By: Shay Arsalan
2018 was a content-driven year for the Hindi Film Industry and movies like Stree, Badhaai Ho, Tumbbad and Andhadhun created an unexpected stir for the movie lovers. These movies gave the audience a variety of stories and have raised our expectations for this year’s releases.
Last year proved to be an eventful and a successful year for Bollywood. The fans were serenaded with period dramas to biopics and from comedy thrillers to India’s VFX based highest budgeted movie. With a list of exciting movies set to release this year, Bollywood may continue its success.
Bombairiya
Release Date: 11/Jan/2019|Dir: Pia Sukanya|Cast: Radhika Apte, Siddhanth Kapoor, Akshay Oberoi, Shilpa Shukla, Adil Hussain, Amit Sial, Ravi Kishan
This comedy-drama revolves around Radhika Apte and the events that take place since her phone gets stolen. The trailer promises hilarious encounters with twists and turns and the not so simple life in Mumbai.
The cast also includes Siddhanth Kapoor who has done limited but quite interesting roles and Vivek Oberoi’s cousin Akshay Oberoi who was widely known through the horror movie Pizza.
Thackeray
Release Date: 23/Jan/2019|Dir: Abhijit Panse|Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita Rao
After playing the character of the controversial writer Manto, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is back. This time with the biopic of late Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of the Indian Political Party, Shiv Sena. Some might say that Thackeray himself was a controversial character, therefore who better than Nawazuddin to play such a leader?
The teaser revealed the look of the character and Nawazuddin was completely unrecognisable in his new persona. We can definitely have high hopes for this biopic after witnessing the power-packed trailer.
Super 30
Release Date: 25/Jan/2019|Dir: Vikas Bahl|Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Mrunal Thakur
The first month of the year presents us with three biographical movies and Super 30 is one of them. This will be Hrithik Roshan’s first attempt at a biopic. His fans are already eager to see the transformation of Hrithik from superhero Krrish to the mathematic genius Anand Kumar.
Anand Kumar is the mathematician who created Super 30. A programme that selects 30 talented students who are economically troubled and then trained for the IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology) entrance exam. This programme was developed to give an opportunity for the underprivileged students who are unable to bear the cost for IIT coaching.
Cheat India
Release Date: 25/Jan/2019|Dir: Soumik Sen|Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Shreya Dhanwanthary
After a brief hiatus from the film industry, Emraan Hashmi is back to impress the audience. Cheat India shows us how the entrance exams for Institutes can be rigged with the power of money. Emraan’s character was initially shown as a cunning opportunist, however, the trailer revealed him to be more of an anti-hero character.
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Release Date: 25/Jan/2019|Dir: Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi & Kangana Ranaut|Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Jisshu Sengupta, Suresh Oberoi, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongappa, Atul Kulkarni, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
Padmaavat was the big bang of 2018, will Manikarnika be the answer to 2019?
Controversies and disputes surrounded the production stage of the movie. From Kangana herself stepping into the director’s pedestal and few actors including Sonu Sood leaving the production suddenly.
The story as we all know is a period/biopic of the Queen of Jhansi namely Manikarnika and about her battle for freedom against the East India Company. The trailer added much hype to this much-awaited movie with its powerful scenes and patriotic dialogues.
If merely January offers such a variety of story driven movies, I think we can all hope for a fantabulous and an entertaining year ahead.