Bollywood: 2013 to be year of sequels and remakes

2013 seems to be the year of remakes and sequels in Bollywood as a number of production houses are planning to bank on the popularity of their hit films by releasing their next instalments.

Beginning with ‘Race 2’ and ‘Murder 3’, the year will have some of the much-awaited sequels as well as remakes like ‘Chashme Baddoor’ and ‘Zanjeer’.

The year is set to end with big budgeted sequels like ‘Krrish 3’ and ‘Dhoom 3’, but others such as ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai 2’ and ‘Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns’ will hit screens much ahead.

With an ensemble star cast and the promise of the same thrill that ‘Race’ had offered in 2008, its sequel is set to release on January 25. Anil Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are reprising their roles from the previous film while Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez and Ameesha Patel are new additions to the cast. Bipasha Basu will reprise her role of Sonia in a special appearance.

Emraan Hashmi is not a part of the third instalment in the Murder series. The film, starring Randeep Hooda and Aditi Rao Hydari, will release on February 15.

‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns’ will hit theatres on March 8 with Irrfan Khan and Soha Ali Khan as new additions.

Two sequels are set to release in May – ‘Shootout at Wadala’ and ‘Aashiqui 2’. The former is the sequel to underworld drama ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’ (2007), while ‘Aashiqui 2’ is a revisit to the hit 1990 film starring Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal. The new film has Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor as the lead pair.

The Deol family will return with ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana 2’ in June, while the sequel to ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai’ is set to hit screens in August. The film has a new star cast comprising Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha.

Horror film ‘Ragini MMS’ will have its second instalment in October.

The Hrithik Roshan-starrer ‘Krrish 3’ is set to release in November, while Aamir Khan will be seen taking on as the baddie in action-thiller ‘Dhoom 3’ in December. In case of remakes, Ajay Devgn-starrer ‘Himmatwala’, directed by Sajid Khan, will release on March 29. Shooting for the remake of Amitabh Bachchan starre ‘Zanjeer’ is currently on and the film will hit screens on April 12.

David Dhawan’s remake of hit comedy ‘Chashme Baddoor’ is also slated for an April release.

Other much-hyped films include ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ in January, directed by Pankaj Kapur, starring Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma. It is releasing on the same day as Kamal Haasan’s big budget action thriller ‘Vishwaroop’.

‘Inkaar’, Sudhir Mishra’s take on sexual harassment at the workplace, will release in January as well.

Asha Bhosle’s acting debut ‘Maee’, will see the light of day in February, so will Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Special Chabbis’, Abhishek Kapoor’s adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Three Mistakes of My Life’ in ‘Kai Po Che’ and Prabhu Deva starrer dance film ‘Any Body Can Dance’, besides others.

Ramgopal Varam’s film on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks will release in March. Films like ‘I, Me Aur Main’, ‘Aatma’ and ‘Mere Dad Ki Maruti’ will also release the same month.

Emraan Hashmi-starrer ‘Ek Thi Daayan’ will release in April, Ranbir Kapoor-Deepika Padukone starrer ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’ will release in May.

Much-hyped films like Emraan Hashmi-Vidya Balan starrer ‘Ghanchakkar’, ‘Raanjhnaa’ starring Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor are slated for a June release, while Milkha Singh’s biopic ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ starring Farhan Akhtar as the athlete will release the next month.

‘Satyagraha’, yet another multi-starrer political drama from Prakash Jha, is aiming at an Independence Day release.

Madhuri Dixit is expected to make a comeback to the silver screen with two films – ‘Ishqiya’ sequel ‘Dedh Ishqiya’ and ‘Gulab Gang’.

Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Chennai Cafe’, John Abraham-starrer ‘Madras Cafe’, Saif ALi Khan starrer ‘Bullet Raja’, Preity Zinta’s ‘Ishqk In Paris’, Ranbir Kapoor starrer ‘Bombay Velvet’ and ‘Besharam’ are also expected to hit the screens in 2013.

—PTI