August 10th 2007: CHAK DE...INDIA

Shahrukh Khan reunites with Yashraj after a hiatus. Directed by Shimit Amin(AB TAK CHAPPAN) the movie looks like a change from Shahrukh's usual brand of Yashraj-K-jo and there isn't even a leading lady opposite SRK. Despite a atrocious first promo, the consecutive promos have gained popularity and momentum. The team also includes Jaideep Sahini(COMPANY, Khosla Ka Ghosla) as the movie's story writer.

THE Blue Umbrella:

Vishal Bharadwaj's next film after Omkara, is the long-delayed UTV produced kids film THE Blue Umbrella. Earlier too Vishal has directed the critically acclaimed MAKDEE. Pankuj Kapur after his award winning act in MAQBOOL re-teams with Vishal here. The enticing promos and spellbinding movies have generated interest, and this should be a multi-plex sleeper!

FEAR:

With such prestigious names like Ramesh Sippy, Rohan Sippy and Vikram Bhatt involved you'd think this movie would be getting a cinematic release, but given Vikram Bhatt's 8 flops in a row, this medium budget horror film starring newcomers will be getting a straight to internet release, a strategy adopted by Rajshri lately for Vivah which worked remarkably well. Vikram is returning to the horror genre for the first time since RAAZ. I doubt this one will create any waves.

KAAFILA:

Sunny Deol has had a slurge of releaes this year, all of which have failed, or didn't get him much recognition. Big Brother was a atrocious film, Fool N Final was even worse, his only success has been APNE where all the credit has gone to Dharmendra. This is a film that has been talked about for a while. Directed by Ammotoje Mann(HAWAAYEIN) and starring a mix of Indian and Pakistani actors, the movie is a based on facts look at the Malta Boat Tragedy, illegal immigration amongst other things. Sunny Deol has the leading role, and content wise this looks like his strongest film in a while. Given Mann and Deol are both huge in the North, it's expected to make money there for sure.

MERI LIFE MEIN USKI WIFE:

A low budget, B-grade sleaze comedy is also releasing on August 10th. Directed by veteran director Partho Ghosh(YUGPURUSH, GHULAM-E-MUSHTAFA and AGNISAKSHI) the movie stars Vikas Kalantri, Heena Taslem, Shakti Kapoor, Jatin Grewal, Rocky Sandhu, and Monalisa-poster says all. Sad what Partho Ghosh has sunk to now..

August 17th 2007: BUDDHA MAR GAYA

After the dud JO BOLE SO NI HAAL with Sunny Deol, Rahul Rawail decides to go for a more story-based comedy which he has described as a "Black comedy". Though I don't have much hope in Rawail the director, the casting here sure is fabulous with Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Ranvir Shourey and Mukesh Tiwari.

KAISAY KAHEIN...

A medium budget teen love story starring all newcomers. Don't see much hope for this one, produced by Smita Thackeray and starring newcomers Rajvir, Neha Jhukla and Sheetal Shah.

MARIGOLD: AN ADVENTURE IN INDIA

Sallubhai goes International. His next release after Partner is a love story with a Hollywood touch as his leading lady is none other than Hollywood's Ali Larter and the movie is directed by Willard Carroll. A mix of Bollywood meets Hollywood with a rather unusual musical score by SEL lets see whether this movie can strike gold at the boxoffice. A strange coincidence, first Govinda romance a phoren actress in teh Salman starrer SEI, and now it's Salman's turn..this movie could end up surprising!!

August 24th 2007:

HEYY BABYY: Sajid Khan's directional debut produced by Sajid Nadiadwala is lucky enough to be a solo release. The movie stars Akshay Kumar(reuniting with Sajid Nadiadwala after JAAN-E-MAN), Ritiesh Deshmukh, Fardeen Khan and Vidya Balan. A comedy about 3 men and a baby(Sajid insists it's NOT a remake) with a fabulous musical score by SEL, this one should be a clean hit! Boman Irani also stars, as well as a guest appearence from Shahrukh Khan, Anupam Kher and Salman Khan

August 31st 2007: Aggar

Producers Narendra Bajaj and Shyam Bajaj return with yet ANOTHER thriller after Aksar and The Train. This time the movie is a part of their suspense trilogy which started with Aksar. The movie stars Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade(his next commercial release after Apna Sapna Money Money), and dUdita Goswami(Aksar). The music is by Mithoon(The Train, ANWAR). Tusshar apparently plays a obsessive lover(a role written for Emraan).

