Not quite 'The End'

This will be a year of sequels and remakes in Bollywood as tinseltown hopes to keep last year's momentum going. 2011 was a year when domestic revenues hit Rs19.25 billion (about Dh1.3 billion), an increase of nearly 30 per cent of 2010 collections of Rs14.5 billion, with an unprecedented four films crossing the billion-rupee milestone.

In 2012, remake fever reaches an all-time high with as many as half a dozen reboots lined up for release. Agneepath, which hits cinemas this weekend, is a remake of one of Amitabh Bachchan's most renowned films. The new version will star Hrithik Roshan, in his only outing this year, as lead character Vijay, whose role has been rewritten. Katrina Kaif as Chikni Chameli adds to the hype.

Rowdy Rathore, the Hindi version of 2006 Telugu movie Vikramarkudu, is an out and out action film. The Prabhudeva-directed film stars Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha and will hit cinemas in June. Two more Telugu films are being remade. Surender Reddy's Kick, from 2009, which revolves around a guy who loves to do crazy things for the fun of it, will have Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha. Comedy Maryada Ramanna is to be reworked with Ajay Devgn, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Dutt and Sonakshi Sinha again — this time set in Punjab and renamed Son of Sardar.

Devgn also teams with Abhishek Bachchan for Bol Bachchan, a remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's classic Gol Maal. David Dhawan will remake Sai Paranjpye's 1981 comedy Chashme Buddoor. The new version stars Pakistani actor Ali Zafar, South Indian star Siddharth, Tapsee and veteran actor Anupam Kher.

Then there are the sequels. The year began badly with Abbas-Mustan's Players, the official remake of The Italian Job, disappointing fans of the Hollywood caper despite a cast that included Bobby Deol, Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and Sonam Kapoor.

However, there are more than a dozen sequels coming our way. Akshay Kumar gets into gangster mode to narrate Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai 2, as well as in Sajid Khan's Housefull 2. For the former, about the rivalry between gangsters Chhota Rajan and Dawood Ibrahim, he is joined by Ilean D'Cruz and Shahid Kapoor and for the latter, by Riteish Deshmukh, Boman Irani, Chunkey Pandey, Amitabh Bachchan, Shazahn Padamsee, Asin, Jacqueline Fernandez and Malaika Arora Khan in an item number.

Pandey and Deshmukh face off against themselves in the movie Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum, Ekta Kapoor's follow-up to the 2005 hit, which also stars Tusshar Kapoor and Bipasha Basu and is released on the same day. Emraan Hashmi goes back to thriller fare with Bloody Money, the sequel to Jannat. Hashmi also returns for the third instalment of Mahesh Bhatt's Raaz, again directed by Vikram Bhatt. Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu reunite for Race 2, joined by John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Sanjay Dutt. And then there is Dabangg 2, to be directed by Arbaaz Khan and that releases around Christmas. Picking up where the action left off in Dabangg, the Salman Khan film moves away from the UP hinterland into a large city, most probably Mumbai, with Sonu Sood in a double role as twins.