrals I mean, not fanbases of these actors). I don’t watch Rajni films, but Robot I did, and it worked very well for me entirely. Awaiting that scene when Chitti gets reassembled, should be full of whistles by audience. While Aishwarya will be missed, wonder if it was dates/price issue or Shankar wanted Amy from start. Though Amy would match well in terms of glam factor, but acting not sure. Lastly, watching Akshay do negative roles is always fun, even with this not so likeable makeup, I am quite excited to see him in this role where if some articles are right then he would be playing a scientist who turns into a crow. If, and a huge if, the content turns out to be pretty good, then we may have another south movie to take the biggest blockbuster of the year like Baahubali2 did last year.
Raazi (May 11)
directed by Meghna Gulzar, starring Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal
Plot :
A thriller about a Kashmiri girl who is married to an army officer across the border who provides Indian intelligence agencies with priceless information during the 1971 Indo-Pak war helping save lives of many Indian soldiers.
What To Look For :
After her hardhitting last film ‘Talvar’, expectations are sky high for Meghna Gulzar’s new movie. Alia Bhatt hasn’t disappointed in any movie except for her debut film, even in the average ‘Badrinath ki dulhania’ she was rock solid with her performance. The story looks very interesting, and keen to see how Vicky goes who for me was slightly off-color in ‘Raman Raghav 2.0’.
Fanne Khan (June 15)
directed by Atul Manjrekar, starring Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkumar Rao, Divya Dutta
Plot :
Official adaptation of Dutch film ‘Everybody’s famous’ that revolves around a dad who dreams of becoming a songwriter but fails and then desperate to get his awkward and overweight daughter succeed in the same profession. He then goes on to kidnap the famous pop star of country and hold her hostage demanding to be heard by the music industry.
What To Look For :
There certainly will be indian twists to the orignal movie, lets hope they are the right ones. With Anil and Aishwarya singing their songs in film, and Rajkumar Rao playing Aishwarya’s love interest, I am looking forward to see if it turns out to be a good decision or a major backfire. Also looking forward to see who they pick to play Anil’s daughter, and also how well Aishwarya’s retro look goes who in her 3rd movie ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ since comeback finally looked appealing and not hamming. Also, there will be tribute to Lata Mangeshkar with Aish singing her songs playing a Lata fangirl, and Anil’s daughter would be named Lata too as per some articles. I am slightly skeptical about the film, but if everything goes right then it would be a great dramedy to see.
Sanju (June 29)
directed by Rajkumar Hirani, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Dia Mirza, Manisha Koirala, Paresh Rawal, Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Vicky Kaushal, Tabu
Plot :
Biopic on the life of Sanjay Dutt.
What To Look For :
Even though I loved Ranbir in both Jagga Jasoos and Tamasha, they did poorly at BO so would love this Sanjay Dutt biopic give him a mega hit. Manisha playing Nargis Dutt (Sanjay’s mother), Paresh plays Sunil Dutt (Sanjay’s father), Dia plays Manyata (Sanjay’s wife), Sonam plays Tina Munim (Sanjay’s girlfriend then) and also there’s Tabu, Anushka, Vicky Kaushal (might be playing Kumar Gaurav) whose exact roles are yet to be known. Also, Amaal Malik will be re-creating the famous RD Burman track ‘Kya yehi pyar hai’ from Rocky. Hirani is known for giving great entertainers with a message, so this should be a winner in all likelyhood. But the only scary part for me is, the bonding Hirani shares with Sanjay Dutt, and the way biopics usually are, there is huge possibility of wrong-doings/controversies associated with Sanjay won’t get enough screen time which will be a let-down for me. Hoping Hirani is brave enough not to do that!
Gold (August 15)
directed by Reema Kagti, starring Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh
Plot :
About India’s first Olympic medal win as a free nation in the year 1948 in sports of Hockey.
What To Look For :
Not sure if it would be right calling it a biopic since Reema herself admitted she will fictionalise the story. As per her it would focus more on behind the scenes of that famous win, and have more dramatic story that spans 12 years. Would be very nice to see Akshay in this role (I am not really fond of watching him in social dramas like Toilet/Padman etc). It appears he might play role of the captain named Balbir Singh, waiting for trailer to know how much is it based on his life. Also, Mouni Roy makes her debut in a major role. Even though hockey scenes would be pretty less in comparison to ‘Chak de India’, would love to see how Reema pulls them off. I had loved her last movie ‘Talaash’, so expecting quite a good movie again.
Sapna didi (October 2)
directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, starring Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan
Plot :
Ashraf Khan seeks revenge from Dawood Ibrahim for her husband’s death in a police encounter. She takes help of a gangster who trains her, as she eventually becomes a famous Mafia Queen of 80’s named ‘Sapna didi’ who plans to kill Dawood at a cricket match in Sharjah. A plan that Dawood comes to know well before the match and eventually Sapna is tortured to death by him.
What To Look For :
It was supposed to be directed by Honey Trehan, but after a mutual decision Vishal has come on board to direct which increases my curiosity for this film. Been ages since saw Deepika in excellent ‘Piku’ and ‘Tamasha’, and with her role more or less have a dejavu feel in Padmavat (if at all it releases thanks to our so called democracy), ‘Sapna Didi’ would give her the perfect opportunity to be in limelight with a powerpacked performance (not for her bad Holly films) and I expect film to be as good too with Irrfan playing role of guy who tries to help Sapna in her revenge. Wonder if Vishal will show Dawood in character or not, last year 2 movies did it, while Farhan Akhtar’s version in ‘Daddy’ was unintentionally funny, Siddhanth Kapoor did a decent job in ‘Haseena Parkar’. I won’t be surprised if Vishal keeps Dawood in background and maybe completely skip showing the tortorous death of Sapna didi.