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DHOKHA: Pooja Bhatt returns after the debacles of PAAP, HOLIDAY, and ROG. This time the film looks much more like something a early Mahesh Bhatt would direct. Produced by Mukesh Bhatt and presented by Mahesh Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt has also decided to pen the story here which he calls one of his most personal works since ZAKHM. The movie introduces Muzammil Ibrahim and also stars Tulip Joshi(MATRUBHOOMI), Anupam Kher, Gulshan Grover, Ashutosh Rana. The music by genius M.M Kreem is going to be a treat for all music lovers, and this is one Bhatt film im eagerly looking forward to!

PACHAS LAKH: A medium budget thriller produced by Percept Films, and starring Pawan Malhotra(Narang from DON and Tiger in Black FRIDAY). Should be an interesting film.

VICTORIA NO. 203: In the same week Ananth has his Aggar releasing, he also has his remake of the yesteryear classic crime comedy caper VICTORIA NO.203 releasing. Om Puri and Anupam Kher take over from Ashok Kumar and Pran in this new age remake. Jimmy Shergill, Preeti Jhangiani, Kamal Sadnah and Jaaved Jaffery also star. Music is by Himmesh Reshammiya and Viju Shah.

RGV KI AAG: RGV's amibitious tribute to Ramesh Sippy's yesteryear classic SHOLAY starring Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Ajay Devgan, newcomer Prashant Raij, Sushant Singh, Sushmita Sen, Nisha Kothari, and the usual host of RGV regulars ( Rajpal Yadav, Chakravarthy, Sanjay Navrekar, Ravindra Kale, Virendra Saxena, Suchitra Krishna Murthy, and ofcourse Urmila) finally hits the screen on August 31st after having an entire name change due to court orders with Gabbar being now called Babban, Veeru is Heero and so forth. Click on the link below for the theatrical promo:

Link

September 7th 2007:

APNA ASMAAN: A medium budget, story-based, offbeat venture this one looks like a gem of a movie. Starring the gifted Irrfan Khan the movie's tagline goes "Nobody is disabled. We are all differently abled". Rajat Kapoor and Anupam Kher also star in the film which is relying on WOM at the multi-plexes to get noticed, as well as making rounds at various film festivals.

DHAMAAL: Indra Kumar's long-delayed comedy looks more like NEHLLA PE DEHLLA which isn't a good thing, although the cast of Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaffery and Ritiesh Deshmukh will warrant one watch for sure. Indra Kumar's last film PYAARE MOHAN was unbearable. Sohail Khan, Aftab and Aashish Chaudhury also star here.

RGV's DARLIN: A twisted, psychotic, ghostly and killer love story, the movie is produced by T-Series, features a good musical score by Himmesh and stars Fardeen Khan, Esha and Isha Kopikkar with Nisha Kothari in a guest song appearence. The plot sounds like a cross between BHOOT, MY WIFES MURDER and PYAAR TUNE KYA KIYA where Fardeen plays a man who is having an affair with his secretary(Esha) whom he kills by accident, only to have her return from the dead and haunt him. Lot od people have been badmouthing the film without even knowing what the movie is about, this should prove to be an interesting watch.

September 14th 2007: WEDNESDAY: This is a movie to seriously look forward too, a medium budget thriller which stars Nasseruddin Shah, Anupam Kher and Jimmy Shergill. The movie unfolds in an entire day and the film is generating a positive WOM from those that have seen promos.

NAHNE: Sameer Karnik comes back after the debacle of KYUN HO GAYA NA with this childrens film starring Dwij Yadav(as Nahne) and Bobby Deol playing himself. Vatsal Seth(TARZAAN) and Katrina Kaif(guest appearence) also star in the movie. The cinematography is by Binod Pradhan which is said to be stunning.

September 21st 2007:

DHOL: Priyadarshan who hasn't had a single release since BHAAGAM BHAG comes back with DHOL, a comedy film which doesn't star his usuals Akshay and Paresh, but instead has Tusshar, Kunal Khemu, Sharman Joshi, Rajpal Yadav and Tanushree Dutta. An interesting cast with a simple premise this should be a fun-filled film.

MANORAMA SIX FEET UNDER: Now this is a film to look forward to. Produced by Shemaroo and directed by debutant Navdeep Singh, the movie is a supposed Indie gem, something which actor Abhay Deol is fast gaining a reputation. A western neo noir starring Abhay Deol(EK CHAALIS KI LAST LOCAL), Gul Panang(DOR), Raima Sen(HONEYMOOD TRAVELS PVT LTD), Sarika(PARZANIA) and Vinay Patthak(BHEJA FRY).

