‘Raees’ To ‘Baahubali’: Films To Watch Out For In 2017
New Delhi: The film industry is ready to put major disappointments behind in the New Year, with 2017 promising some big budget dramas like “Raees”, “Jagga Jasoos” and the final part of “Baahubali” besides its usual slate of sequels, spin-offs and remakes. Raees: Shah Rukh Khan, who had a mixed 2016 with “Fan” and “Dear Zindagi”, is returning to action in this Rahul Dholakia-directed drama. Also starring Pakistani actress Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the movie will hit the screens on January 25. SRK is playing a bootlegger who is involved in cat and mouse game with a police officer in the movie and judging by the trailers, it looks like a crowd-pleaser. Kaabil: Hrithik Roshan is hoping to put the debacle of “Mohenjo Daro” and his slug-fest with Kangana Ranaut behind with the Sanjay Gupta-directed thriller “Kaabil”. Hrithik plays a blind man out for revenge. The only hitch is that the movie will clash at the box office with “Raees”. The last box office battle did not go in Hrithik’s favour when Akshay Kumar’s “Rustom” edged out his “Mohenjo Daro”. Hrithik’s producer father had tried to avoid the clash this time by preponing the film’s release by a day but not one to be left behind, Shah Rukh too announced January 25 as their release date. The Ring: SRK’s second release of the year is with Imtiaz Ali. Tentatively titled ‘The Ring’, the romance will see him opposite his “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” co-star Anushka Sharma. Rangoon: Kangana Ranaut spent most of 2016 grabbing headlines for her tiff with Roshan but she seems keen to move forward this year with “Rangoon”, releasing on February 24. Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, the period love-triangle, whose poster was released on New Year’s day, will see Kangana in the role of an actress. The movie is equally important for Saif Ali Khan, who faced multiple flops recently. Shahid is also pinning his hope to recreate the “Kaminey” and “Haider” magic with Bhardwaj. It is Saif and Bhardwaj’s second collaboration after “Omkara”. Jagga Jasoos: Ranbir Kapoor made a career comeback with “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” after “Bombay Velvet” disaster but this year he will face the box office test with “Jagga Jasoos”. The actor reunites with his “Barfi” director Anurag Basu for the long-in-the-making movie, which also stars his former girlfriend Katrina Kaif. “Jagga Jasoos”, which also marks Ranbir’s production debut, is set to release on April 7. Tubelight: Eid releases belong to Salman Khan and this year will be no different as the superstar, who has been delivering back-to-back blockbusters be it “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” or “Sultan”, returns with Kabir Khan’s “Tubelight”. Baahubali: The Conclusion: Fans will finally get the answer for one of the most burning movie questions: “Why did Katappa kill Baahubali?” with SS Rajamouli’s final chapter releasing this year. The first part, thanks to its stunning visual effects, resonated well with pan-Indian audience, making the second installment a keenly anticipated release in India on April 28. Jolly LLB: Akshay Kumar has his slate full with four projects — “Jolly LLB 2”, “Toilet Ek Prem Katha”, “2.0” and “Padman” but his real test will be the court-room drama where he has taken over from Arshad Warsi. The first movie did well at the box office so it remains to be seen whether Akshay’s presence will bring more eyeballs or it will be a repeat of ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobara’. Baadshaho: Ajay Devgn is reteaming with his “Once Upon a Time in Mumbai” director Milan Luthria with “Baadshaho”. Ajay had a bad 2016 with the debacle of “Shivaay”. Rani Padmavati: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s love affair with period stories continues with the director opting to bring the story of Alauddin Khilji’s obsession with Rani Padmavati on the big screen. Ranveer Singh plays Khilji, Deepika Padukone is in the role of Rani Padmavati while Shahid Kapoor will play her husband Raja Ratan Singh. 2.0: The movie, a sequel to Rajinikanth’s “Robot”, will see the superstar back in action after “Kabali”. Directed by Shankar, fans hope Rajini manages to replicate the success of the first part. Two Bollywood beauties will test the waters of Hollywood with the release of “Baywatch” and “xXx: Return of Xander Cage”. It has become a major point of competition between the fans of Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone. Other interesting movies to look out for in 2017 are Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez-starrer “Reloaded”, “Fukrey 2”, Varun Dhawan-Fernandez-starrer “Judwa 2”, Vikramaditya Motwane’s “Trapped”, starring Rajkummar Rao and Shivam Nair’s “Naam Shabana”, which is a spin-off of “Baby”, starring Taapsee Pannu, “Poorna”, “Bareilly Ki Barfi”, “Meri Pyaari Bindu”, “Mubarakan”, “Secret Superstar”, “Haraamkhor”, “Begum Jaan” and “Newton” among many others. – By PTI
