Bollywood Bonanza in 2008!

2007 comes to an end and its time to look forward to 2008.

Like every year, 2008 too, will come up with its wide range of films in the world of Bollywood. From around over 200 films that are under making currently, what should one look forward to?

Bollywood Buzz makes your search easier by listing some films to look forward to in 2008.

~~Aladin and the Mystery of the Lamp~~

Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Banner: Eros International
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Ritesh Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Juhi Chawla, Sameera Reddy

The film has unique roles for all the big names in the film industry with Amitabh Bachchan to essay the role of Genius, the genie and Ritesh Deshmukh set to play Aladin. And in all probability, Sanjay Dutt will mostly be playing the role of a villain. Apart from Juhi Chawla and Sameera Reddy , the movie will also witness the debut of the Sri Lankan beauty queen, Jacqueline Fernandez. This fairy tale story will be given a modern treatment with loads of special effects. Director Sujoy Ghosh must be looking forward to repeating the success story of his earlier film, Jhankaar Beats.

Trivia:
# Ayesha Takia was the original choice for the role of Jasmin but director Sujoy Ghosh later felt that he needed a new face. So Jacqueline was roped in.
# Amitabh Bachchan has sung two songs for the film on tunes composed by Vishal-Shekhar.
# Shah Rukh Khan came on the sets of Aladin to visit Amitabh Bachchan, putting a rest to the much-hyped stories on the Big B-SRK cold war.
# The film was to be originally produced by Ramesh and Rohan Sippy in association with Adlabs but they backed out at the last moment. That's when Eros came into picture.

~~Bhootnath~~

Director: Vivek Sharma
Banner: B R Films
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla
Release Date: April 2008

Big B is set to play the role of a person who after his death enters the lives of a household wherein the members of the family cannot see him. Shah Rukh and Juhi play the young couple who come to live in that particular household along with their son Banku who happens to be the grandson of the ghost.

Trivia:
# After almost 2 decades, an outside director will be directing a movie for the banner of B R Films.
# Bhootnath seems like a role-reversal of Paheli. Shah Rukh was a ghost in Paheli while Amitabh was human. Also Amitabh had a special appearance in Paheli while SRK has a cameo in Bhootnath. Both the films have a rural setting.

~~Dilli 6~~

Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Banner: UTV
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Atul Kulakarni, Divya Dutta, Om Puri

After the roaring success story of Rang De Basanti, director Rakeysh Mehra's next film Dilli 6 is said to be about his days that he spent as part of his growing up years in Delhi's Chandni Chowk area. And the title Dilli 6 is apparently the postal pin code for his hometown. After repeated changes in the cast, Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor are now finalized for the film.

Trivia:
# Initially Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, Siddharth and Ranbir Kapoor were considered for the male lead of the film. Also, Abhishek Bachchan who was considered and re-considered for the role, was finalized at last.
# Though the film is based in Delhi's Chandni Chowk area, it's being shot in a place called Sambhar in Rajasthan where a set resembling Chandni Chowk has been constructed. This is to avoid the public hysteria while shooting in the crowded by-lanes of Delhi.
# To film a scene of the film showing the morning festivities of Eid at Chandni Chowk, the film's crew actually shot at Chandni Chowk last Eid to capture the real essence of the celebrations.

~~Drona~~

Director: Goldie Behl
Cast: Abhshek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Kay Kay Menon, Jaya Bachchan

Abhishek Bachchan plays a guy with supernatural powers while Priyanka Chopra will be playing his bodyguard in Drona which is purported to be Goldie Behl's answer to Hrithik Roshan's Krrish in terms of the special effects that it promises. Kay Kay Menon plays the villain in the film and Abhisehk has apparently learnt horse riding and sword fighting for his warrior like role.

Trivia:
# The shooting of the film came to a standstill for a long time intermittently when the local community in Rajasthan was offended over the death of a horse during the shooting of this film.
# Reportedly Aishwarya Rai was approached for a cameo in the film but she refused considering it was an item number.

~~Dulha Mil Gaya~~

Director: Mudassar Aziz
Producer: Vivek Vaswani
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Fardeen Khan, Mohit Chaddha and Tara Sharma
Release Date: March 21, 2008

Supposedly a romantic comedy, producer Vivek Vaswani has also penned in the story of this film and has managed to get his good friend Shah Rukh Khan to do a cameo in the film. SRK plays the role of a rich Trinidadian businessman. It also marks the debut of writer Mudassar Aziz as a director.