September 28th 2007:

DIL DOSTI ETC: A youth film produced by Prakash Jha, and directed by debutant Manish Tiwary the movie stars Shreyas Talpade and Nasseruddin Shah's soon Imaad Shah.

RAMA RAMA KYA HAI DRAMA:

A love story/thriller starring Ashish Chaudhury, Neha Dhupia, Rati Agnihotri, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav, Amrita Arora, and Sanjay Misra. Expected to sink without a trace.

JOHNNY GADDAAR: This is one of the most awaited movies of the year, a true blue tribute to the 70's noir genre, the movie looks like a cross between Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchcock. Directed by Sriram Raghavan who directed the brilliant EK HASINA THI the movie stars Dharmendra(on a roll after METRO and APNE), Nitin Neil Mukesh(making his debut), Zakir Hussain, Vinay Patthak and Rimmi Sen. Vishal_shekhar have composed the music, the first promo has caught the eyes of movie-goers worldwide as it starts out by paying a tribute to Vijay Anand's classic JOHNNY MERA NAAM!

Rest of September 2007, dates TBC:

Black AND WHITE: Subhash Ghai's songless, meaningful film about a terroist and his change of heart, this thriller is one to watch out for. Starring Anil Kapoor in a authorbacked role, the movie is directed by Subhash Ghai himself. Shefali Chhaya co-stars in the movie.

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CHOORIYAN: long delayed venture starring Gracy Singh, Sudhanshu Panday and Vinod Khanna.

GOD TUSSI GREAT HO: Somehow I doubt this will release in Sept, the movie has been delayed considerably, but still should be a "big" release given it's heft cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Anupam Kher, Sohail Khan, Manisha Koirala and Satish Kaushik. The movie is a remkae of BRUCE ALMIGHTY and stars AB as God! Produced by Afzal Khan and directed by Rumy Jaffery. Music's by Sajid-Wajid(Partner).

HALLA BOL: Raj Kumar Santoshi returns with a hard-hitting, commercial movie with a conscience. Sounds like a cross between GHAYAL and DAMINI the movie is gaining more and more hype day by day. Ajay Devgan, Vidya Balan and Pankuj Kapur head the cast. Given the movie is set in the film industry, a host of actors/actresses make special appearences including Sridevi. If the movie has Ajay Devgan in form, one can truly expect an Award-Worthy performance from the actor, which may even get a nod for another National.

HUM LAAKH CHHUPAYEIN PYAAR MAGAR: A long long delayed venture, which Govinda is probably praying doesn't see the light of day. Also starring Jackie Shroff and debutant Mashoor Amrohi.

SPEED: Harry Baweja returns after a while, with Xerox Copy Vikram Bhatt this time taking inspiration from the Hollywood Hit CELLULAR, yet adding a few more characters here and there. A mammoth cast of down and outers who all need a hit badly including Zayed Khan, Zanjay Suri, Aftab Shivdasani, Aashish Chaudhury, Urmila Mantondkar, Tanushree Dutta and Amrita Arora the movie was delayed by 12 months. Pritam's music hasn't caught on either.

TEAM: THE FORCE: One of those masala films Sohail signed when making his debut in MAINE DIL TUJHKO DIYA the movie is a long delayed venture which stars Sohail Khan, Amrita Arora, Aarti Chhabria, and Yash Tonk. Directed by Ajay Chandok whose Nehlle Pe Dehlla also got delayed.

THE CHALLENGE: A film that Sunny Deol and Taboo are both probably praying never releases. Directed by K.C Bokadia(one time director of AAJ KA ARJUN now making C grade sleaze films like BOLD) the movie stars Sunny Deol, Taboo, Farida Jalal and Govind Namdeo with another 4-5 villains.

October 12th 2007:

BHOOL BHULAIYA: Priyadarshan does yet another remake,this time taking inspiration from Tamil Cinema's massive grosser CHANDRAMUKHI(Which starred Rajnikanth,and itself was a remake of a Malayalam film starring Mohanlal). The movie is said to be closer to the Tamil version with Akshay in Rajni's shoes. The first half is a outright comedy with Priyan Faves Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav , Asrani etc up to their usual antics. Vidya Balan plays Jyothika's applauded role, while Shiney Ahuja and Amisha Patel also star in supporting roles. The music is by Pritam.

