Bollybood Back In Business
After a long period of a lull at the box office induced by COVID-19 restrictions, Bollywood is getting ready to bounce back with a slew of releases scheduled for the upcoming weeks and months.
With more than a dozen big-screen releases slotted between February and May 2022, the cumulative business is expected to run into hundreds of crores, promising to bring back the missing cheer.
Big Money at Stake
From a low budget film like Jhund to almost Rs 200-crore mega-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha, the box office is ready to jangle with more than Rs 1,000 crore riding on these releases, estimate trade analysts. With the virus fear receding, the film trade is looking to lure audiences back to the theatres in large numbers with big-bang releases.
The first film to hit the theatres is the Alia Bhatt-starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi. The makers of the films have finally announced the new release date after the film was delayed multiple times due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The magnum opus, which will have its much-awaited world premiere at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, opens in theatres on February 25.
Among the first lot of releases is the much-awaited Jayeshbhai Jordaar, the social comedy film written and directed by Divyang Thakkar and produced by Yash Raj Films and Maneesh Sharma.
Stuck for Long
After many delays, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan’s upcoming sports film Jhund is now going to release on March 4. The film was initially scheduled to hit the screens in September 2020 but its release had to be put off to June 2021 in the wake of the deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Jhund is directed by Nagraj Popatrao Manjule.
March 2022 will also witness the release of Bachchan Pandey in which Akshay Kumar plays the lead role with Kriti Sanon, Jacqueline Fernandez and Arshad Warsi as his co-stars. In the Farhad Samji directorial, Kumar reportedly plays a gangster who aspires to be an actor.
The April roster of releases includes the big-budget Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan starrer Laal Singh Chaddha. It will finally be released on 14th April. The movie also stars Mona Singh and Naga Chaitanya in the lead and is directed by Advait Chandan.
Tiger Shroff, who has been missing from the scene for a while now, will be back with his sequel Heropanti 2. The Ahmed Khan directorial is slated for release on April 29.
Summer Openings
Bhushan Kumar-produced Anek starring Ayushmann Khurrana has locked in a summer release date, May 13. The film is director Anubhav Sinha’s second outing with Khurrana, with the two having worked together earlier in Article 15. Anek is being touted as a hard-hitting socio-political drama shot in the northeast of India. The film is set in a certain social context and aims to celebrate the diversity of our nation.
“It was an incredibly difficult film to make. We shot it in locales hard to navigate and in times that were the most difficult. But the film feels like a triumph of our spirit and I am so proud of what we’ve created,” Sinha was reported as saying recently.
Kartik Aaryan-starrer Bhool Bhulaiyaa is slated for May 20 release. A sequel to the 2007 film, it stars Kiara Advani and Tabu as well, while Anees Bazmee is helming the project. The original was the official Hindi remake of the 1993 Malayalam comedy-cum-psychological thriller, Manichitrathazhu.