Trivia:
# Initially there were rumours that West Indies batsmen Brain Lara will be doing a cameo in the film. The rumours originated since the film is shot in Trinidad and Tobago in West Indies.

~~Fashion~~

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Banner: UTV
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Mugdha Godse, Arjun Bajwa

Continuing in his lineup of female-centric realistic films like Chandni Bar, Satta, Page 3 and Corporate, Fashion will be the next output from Madhur Bhandarkar. This time Madhur will showcase his take on the world of glamour with his trademark reap and ripping hand-hitting stamp.

Priyanka Chopra plays the central character and the film will unfold from her perspective. Her character will be followed by Kangna Ranaut's, whose role is based on the real-life personality of model Geetanjali Nagpal, who made headlines for her riches-to-rags story. One of the sub-plots in the film is also supposedly based on the real life love triangle that took place between two gay fashion designers over a male model. Fashion will also feature the infamous Carol Gracias wardrobe malfunction episode to be enacted by model Mugdha Godse.

Trivia:
# The film based on some real life personalities from fashion world is sure to raise a few eyebrows.
# Priyanka Chopra and Madhur Bhandarkar have been attending a few fashion shows off lately to get into the character and add authenticity to the film.
# Madhur Bhandarkar is finding it difficult to finalize actors for the role of the gay designers since actors don't seem to be interested in playing homosexuals!
# Madhur was keen to sign Carol Gracias to play herself in the wardrobe malfunction episode but later decided against it since he felt it would look too real for the film.
# Kangana Ranaut will be chopping off her tresses for her character of Geetanjali Nagpal.

~~Ghajini Remake~~

Director: A. R. Murugadoss
Producer: Allu Arvind, Madhu Varma
Cast: Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan, Mohit Alawat

Aamir Khan is all ready to remake the South hit film, Ghajini. He has also managed to rope in Asin who was the lead actress from the original movie. It is a story about a man who suffers from short term memory loss and wants revenge and retribution for the death of his lover. Knowing the meticulous Aamir, we are sure the film will be detailed in all departments!

Trivia:
# R.Murugadoss also directed the original Tamil film.
# There were rumours in the media that Jiah Khan is Aamir's step-sister. But Aamir silenced them all by casting her opposite him in Ghajini remake.
# Aamir constantly updates information about this film through his blog.
# Aamir is going bald for this movie!

~~God Tussi Great Ho~~

Director: Rumi Jaffrey
Producer: Afzal Khan
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra
Release Date: March 21, 2008

God Tussi Great Ho marks the directorial debut of popular writer Rumi Jaffrey who has scripted several David Dhawan films. Assuming that some of David's humour rubs off on Rumi as well, this film promises to be a laugh riot. Rumi attends to send out a universal message that has to do with humanity and the human nature of beings. Amitabh is set to don the role of Salman's godfather in the movie while Priyanka will be playing a scribe i.e. a journalist.

Trivia:
# The film is reportedly a remake of the Hollywood hit, Bruce Almighty, where Amitabh plays Morgan Freeman's character of God while Salman plays the role of Jim Carrey from the original.
# The film was delayed considerably due to Salman 's jail episodes intermittently.

~~Golmaal Returns~~

Director: Rohit Shetty
Producer: Asthavinayak Cinevision
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Shreyas Talpade, Tusshar Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Amrita Arora

Golmaal in 2006 was such a huge roaring success that there is now a sequel coming up to it titled Golmaal Returns . The trio of Ajay Devgan-Arshad Warsi-Tusshar Kapoor has been retained from the original comic caper. Sharman Joshi has been replaced by Shreyas Talpade. Kareena Kapoor is the new addition along with good friend Amrita Arora. Expect a lot more fun unlimited!

~~Heaven on Earth~~

Director: Deepa Mehta
Producer: David Hamilton, Ravi Chopra
Cast: Preity Zinta

The actress with the cutest dimples in Bollywood, Preity Zinta has been eagerly awaiting her opportunity to work with an acclaimed director of the likes of Deepa Mehta, and Heaven on Earth provided her the chance that she was looking for. Preity is set to play a battered Punjabi housewife in this Punjabi film and is also apparently doing a workshop to come to grips with the character's body language and milieu. Heaven on Earth is about a Punjabi woman who hails form the North who goes through the rigors of domestic violence.

