B-town gears up for 2023 with a high-octane lineup

Smarting under the burgeoning impact of films from the South is having up north, Bollywood is hell-bent to reclaim its audience in the new year. First pandemic, and then movies like ‘Kantara’, ‘KGF’, ‘Pushpa’, ‘RRR’, have given many sleepless nights to Bollywood. However, the interesting lineup of movies Bollywood has for 2023 shows that it not only wants to prove its mettle but also win back those viewers whom it has lost to South.

Pathaan

What better way could have the year started than by having a Shah Rukh Khan release? The ‘King Khan’ has been missing in action for the last four years. But even though he is 57 years old and has been MIA for a while now, the anticipation for an  SRK release is like never before. Even its trailer is highly-awaited. When a fan quizzed SRK about it on Twitter, the latter replied, “It will come when it has to come.” An YRF production, the movie stars Deepika Padukone as well. Two songs are already out and one has generated enough controversy around it. The movie is slated for a theatrical release on January 25.

Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar

We all know Boney Kapoor as a filmmaker. But he is soon going to debut as an actor in ‘Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar’. He has been paired with Dimple Kapadia. Directed by Luv Ranjan, Ranbir Kapoor and Sharada Kapoor headline the movie. The first poster of the movie has already been released, and the movie is expected to hit the screens on March 8, coinciding with the Holi festival. The title track was recently released and to everyone’s surprise, it has been sung by Ranbir Kapoor himself. The movie had earlier faced delays due to the pandemic and a fire incident on the sets.

Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani

Karan Johar’s ubiquitous presence on the small screen is unmissable so much so that people tend to forget that he is a filmmaker first and has directed not even 10 movies in his career so far. But K.Jo is back as a director after seven years. His movie, ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’ is all set to hit the theatres on April 28. The movie boasts of an interesting cast comprising young actors and veterans. Alia and Ranveer will be seen working together again after ‘Gully Boy’. On the other hand, we have the likes of Shabana Azmi, Dharmendra, and Jaya Bachchan.

Adipurush

Whether Prabhas will be able to repeat his ‘Bahubali’ feat or not remains to be seen, but his upcoming movie, ‘Adipurush’ will certainly go down in the history as the first movie which faced a backlash of Himalayan proportions over its teaser. Following the titanic trolling by fans who found the CGI of the movie far off the mark, it is reportedly undergoing some production changes adding to its already massive budget. Now, the movie, in its revamped avtaar will be released on June 16. Directed by Om Raut, who earlier made ‘Tanhaji’, the audience will see Prabhas as Lord Ram and Kirti Sanon as Sita.

Animal

Expectations soar to the sky when the maker of ‘Arjun Reddy’ and its north Indian cousin, ‘Kabir Singh’ Sandeep Reddy Vanga takes the helm again. This time he has roped in Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor as the lead. Rashmika Mandanna will play the character of Geetanjali in the movie which also stars Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol. The movie is likely to be released on August 11. Recently a few snaps of Ranbir believed from ‘Animal’ were leaked online in which one can see the actor in a beefed-up avatar.