Thugs of Hindostaan (November 7)
directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, starring Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Fatima Sana Shaikh
Plot :
A period action adventure set in 1790, purely fictional with Fatima playing the central role.
What To Look For :
Huge suspense regarding the exact story. What is known is that its a larger than life action adventure which will have some powerful dialogues, and battle between Aamir-Amitabh possible at end (not confirmed). With Katrina taking handling more of glamor side of film, will be interesting to see Fatima’s role and how she goes after being super good in Dangal. I personally loved the look of Aamir Khan like many others, but Amitabh’s look turned me off. Also, last time Vijay Krishna tried a major larger than life movie (not counting Dhoom3 as its a part of franchise), it was Tashan which was a complete disaster content wise specially. With Aamir in one of the lead role this time, maybe you can trust this would be a better written movie. Fingers crossed, it lights up box-office this Diwali.
Zero (December 21)
directed by Anand L Rai, starring Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Salman Khan
Plot :
A love story between a guy who is a dwarf and a woman.
What To Look For :
I don’t love Shahrukh movies anymore, and yet his movies always makes my most awaited lists. Its like that Dangal dialogue ‘shahrukh ko kabhi naa nahi kehte’ even if he has lost his charm. Talking of Zero, there are speculations that Shahrukh is playing a double role, which I hope is false else it will be ‘Fan' dejavu. Also its said that Anushka plays a mentally challenged role, which again I wish is untrue as then it turns into a ‘Barfi’ dejavu. There’s already a ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ dejavu thanks to repeat of same trio in leads. And if all this wasn’t enough, we will see Salman Khan, Kajol, Juhi Chawla, Rani Mukherjee, Alia Bhatt, Sridevi (who knows, could be more) in cameos, probably in a song, which if you remember right, gives dejavu of ‘Om Shanti Om’. If ALR surpasses all the hurdles written above, then and only then there’s a chance of a good/awesome movie. ALR is pretty much in the Hirani zone with the amount of ‘entertainment quotient’ his movies have, but the only director out of Shahrukh’s last 7 movies who managed to utilise Shahrukh in a way that the film doesn’t become a mess was Gauri Shinde in ‘Dear Zindagi’ where Shahrukh played a supporting role to be honest but still that did work for most portions of his act. So, can ALR be the 2nd director to give a good movie involving Shahrukh remains to be seen now.
Shoot The Piano Player (No date out yet)
directed by Sriram Raghavan, starring Ayushmann Khurana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Vinay Pathak, Ashwini Kalsekar
Plot :
Nothing official out yet, might have some connection to 60’s french movie with same name but I doubt it.
What To Look For :
Sriram Raghavan made an awesome comeback with ‘Badlapur’ after giving the forgettable ‘Agent Vinod’ which is his only bad film so far. Ayushmann with Radhika would be a nice new pairing to see, with Tabu and other good actors to go with. There will be plenty of old movie classic dialogues/songs/situations re-used which is Sriram's trademark style. Should be refreshing to see Ayushmann experiment with a different role here who has had 4 good performances in a row now. Its first time Amit Trivedi is giving music for Sriram, and I have a feeling he would smash it out of the park here.
Omerta (No date out yet)
directed by Hansal Mehta, starring Rajkumar Rao
Plot :
About british born terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh known for his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, and also covers a host of terrorist activities including 26/11 through the eyes of Omar.
What To Look For :
Has to be 1st outright negative role Rajkumar is doing, even ‘Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ and ‘Ragini MMS’ had only shades of it. I am really excited thinking how brilliant it would be if he pulls it off (which he should) doing a role completely opposite of ‘Shahid’. The story will not only show the mindset of terrorists but also how educated people get radicalised. And based on real events, so chances of another hard-hitting movie from Hansal Mehta is on who was clearly not at his best in ‘Simran’. Its a political thriller that was supposed to release by end of last year, hopefully we get to see in 2018.
102 Not Out (No date out yet)
directed by Umesh Shukla, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor
Plot :
About a man who wants to break the record of the longest living man in the world which is held by a guy from China who is 118 years old.
What To Look For :
Umesh Shukla is adapting it from a successful Gujarati play, much like was case in ‘Oh My God’, which is a good news. His last movie ‘All is Well’ was plain bad, but watching Amitabh Bachchan play 102 year old person in this movie with Rishi Kapoor as his son who himself will be 75 years old, makes this film look so unique and highly anticipated. I think we are in for a treat from both veteran actors here. It was supposed to release in Nov 2017, so lets see when we get a trailer this year.
Films like ‘Padmaavat’, ‘Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety’, ‘DaasDev’, ‘Parmanu’, ‘Raid’, ‘Baazaar’, ‘Manikarnika’, ‘Veere di Wedding’, ‘Sadak2’, ‘Sui Dhaaga’, ‘Super 30’, ‘Kedarnath’, 'Badhaai Ho’ and ‘Raj Dk next horror comedy’ missed my 16 awaited films list, but I will keep an eye over them completely and also all other small budget films or films which have my fav actors with non-fav directors or vice-versa that may surprise.
I just hope 2018 turns out to be good content wise, we need plenty of great movies, and not just performance driven movies this year.