Trivia:
# Jagmohan Mundhra's Provoked (2007) starring Aishwarya Rai also had a very similar plotline of a Punjabi housewife being a victim of domestic violence in London.
# With films like Heaven on Earth, Har Pall and The Last Lear, Preity Zinta is apparently trying to establish herself as an actress of substance in the offbeat non-commercial genre.

~~Heroes~~

Director: Sameer Karnik
Producer: Bharat Shah
Cast: Salman Khan, Preity Zinta, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Mithun Chakroborty, Sohail Khan, Amrita Arora, Dino Morea, Vatsal Sheth
Release Date: May 1, 2008

The film revolves around a group of students who study film-making together. They have been sent away to film a documentary, and so they go on a road trip from Delhi to Chandigarh and then Manali to Ladhakh. The students are trying to figure out the meaning behind the logo on every passing truck, which says, Mera Bharat Mahaan. Director Sameer Karnik is quite focused on his job as shooting for the movie has already begun which will release in the coming summer.

Trivia:
# The film was earlier titled Mera Bharat Mahaan, which was subsequently changed to Heroes, as the former sounded to be too patriotic.
# Heroes is reportedly a remake of the Oscar winning Argentinean film, The Motorcycles Diaries.
# While shooting in Ladakh, the cast and crew of the film encountered major problems as the area of devoid of any toilets!

~~Jodhaa Akbar~~

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Banner: UTV
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai
Release date: January 25, 2008 Post the sizzling chemistry they displayed in the modern-techno film Dhoom 2, Aishwarya and Hrithik will go back centuries to recreate the Mughal era as Jodhaa and Akbar in Ashutosh Gowariker 's historical costume drama. Gowariker's version does not cover the Mughal-e-Azam love story but shows a much younger Akbar taking over the Mughal dynasty from the age of 27. Exuberant sets, magnanimous battle sequences, royal costumes, the director seems to have worked in detail to recreate the Mughal era!


Trivia:
# Grand sets resembling palaces from the Mughal era have been constructed on the outskirts of Mumbai in Karjat by art director Nitin Desai for the film.
# To construct the Sheesh Mahal (palace of mirrors), Nitin Desai used 2212221 pieces of glasses! The last film to showcase a Sheesh Mahal was K.Asif's Mughal-e-Azam.
# The release date of the film was postponed from Oct 12, 2007 to January 25, 2008 and then to Feb 15, 2008 as the film required a lot of post-production work.

~~Karzzzz~~

Director: Satish Kaushik
Banner: T-Series
Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Urmila Matondkar, Gulshan Grover, Danny Denzongpa

Post the success of Aap Ka Suroor, Himesh seems to have taken his role as an actor rather seriously and is all set to rock 2008 with more films, the first being Karzzzz. Directed by Satish Kaushik, Karzzzz is all set to be the remake of the Rishi Kapoor starrer Karz of the 80's. And the remake will also witness apna Himesh bhai in a brand new avtar which is without a cap and a brand new look. Himesh will also be singing and composing for the movie besides acting as the main lead. Urmila Matondkar plays a negative role - that of Simi Garewal from the original. Shooting for the film will apparently take place in South Africa, Kenya and Mumbai.

Trivia:
# Subhash Ghai was initially approached to direct this film. But he did not approve of the idea of remaking his own film.
# Karzzzz is the first film from Himesh's 3-film deal with T-Series . The other two films happen to be Kajrare, to be directed by Pooja Bhatt and one to be directed by John Matthew Mathan (he was the mastermind behind Aamir Khan's hit film, Sarfarosh).
# Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om was also thematically a remake of Subhash Ghai's Karz.

~~Krazzy 4~~

Director: Jaideep Sen
Producer: Rakesh Roshan
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Irrfan Khan, Suresh Menon, Rajpal Yadav, Juhi Chawla, Dia Mirza

Krazzy 4 is a comedy with a social message. The film is based around the four characters played by Arshad Warsi, Irrfan Khan, Suresh Menon and Rajpal Yadav who form the crazy four-some with key supporting roles by Juhi Chawla and Dia Mirza.

Trivia:
# Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor - all were approached for item numbers in this film. but no one has confirmed as yet. The only confirmed item number is by Rakhi Sawant.

