Picture abhi baaki hai

After a year of reality checks that 2015 was, film critic and trade analyst Omar Qureshi says there won’t be any room for mediocrity in 2016. He gives us the lowdown on his top picks, waiting to unravel on the big screen...

The Khans are always known to have the most looked-forward to and most-talked about films. And 2016 will be no different. Shah Rukh Khan has two films, vastly different from each other while Salman and Aamir will be wrestling it out at the box office quite literally.

Khan trinity unleashed Shah rukh khan in Fan and Raees: Shah Rukh Khan will be having not one but two big releases this year — Maneesh Sharma’s Fan and Rahul Dholakia’s Raees. The promos look extremely exciting. Both the films are very different from each other. And they are also different from what Shah Rukh has done and that approach has worked for him in the past. When he was making Chak De India many people were not banking on it — they questioned his choice and the promotional strategy of the film was criticised. There was no signature SRK move in the film and in spite of that, the film was a class product.

Aamir Khan in dangal: Aamir always has something unique up his sleeve and he has the ability to turn every concept into entertainment. I’m sure with Dangal he will do just the same. He took up a concept like dyslexia and made it into a mass awareness film. With Dangal, we can expect a similar twist.

Salman Khan in sultan: As all Salman Khan films, Sultan is much looked forward to as well. He plays a wrestler in it for the first time and this is also his second outing with Yash Raj. Looking at how his films have performed at the box office over the past few years, one can say that Salman can simply stand in front of the camera and his films will be a hit. Even if he does nothing, his films will still score. He has such a fan base — his audience don’t just watch his films, they celebrate them. And that will work for Sultan as well.

Other projects of promise: Mohenjodaro: Hrithik Roshan and Ashutosh Gowariker are reuniting after Jodhaa Akbar — magic is bound to happen. It’s not that period films based on history are anything new, but what will work for it is the mammoth scale and the specific historical period chosen.

Rangoon: Period love stories are always appealing and they are known to work in Bollywood. Vishal Bhardwaj has proven his worth time and again and here he’ll be reuniting with his Haider actor Shahid Kapoor and his Omkara bad man Saif Ali Khan. Also, Sajid Nadiadwala (producer) is known to put his buck on something different. That only adds to the promise of Rangoon.

Jagga Jasoos and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil: Both are Ranbir Kapoor films and in spite of a few recent hiccups in his career, he is still a top rung actor. He is the best of the breed and as an actor, someone who is miles ahead of his contemporaries. Yes, he hit a bad patch and two films he was banking on didn’t work. But one good film, and he will be back there. People want to see him in a romantic film and not in some alien roles they cannot relate to. In Jagga Jasoos he is reuniting with his Barfi director Anurag Basu, and with lady love Katrina Kaif, after Rajneeti. Both pairings have worked for him in the past. Ae Dil has a stellar cast comprising Aishwarya Rai and Anushka Sharma, with Karan Johar captaining the ship. What’s not to like

Shivay: This Ajay Devgn directorial holds a lot of promise. He is one of the most underrated and intelligent filmmakers we have in Bollywood. He is also nice human being and he gives it all to a film. With Singham, he made a workable preposition and it went very well with the audience. He directed Kajol in U, Me Aur Hum and it turned out to be very good. In Shivay, expect no less, he will go all out and make it worth the wait.

Dishoom: Rohit Dhawan will be directing brother Varun Dhawan for the first time. And adding to the force will be John Abraham who worked with Rohit in his directorial debut Desi Boyz. Both combinations have great potential.

Women on top Deepika Padukone: After the year that she has had in 2015, one can only expect to see her soar higher this year. Her Hollywood debut with Vin Diesel is also highly anticipated.

Priyanka Chopra: She has a power-packed role in Jai Gangajal and her show Quantico has also been renewed for Season 2. There’s no stopping PC.

Kareena Kapoor: She is my eternal favourite and one can be sure to see her steal everyone’s thunder in R. Balki’s Ki and Ka. She also has a unique role in Udta Punjab.

Katrina Kaif: She has two big-ticket films — Jagga Jasoos and Fitoor. There are two or three people you always want to see on screen just because they look so wonderful on it and Katrina is one of them. Both the films have vastly different subjects and the details are being fiercely protected. So we can expect a grand reveal on the big screen.