Wanted and Dil Bole Hadippa on Sept 18 2009
Its Shahid Kapoor, Rani Mukherji versus Salman Khan and Ayesha Takia
Sep 17, 2009
Its time to rejoice for Bollywood fans. After the strike that lasted several months prevented any new releases earlier this year, the biggies hit the screens in quick succession.
Shahid Kapoor and Rani Mukherji in Dil Bole Hadippa, a Yash Raj Films Production
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Consequently reviews were available on the Internet well before Friday. Rani plays a young female cricket player who will go to any lengths to play a match. She dresses up as a sardar guy to get into the local men's cricket team. Item girl Rakhi Sawant and Sherlyn Chopra add spice to what promises to be a fun filled romantic comedy.
Yashraj Films are a well recognized brand that churn out family entertainers replete with songs and dances. The stakes are high for Rani Mukherji, once considered to be the queen of Bollywood, after she starred in several critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies (Saathiya, Hum Tum, Bunty aur Babli, Black). Her last few releases, Tara rum pum pum and Thoda Payaar Thoda Magic, did not fare too well at the box office .
The hero, Shahid Kapoor, on the other hand has quite a few releases lined up this year after a long hiatus that followed the super successful Jab We Met.
Salman Khan Returns with Wanted
Salman, like Rani, also has a point to prove as he returns with an action thriller. The last few years witnessed a string of flops (Salaam e Ishq, Jaaneman, Yuvraaj). The slideshow features a trigger happy gangster who falls in love with a shy, unassertive young girl, played by Ayesha Takia. Directed by Prabhu Deva, the movie soundtrack is by Sajid Wajid and Salim Suleiman.
The promos were enthusiastically received, and the real box office fate eagerly awaited. The year has not been very productive so far for Bollywood, and a few successes punctuate the long list of failures. It began with the debacle of the much hyped Chandni Chowk to China with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone in the lead. Raaz the Mystery Continues pulled back the audiences to some extent. Then began the producer distributer strike that kept new films out of the theatres. New York was the first major hit after the strike ended, and Love Aaj Kal the first superhit. Kaminey, also with Shahid Kapoor, was well acclaimed critically, and successful, but not as much as expected.
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