The High Court verdict in the Aarushi case was as much a victory for the Talwars, as it was for Vishal Bharadwaj and Meghna Gulzar
Meghna Gulzar
The High Court verdict in the Aarushi case was as much a victory for the Talwars, as it was for Vishal Bharadwaj and Meghna Gulzar, the writer and director of Talvar (2016), who had argued against the murdered girl's parents' conviction. Meghna returns on the screen with the Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal starrer, Raazi — a period spy thriller, set in Kashmir. Sincerely hope this proves victorious among audiences just as much.
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Rajkumar Hirani
The king of Bollywood's 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' comedy steps out of his comfort zone with Sanjay Dutt's biopic. Abhijat Joshi was very much by his side, co-writing the script. As was Dutt himself. The film chronicles the rise and fall of Bandra's most intriguing 'rockstar'. And going by leaked images, no one, we suspect, can crack this part better than the young Pali Hill pal/neighbour, Ranbir Kapoor. Can't wait for this one already.
Saif Ali Khan
This is the Khan most forget when they refer to the 'Khans of Bollywood', although he's been around as leading man for pretty much just as long, which is a feat in itself; besides that he's taken more risks than his contemporaries, if you may — whether that be a completely English movie (Being Cyrus), producing, acting in the first mainstream zombie flick (Go Goa Gone), upping the ante with a desi James Bond blowout (Agent Vinod), or whacking it out of the park as a Meerathiya gangster (in Omkara). In 2018, Saif will walk in as cop Sartaj Singh, the lead from Vikram Chandra's underworld noir-novel, Sacred Games, being adapted as a Netflix original series for a global audience. Whether the series itself becomes India's Narcos of sorts is hard to tell. It's being directed by Anurag Kashyap, with Vikramaditya Motwane as the show-runner. But we'd keep our eyes out for Saif, also in Kaalakaandi, which is the brilliant Delhi Belly writer Akshat Verma's directorial debut. Then there's also Nikhil Advani's production Bazaar (on the stock market). So, well, rather see Saif, than be sorry? (Okay, sorry, about that lame one).
Varun Dhawan
Bollywood's current wonder-kid has earned his box-office cred, with a cent per cent hit-rate, in mainstream movies, traversing genres, from tapori (Judwaa 2, Badrinaths), to top-notch thriller (Badlapur). What excites us about his movies in the new year? Their directors. Shoojit Sircar helms October. Sircar simply never gets it wrong. Sui Dhaaga is directed by Sharat Katariya. It's Katariya's first film since the lovely Dum Lagake Haisha. Hence, in Varun we trust.
Ishaan Khatter
What could be a better debut for a lead actor than the Iranian master Majid Majidi's first Indian/Hindi film, Beyond The Clouds? And what better way to follow that up than with Dhanak, the Hindi remake of the Marathi masterpiece Sairaat, produced by Karan Johar? You may have spotted actor Shahid Kapoor's half brother in Udta Punjab, if you didn't blink all through the film. Clearly we're going to see a lot more of him if '18 goes his way. It should.
Shankar
Akshay Kumar calls his 2.0 director Shankar "more of a scientist than a filmmaker." Akshay teams up with Superstar Rajinikanth in this mother of blockbusters. Aamir Khan, no less, has claimed that the film's script is to die for. Would 2.0 be the new Baahubali for a pan-Indian audience? We're betting our money on it.
Star Kids, Obviously!
Going back to Saif, it's not "eugenics", but public curiosity and media attention that audiences will naturally look out for Sara Ali Khan (Saif's daughter), Jhanvi Kapoor (Sridevi's daughter), Rohan Mehra (late Vinod Mehra's son) making their starry debuts with Kedarnath, Dhanak, and Bazaar respectively. No it's not a personality contest; the best picture will win, surely.
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