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29 March 2024

The Bollywood summer is 'Ready' to take off

Published
By Bindu Suresh Rai

School’s almost out and Bollywood filmmakers are rubbing their hands with glee as the summer season blockbuster period has just officially kicked off.
 
Salman Khan and Asin’s “Ready”, which is premiering today in Dubai is the first film in a long line of summer movies that will be playing shortly in a marquee near you.
 
Emirates 24|7 has sifted through the productions to bring you the top 10 scorchers that are the hot tickets over the next few months.
 
Ready
June 2

 
Salman Khan returns in a role that he can now sleepwalk through, but expectations are high considering his previous outing at the cinema was the mega hit “Dabangg”, which also just walked away with the National Award, India’s highest honour bestowed on the film industry.
 
In this Anees Bazmee and Khan-directed comedy, the latter returns to the silver screen in his Prem name avatar, a do-gooder who reunites lovers.
 
While helping innocent Sanjanna (Asin) escape her own wedding, the duo fall in love and battle a twisted plot of greedy uncles who want to gulp down Sanjanna’s family fortune, while placating Prem’s madcap family.
 
The film also has sneak peeks by Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn and Kangana Ranaut.
 
Bheja Fry
June 16


 
The sequel to the runaway indie hit, “Bheja Fry” returns and we hope its predecessor’s success gives this film enough run time in UAE cinemas.
 
Vinay Pathak reprises his role as the good-hearted but not worldly-wise tax inspector, Bharat Bhushan, looking to fulfill his dream of becoming a singer.
 
After winning a game show in hopes of winning a cash prize with which he can cut his own music album, Bhushan also winds up with a free stay on a cruise ship, where he meets the crooked tycoon Ajit Talwar (Kay Kay Menon), on the run from the Income Tax department.
 
The madcap confusion continues with a few more famous faces thrown in, including Minnisha Lamba and Amol Gupte. Add a hostage situation and a shipwreck on a deserted island and “Bheja Fry 2” has all the makings of a crazy fun ride or a plot that could sink faster than the Titanic.
 
Let’s hope it’s the former.
 
Double Dhamaal
June 23


 
While a few of us are not exactly rooting for this comic caper, if you loved the “Golmaal” franchise, then this “Dhamaal” sequel is right up your alley.
 
Directed by Indra Kumar, the sequel to the 2007 hit stars the usual suspects, Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi, Riteish Deshmukh and Ashish Chowdhry, who reprise their roles, while Kangana Ranaut and Mallika Sherawat are the new additions.
 
The four boys are still looking for their next big con, when they come across archenemy Inspector Kabir (Dutt), who has traded in his uniform to lead the high life through nefarious means.
 
The foursome wants in on this treasure trove and blackmail Kabir into cutting them a share into his crooked fortune. What they don’t realise though is that Kabir has a hidden agenda of his own to be complacent, one that is shared only by his wife Kamini (Sherawat) and sister Kiya (Ranaut).
 
What follows is a madcap (think migraine) comedy, which naturally has the oomph factor, with Sherawat shaking a hip to item number, “Jalebi Bai”.
 
Bbuddah... Hoga Tera Baap
June 30


 
Playing on Amitabh Bachchan’s legendary ‘angry young man’ avatar from the seventies, this Puri Jagannath-directed film tells the story of a short-tempered retired hitman, played by the veteran actor, who is young at heart.
 
Settled in Paris, he comes back to India to do one last job but things simply don’t go according to plan.
 
The film sees the comeback of yesteryear actress, Raveena Tandon, who will star alongside Hema Malini, Charmy Kaur and Sonal Chauhan. Sonu Sood and Prakash Raj also play significant character roles in the film.
 
Bachchan has apparently had a stylised makeover for this film, and why not, when it is being jointly produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and the actor’s own company, AB Corp. 
 