~~Love Story 2050~~

Director: Harry Baweja
Producer: Pammi Baweja
Cast: Harman Baweja, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani
Release Date: April 25, 2008

Harman Baweja, who is touted to be the next big star son to debut after Ranbir and Sonam, will make his foray into Bollywood with this film. Harry Baweja is readying his son Harman and has chosen this futuristic sci-fi film as the perfect launch pad to give him the best opportunity to impress all who matter. To be filmed in Australia, Love Story 2050 is one of the heaviest budgeted films in recent times and promises to provide audiences with a high dosage of special effects.

Trivia:
# Kareena Kapoor was supposed to play the female lead initially but reportedly demanded a huge fee. So she was replaced by Priyanka Chopra.
# There were rumours that Harman is dating Priyanka.
# Priyanka Chopra has a double role in the film.

~~Lucky Charm~~

Director: Aziz Mirza
Banner: Tips
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Vidya Balan Since he directed Chalte Chalte in 2003, Aziz Mirza has maintained a low profile, but has now returned to his passion with the film Lucky Charm. This film will bring together actors Shahid Kapoor and Vidya Balan on screen for the first time and Vidya seems to have had a makeover for this particular role in the movie. She appears to be extremely cute with the haircut and Shahid has always been the cute guy next door. Lucky Charm is slated to be a romantic feel good movie and hope audiences reciprocate the same post the release.

~~Made In China~~

Director: Nikhil Advani
Producer: Ramesh Sippy, Warner Brothers
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Mithun Chakroborty
Post the debacle of Salaam-e-Ishq, director Nikhil Advani plans an action adventure basically set in China. Akshay Kumar, who has off late been doing only comedy films, will be seen in an out-an-out action role in this adventurous film. The movie is about a chef who is wrongly mistaken to be a martial arts expert. Incidentally, Akshay Kumar actually worked as a chef in China and learnt martial arts there before he entered Bollywood. Scripted by Sridhar Raghavan, the film will be entirely shot in Beijing and Shanghai from January 2008.

Trivia:
# The makers are shuffling the title of the film from Made in China to Chandni Chowk to China to Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu!

~~Race~~

Director: Abbas Mastan
Banner: Tips
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Anil Kapoor, Sameera Reddy, Katrina Kaif
Release Date: February 2008

This is another one of those Abbas-Mustan thrillers and this time being more star-studded. It says 'the only thing more deadly than passion is betrayal'. Who will be the bad guy here? Keep guessing!


Trivia:
# Saif was linked with Bipasha during the shoot of this film until his relationship with Kareena came out in open. The rumour also strained Bipasha and John's bonding.
# International designer and fashion guru, Jean Paul Gaultier visited Saif on the sets of this film.
# Reportedly, Saif performed his stunts in the film without using a double.

~~Rang Rasiya/Colours of Passion~~

Director: Ketan Mehta
Producer: Deepa Sahi
Cast: Randeep Hooda, Nandana Sen

Despite the failure of the period film Mangal Pandey, Ketan Mehta attempts another period drama as a biographical take on the life and times of painter Raja Ravi Varma. Randeep Hooda stars in the role of Raja Ravi Varma and Nandana Sen is to play the painter's muse Sugunabai who is a sensuous woman who posed nude for the painter. Rang Rasiya is the story about the life and times of famed painter Raja Ravi Varma and the controversies surrounding his work. The film will be simultaneously shot in Hindi and English languages and the English version will be titled Colours of Passion.

Trivia:
# Madhuri Dixit reportedly refused the role of the muse as she was not comfortable with the nude scenes.

~~Roadside Romeo~~

Director: Jugal Hansraj
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Javed Jaffrey

Animated films seem to have caught the imagination of quite a few filmmakers and Yash Raj has followed suit. They have tied up with Walt Disney to produce their first animation film in 3D using state-of-the-art technology. Jugal Hansraj (who has failed as an actor) attempts to make his directorial debut with this film. The central animated character of the film is a dog named Roadside Romeo.


The voice over for this dog will be given by Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Javed Jaffrey. The film will feature music, dances, songs and romance just like any other film produced by Yash Raj Films, but in the animated format.

~~Sarkar Raaj~~

Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Tanisha Mukherjee

Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar Raaj, which is the sequel to his earlier film Sarkar, is to have an original script unlike its predecessor which was inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. Amitabh and Abhishek continue to star in RGV's film while Aishwarya too is set to have a significant role although Abhi-Ash may not be paired opposite each other in the movie that revolves around the politics of rural Maharashtra and Delhi. The film is apparently being shot at the famed Ramoji Film City studios in Hyderabad.

