Bollywood gears up for a bumper 2021 with big-ticket releases
Akshay Kumar’s ‘Sooryavanshi’, Janhvi Kapoor’s ‘Roohi Afzana’ are first up to release
It appears that the grey pandemic-fueled clouds are finally lifting to reveal a silver lining at the Bollywood box office come February.
According to news reports, close to 20 movies are in the pipeline for release, with a tentative schedule being drawn up between Bollywood producers and showcasers in India.
A report by entertainment portal Pinkvilla claims that Bollywood films should start rolling out by March, with February seeing the release of Kriti Sanon’s ‘MiMi’, where she reportedly plays a surrogate mother and the Yash Raj Films production, ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’ starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra. Interestingly, Chopra’s thriller ‘The Girl on the Train’ is now releasing on Netflix the same month.
March is expected to see some big-ticket release, which includes the Rajkummar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor horror-comedy, ‘Roohi Afzana’, followed by the Rohit Shetty potboiler, ‘Sooryavanshi’. The Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif starrer is one of the biggest releases of the year and was weeks from releasing last year before the pandemic hit. The Reliance Entertainment release also has cameos by Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh.
There is also speculation that YRF’s ‘Bunty Aur Babli 2’, which stars Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan, Sharvari Wagh and Siddhant Chaturvedi could be out in March as well. The film was extensively filmed in Abu Dhabi as well.
Other films slated for March includes ‘Haathi Mere Saathi’, which stars Rana Daggubati and is out on March 26. It is unclear whether Taapsee Pannu’s ‘Haseen Dilruba’ would be out the same month.
April appears to be another big-ticket month as per the Pinkvilla report, with Ranveer Singh’s ‘83’ set to release, along with in Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Toofan’ with Farhan Akhtar and Shoojit Sircar’s ‘Sardaar Udham Singh’, starring Vicky Kaushal.
Salman Khan’s ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ is being touted as an Eid Al Fitr release in mid-May, which may be vying for screen time with John Abraham’s ‘Satyameva Jayate 2’.
Meanwhile, the three major films tentatively scheduled for June include Akshay Kumar’s ‘Bell Bottom’, Ayushmann Khurrana’s ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’ and Kartik Aaryan’s ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’.
There is speculation Kumar’s ‘Prithviraj’ could release in August on the Indian Independence Day weekend, while October will see the release of Ajay Devgn’s ‘Maidaan’ and Diwali will see the sequel to ‘Apne’ with Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Karan Deol.
Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ is out on Christmas, while it is unclear when Shah Rukh Khan’s comeback ‘Pathan’ will release.