HELLO: Atul Agnihotri gets a chance to make another movie after the disaster of DIL NE JISSE APNA KAHAN courtesy again of Sallubhai(in law). This time a adaption of Chetan Bhagats novel ONE NIGHT IN A CALL CENTRE, Bhagat also pens the story. The movie stars Sohail Khan, Sharman Joshi, Gul Panang, Isha Kopikkar, Amrita Arora with Salman Bhai and Katrina Bhabhi in guest roles. Earlier Rohan Sippy wanted to make the movie with Abhishek.

JODHA-AKBAR: UTV's multi-crore historical epic directed by Ashutosh LAGAAN Gowariker making his next film after Swades. The movie stars Hrithik Roshan and Ashwariya Bachchan, as well as a massive team of supporting actors including most of the LAGAAN team. AR Rehman gives the music, with the best in the business this is undoubtedly one of this years biggest films. If rumours are to be believed, the movie features love scenes between hrithik and ash again after Dhoom 2.

LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG: The next outing from Yashraj after CHAK DE..INDIA is a family take with a dark edge. Directed by Pradeep Sarkar(PARINEETA) the movie stars Jaya Bachchan, Rani Mukherji, Konkona Sen Sharma, Anupam Kher with Abhishek Bachchan and Kunal Kapoor in extended guest roles. Aditya Chopra has apparently tried to make the film more "family friendly" as Sarkar's original version is said to be extremely dark.

October 19th 2007:

NO SMOKING: Anurag Kashyap's next directional venture after the masterpiece Black FRIDAY is said to be a cynical look at the world of smokers, and his inspiration clearly looks like Andy Kauffman as far as the genre goes. Definetly one of the years most awaited films with a extremely talented cast of John Abraham, Ranvir Shourey, Paresh Rawal and Ayesha Takia. Raj Kumar Santoshi too takes his bow as an actor. Music by Vishal Bharadwaj, lyrics by Gulzar.

KHOYA KHOYA CHAND: Produced by Prakash Jha, and directed by Sudhir Misra, the movie is a follow-up to Misra's fabulous HAZAARON KHWHASHEIN AISI. Shiney Ahuja leads the cast with Soha Ali Khan, Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Patthak and Sushmita Mukherjee. A period film with music by Shantanu Moitra. This one is deifnetly one to watch out for!

Rest of October 2007: ANAMIKA

Ananth Mahadevan's third in his suspense trilogy, the movie stars Dino Morera, Minissha Lambhaa, Aarti Chhabria, and Gulshan Grover. Music by Anu Malik.

DUS KAHANIYAAN: White Feather productions produces this experimental venture with a mammoth cast, taking a leaf from the current trend of multi story films, the film features 10 unconnected stories with the biggest of stars, best of actors and best of directors.

The cast includes Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Nana Patekar, Dino Morera, Arbaaz Khan, Neha Dhupia, Vidya Balan, Amrita Singh, Aftab Shivdasani, Mandira Bedi, Jeetendra, Manoj Bajpai, Rohit Roy, Ronit Roy, Dia Mirza, Jimmy Shergill, Arjun Rampal, Vivek Oberoi, Bipasha Basu, Esha Deol and then some.

Directors include Sanjay Gupta, Hansal Mehta, Meghna Gulzar, Apoorva Lakhia and Jasmeet Dhodi. Writers include Gulzar and Vishal Bharadwaj.

SUMMER OF 2007: Not much is known about the film except it stars Sikander Khan(Son of Anupam Kher), Gul Panang, Ashutosh Rana and Divya Dutta.

WELCOME: Firoz Nadiadwala returns with yet another extravagant, big-budget, star-studded affair, again with Akshay Kumar, and Paresh Rawal but this time with Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar,Katrina Kaif, Mallika Sherawar and Feroz Khan in the proceedings. Directed by Anees Bazmee who has his first release since No Entry. Expect a RIOT!

November 2nd 2007: Hanuman RETURNS

Percept returns with the sequel to it's highly popular animated film. Dialogues by Anurag Kashyap!

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November 9th 2007: EK-THE POWER OF ONE

Sangeeth Sivan's next after Apna Sapna Money Money is a remake of the telugu hit ATHADU which had Mahesh Babu and Prakash Raj in the lead. The Hindi version stars Bobby Deol and Nana Patekar with Shriya Saran and Chunky Panday. The director has described it as DDLJ mets DIE HARD!