~~Siddharth Anand's Untitled Movie~~

Director: Siddharth Anand
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu

Supposedly, Saawariya wasn't planned to be Ranbir Kapoor's debut film, but it was Aditya Chopra who was rumoured to be launching Rishi Kapoor's son in a movie to be produced by Yash Raj Films. Well, the debut didn't work out but Ranbir's second film will be under the Yash Raj banner and is directed by Siddharth Anand. The title for the film has not been finalized yet and the story too has been kept closely under wraps but news is that Ranbir will have the lifetime of an opportunity to romance four beautiful heroines in a single movie! Of the four, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif and Bipasha Basu have been finalised while Aditya is still on the hunt for the fourth, who is said to be Minnisha Lamba.

~~Singh is Kinng~~

Director: Anees Bazmee
Producer: Vipul Shah
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Neha Dhupia, Jaaved Jaffrey, Ranvir Shorey
Release Date: August 15, 2008

Akshay Kumar is busy preparing himself to be a Sardar and a clean shaven one for Vipul Shah's Singh is Kinng, that will be directed by Anees Bazmee. This film will see Akshay and Katrina Kaif being paired opposite yet again (for the fourth time!) and Akshay is set to don the pagdi (which alone cost Rs 65 lakhs!) for his role as a cool looking Punjabi sardar. Looks like Akshay Kumar is really readying himself to play a 'Kinng' sized role for this film and going by the fate of his earlier comedies that have been hits at the BO, we wonder if the fate of Singh is Kinng will be any different.

~~Tashan~~

Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor
Release Date: April 2008

Vijay Krishna Acharya (popularly known as Victor) who has written the scripts of the Dhoom series makes his directorial debut with this film. Yash Raj banner continues to surprise us going out of their mushy romance genre to come up with an out-an-out action thriller. The film gets together the lethal Main Khiladi Tu Anari combination of Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan after a decade. Anil Kapoor returns to the Yash Raj banner after 15 years and dons a negative character for the film. Kareena is set to play a very glamorous role in this one.


Trivia:
# All the stars in the movie are set to be given a look that will surely have them in awe.
# Saif's son, Ibrahim, too is apparently making his film debut playing Saif's son in the movie.

~~The Last Lear~~

Director: Rituparno Ghosh
Banner: Planman Life Motion Pictures
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Arjum Rampal, Divya Dutta, Prosenjit

Amitabh plays a Shakespearean actor who is getting caught up with his age but whose zeal and passion is still intact. Preity Zinta's character seems to be apparently stylized on the basis of what Rekha had played in Silsila. The film also has Arjun Rampal playing a significant role.

Trivia:
# The film is based on popular character actor Utpal Dutt's Bengali play, Aajker Shahjahan. Rituparno Ghosh pays a glowing tribute to the actor through his film.
# The film won acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival.

~~U, Me Aur Hum~~

Director: Ajay Devgan
Banner: Eros International
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Karan Khanna, Isha Sharvani
Release Date: April 11, 2008

Ajay Devgan was the last of actors one expected to make his directorial debut! And he surprises us all with his home production, U Me Aur Hum. Ajay and wife Kajol play the lead in this romantic film. The film also stars Isha Sharvani and Karan Khanna. Apparently, the shooting of the film is currently under way and part of the filming was on a cruise liner. Let's see if director Ajay can compete with the actor in him.

~~Wanted Dead or Alive~~

Director: Prabhu Deva
Producer: Boney Kapoor
Cast: Salman Khan, Ayesha Takia, Om Puri, Mahesh Manjrekar, Vinod Khanna

Continuing his legacy of remaking South films, Boney Kapoor is remaking the Telugu superhit film, Pokiri starring Mahesh Babu, into Hindi as Wanted Dead or Alive, starring Salman Khan in the lead. He has also tried on a new pairing for his lead by roping in Ayesha Takia who will star opposite Salman for the first time. South actor-choreographer Prabhu Deva is set to don the hat of the director for the film apart from choreographing the dances. Lets hope Boney Kapoor is successful in recreating the magic of No Entry.

~~Yuvraaj~~

Director: Subhash Ghai
Banner: Mukta Arts
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Zayed Khan, Boman Irani

Subhash Ghai was stuck with producing films for a while but is now back behind the camera for the mega starrer Yuvraaj. The film is apparently being made with a budget of 50 crores in mind and, lyrics by Gulzar and music by maestro A R Rahman, will be an added attraction. The movie is set to be a musical extravaganza and is being shot in Western Europe.