Delhi Belly
June 30


 
One of the most anticipated movies of the year, “Delhi Belly” spins a gritty yarn of three flatmates and partners in crime, Tashi, Arun and Nitin
 
Tashi is to get married in a month but still doesn’t know if his fiancé is the one; Arun can’t make up his mind who he wants to kill first – his girlfriend who has just dumped him or his annoying boss whose idea of creativity is sketching a smiling banana; and Nitin is about to discover that eating tandoori chicken off a street vendor is going to give him the worst case of Delhi Belly he’s ever known.
 
They appear to be your three average three blokes pursuing the Indian dream, however life takes a turn when they find themselves on the hit list of one of the world’s deadliest crime syndicates.
 
Directed by ad man Abhinay Deo and produced by Aamir Khan and UTV Motion Pictures, needless to say, this is one of hottest picks of the summer.
 
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara            
July 14
 
If your heart warmed to the yuppie brotherhood that “Dil Chahta Hai” promised several years ago, then this is one film you simply cannot afford to miss.
 
Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol are three best friends who embark on a roadtrip across Spain under the guise of a bachelor trip/party when the latter of the trio decides to get hitched.
 
The fun and games continue until fiancé Kalki Koelchin shows up in Spain to dampen the fun, while Roshan and Akhtar both fall for the same diving instructor, played by Katrina Kaif.
 
A trip of a lifetime, which is set to change their lives forever, or so says the film synopsis. All we know is that Roshan and Kaif simply sizzle together, while Deol and Akhtar are powerful actors too. Let the fun begin, we say.
 
Mausam
July 21
 
Here’s a first in Bollywood: a film plot that is as closely guarded a secret as was Kate Middleton’s wedding dress until she married Prince William.
 
Directed by veteran powerhouse actor, Pankaj Kapoor, the film has already made a lot of noise due to the off-screen showdowns between the director and actress Sonam Kapoor.
 
Starring Shahid Kapoor, all is known that the the actor plays a pilot and sports different looks in the film and is shot in London, Scotland, Switzerland and Chandigarh, India.
 
Rumours abound that the film is a time travel romance, spanning decades. Your guess is as good as ours.
 
Aarakshan   
August 11
 
After last year’s “Rajneeti”, Prakash Jha returns with another political pot-boiler that brings to the forefront the issue of the caste-based reservations in government jobs and educational institutions across India.
 
Dr Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bachchan) is the idealistic principal of a college where Deepak (Saif Ali Khan), a Dalit or a member of the scheduled caste, studies. He is the star pupil of the school and is in love with Poorbie (Deepika Padukone), who is Dr Anand’s daughter.
 
When the court passes a order of 50 per cent reservation in India, their lives take a turn, each holding a different point of view that is somehow now affecting their lives.
 
Playing a pivotal role is also Prateik Babbar, who plays Sushant, Deepak’s wealthy, best friend.
 
Bodyguard
August 30


 
A remake of the Malayalam hit of the same name, Salman Khan plays bodyguard to Kareena Kapoor, much to her chagrin. To get rid of him, she hides her identity and calls him repeatedly from a different number to annoy him.
 
However, gradually the duo falls in love over the phone, without Khan ever realising her true identity.
 
Things come to head when a planned meeting between the two goes awry when Kapoor’s on-screen father discovers the plans and sets out to kill Khan. Terrified, Kapoor’s character sends her friend instead who falls in love with Khan and runs away with him to get married.
 
If you are still reading this plot and wondering why the heck would I ever watch this film? Think Salman Khan and that should be answer enough.
 
Rockstar
Sept 8            
 
Director Imtiaz Ali returns with his fourth film, “Rockstar” starring Ranbir Kapoor and newcomer, Nargis Fakhri.
 
While not much has been revealed about the plot as yet, Kapoor plays the protagonist in the film, who undergoes emotional turmoil deliberately to produce music that has more soul in it.
 
Naturally, one would think he has broken his heart along the way to pour his pain into his music.
 
Oscar-winner AR Rahman has been roped in to compose the music so we can expect something wow, we hope.