MR FRAUD: Whether this Abbas-Mustaan movie sees the light of day remains to be seen as Sanjubaba has now gone to jail.The other stars are Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu and Tanushree Dutta. A comic/thriller. Music by Himmesh Reshammiya.

SAAWAARIYA: Sanjay Leela Bhansali returns after Black with this multi-crore, extragavant magnum opus Introducing Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, and co-starring Salman Khan, RaniMukherji and Zohra Sehgal. BG composer Monty makes his debut here. One of 2007's BIGGEST FILMS.

November 23rd 2007: DULHA MIL GAYA: Viveck Vaswani's comedy film starring Fardeen Khan, and Tara Sharma with extended guest appearences by Shahrukh Khan and Sushmita Sen. Reports have it that SRK and Sush's roles have been extended. Worth a watch to see the SRK/Sush jodi again after MHN!

MY NAME IS ANTHONY GONSALVES: E.Niwas directs this comedy produced by Bhushan Kumar. The movie has been in the news recently as Shahrukh Khan's RED CHILLIES has decided to back the movie. Movie stars newcomer Nikhil Dwivedi as Anthony Gonsalves, Amrita Rao, Liliette Dubey, Pawan Malhotra, Anupam Kher and Saurabh Shukla. Pritam composes the music.

November 30th 2007: AAJA NACHLEY

Yashraj's last film of the year is the comeback of Queen Bee Madhuri Dixit. A song and dance musical the film stars Madhuri Dixit with Akshaye Khanna, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kunal Kapoor, Ranvir Shourey and Irrfan Khan(WHOA, FANTASTIC CAST). Cameraman Anil Mehta makes his debut as a director, while Salim-Sulaiman compose the music.

Rest of November 2007: OM SHANTI OM

The BIGGEST film of 2007 sees Shahrukh Khan reunite with MAIN HOON NA director Farha Khan for a masala potboiler with a reincarnation theme. A musical, extravaganza which sounds like a tribute to Bollywood with Bollywood as it's backdrop the movie stars SRK, introducing Deepa Padukone, Shreyas Talpade and Mallika Arora with most of Bollywood making a guest appearence. Vishal Shekhar composes the music.

DE TAALI: E.Niwas directs this story about friendship which stars Aftan Shivdasani, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Ayesha Takia, Rimmi Sen and Satish Shah. Vishal-Shekhar compose the music.

RU BA RU: Percept produced this romantic thriller which stars D and RISK fame Randeep Hooda. WOODSTOCK VILLA: White Feather Productions produces the debut film of Sikander Kher(son of Anupam Kher)making his bow as a director. Those who have seen him claim that the boy is immensley talented. Movie also stars Neha Oberoi, Arbaaz Khan Boman Irani with Sanjay Dutt amd Saif Ali Khan both in special appearences. Hansal Mehta directs, while Anu Malik gives the music. A suspense/thriller.

December 14th 2007: SHOWBIZ:

Mukesh Bhatt produces the debut director of choregrapher Raju Khan which is a film which provides an insight in to the casting couches of Bollywood. The movie stars Mriniali Sharma(AWARAPAN) and Gulshan Grover.

December 21st 2007: Love Story 2050:

Harry Baweja's multi-crore launchpad for his son stars Harmaan Baweja(comes with a lot of hype), Priyanka Chopra, & Boman Irani. A sci-fi love story spanning 40 years sounds like a remake of BICENTENIAL MAN to me.

TAARE ZAMEEN PE: Aamir Khan much hyped directional debut and next production venture is a medium budget story of a dyslexic kid where Aamir is only an supporting actor who makes his appearence post interval. SEL compose the music, one of the years most awaited films just because Aamir Khan is associated with it.

Rest of December 2007: BHOOTNATH:

Ravi Chopra's ambitious kids ghost story starring Amitabh Bachchan in the title role of Bhootnath. Movie supposedly also stars SRK and Juhi Chawla. The director is Vivek Sharma. DHAN DHANA DHAN GOAL: Yes, the title of UTV's GOAL has been changed to this B-grade sounding title. The movie stars John Abraham, Naveen Andrews, Bipasha Basu, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani and Raj Zutsi. The movie is a sported based film, and after Hockey in Chak De India, this one focusses on soccer. Music by Pritam.

FAUJ MEIN MAUJ: A B grade comedy which surprisingly stars Mallika Sherawat,Tej Zapru, Rajpal Yadav and Zakir Hussain.

That about sums it up....

A.Shah