Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
This Sonam Kapoor-starrer film made news even before the trailer released, and for good reason — it is the first mainstream Bollywood film to depict the protagonist as homosexual. Sonam plays a closeted gay woman who seeks acceptance from her conservative family. The movie will be an interesting take on Indian society’s way of dealing with homosexuality. When the trailer released, it wasn’t hard to tell that the plot was an unexpected love story, something that hasn’t been explored by mainstream Bollywood just yet. And the great thing about this flick is it features Bollywood’s leading actors Sonam Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao. In the film, the latter agrees to stage a marriage with Sonam’s character so that she can have a shot at true love.
This film also marks the first time Sonam shares screen space with her father, Bollywood veteran Anil Kapoor. Regina Cassandra, who is popular in the South film industry, will also make her Bollywood debut with this film. She plays Sonam’s love interest in the movie.
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga has been directed by Shelly Chopra Dhar and also stars Juhi Chawla and Abhishek Duhan. It will release on February 1, 2019.
Brahmastra
The Ayan Mukerji directorial, Brahmastra, has raised many questions ever since its first look was released. With rumoured lovebirds Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor in leading roles, the movie is described as a fantasy superhero film, with supernatural elements. It has also been revealed to be the first part of a trilogy written by Ayan. Although not much has been disclosed about the project, vague details have been given, such as the titular character’s connection with fire. Although only time will tell what the concept of the film is, just the cast alone — including Bhatt and Kapoor, as well as Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna Akkineni, and Dimple Kapadia — has got people excited.
Ranbir and Ayan have proven to be the perfect combination in the past, with the young and talented Ayan telling stories in a fresh and engaging manner. Another interesting fact is that it apparently took Ayan four years to pen the script for the trilogy! The movie will see Dimple and Big B share screen space for the first time in 15 years. With Ayan’s penchant for creating unique and relatable characters, paired with his ability to capture the audience, Brahmastra is sure to be one movie to look out for this year. Produced by Karan Johar, the film is set for a Christmas 2019 release.
Kalank
Renowned filmmaker Karan Johar’s most ambitious multi-starrer film of the year, Kalank, has been talked about for ages, it seems. This epic film has come into the limelight because of its stellar ensemble cast consisting of not just two but six actors. Two superhit jodis: Sanjay Dutt/Madhuri Dixit and Varun Dhawan/Alia Bhatt will be seen sharing screen space. Sonakshi Sinha and Aditya Roy Kapur are also part of this historical drama.
The film is directed by Abhishek Varman of 2 States fame. Kalank is set in the pre-independence era of the 1940’s, and rumours suggest that the story revolves around two families with different values. About 15 years ago, late filmmaker Yash Johar planned to make this film and finally the project has materialised. He spent a lot of time in Pakistan and researched in the 1940’s. Now that his son will be producing the film, we might get to see some interesting Pakistani culture in the film. Kalank is slated to release on April 19th.
Kesari
Historical movies have been taking over Bollywood in recent times, with many releases set in the past era. One Indian period war drama to look forward to this year is Kesari. The film, which stars Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra in important roles, is centred on the battle of Saragarhi which saw an army of 21 brave Sikhs fighting against 10,000 Afghans! The battle took place in 1897, and the film follows the story of one of the war participants, Havildar Ishar Singh, played by Akshay. The first look of the film features Akshay in a completely new look, with a long beard and a pagri on his head.
Kesari, set to release on March 22, will also mark Anurag Singh’s directorial comeback after 10 years. His last film was Dil Bole Hadippa in 2009.
Gully Boy
Another film to watch out for in 2019 is based on the lives of well-known Mumbai street rappers Vivian Fernandes, a.k.a. Divine and Naved Shaikh, aka Naezy. This is the first time we’ll see Ranveer Singh share screen space with Alia Bhatt. Gully Boy is directed by Zoya Akhtar. After watching a video of rappers on the internet, Zoya decided to make a film on the hip-hop scene in Mumbai slums. Divine began his career as an underground rapper in 2011, and gained mainstream popularity following the success of his song ‘Mere Gully Mein’ along with his fellow rapper Naezy. It will be interesting to see how Zoya will present the rappers’ stories onscreen. Recently, Gully Boy was in the news for being one of nine films chosen to premiere at the prestigious 69th Berlin International Film Festival in February. The film is slated to release on February 14.
