4 year-end Bollywood movies we cannot wait to watch

October to December-end, the concluding months of every calendar year, can be a game changer for the health - and wealth - of  Bollywood's hyper-prolific movie output. It's been pouring week after week throughout 2017, what with the relentless release of two if not three to four films every Friday (in case of the UAE, Thursday's the premiere mark-out). Indeed, the reviews emanating from the Gulf countries are avidly monitored in Mumbai both by movie lords and the media - since they have the advantage of being the first to give a thumbs up or thumbs down.
The year, so far, has continued with the tradition of delivering more flops than hits. It's neither been the best of years nor the worst. Meanwhile, box-office reports, widely accessible on the websites, haven't exactly been reliable.
Talk is that, frequently, collections at cash counters are inflated. In addition, after the curiosity about the initial weekend, the reports rarely provide follow-ups vis-à-vis how a particular film has fared during the course of its staying power at the multiplexes. To guesstimate the overall loss and profits, there are those annual round-ups about which films were huge hits (read earnings of Rs 100 crore-plus), average runners and outright losers. The balance sheet, so to speak, can fluctuate wildly. Clarity has been conspicuous by its absence.
On a more positive note, now let's look at the palmful of Bollywood projects which are being eagerly awaited by the audiences and the film trade in general.

Padmavati
(Release date: November end)
Whenever Sanjay Leela Bhansali is ready with his opulently-mounted extravaganzas, especially period dramas, expectations are sky-high. Bhansali certainly has an eye for sumptuous visuals - be it in set designs, costumes or presenting his glamour-exuding stars in a style which carries his distinctive, almost painterly signature.
The Padmavati project has been dogged by controversies. Objections - leading to the destruction of sets - have been raised about the manner in which he may portray the 14th century Rani Padmavati, whose beauty had so
mesmerised Delhi Sultanate's Alauddin Khilji that he laid siege on Chittor Fort.
Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh team up for the third time with Bhansali after Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela and Bajirao Mastani. The star power is fuelled further with Shahid Kapoor in the part of the eponymous Rani Padmini's husband Rana Rawal Ratan Singh of Mewar. Chances are that Bhansali's ninth film as a director could be a forerunner in the plethora of award shows next year.

Tiger Zinda Hai
(Release date: December 21)
Timed for the Christmas season, this sequel to Ek Tha Tiger (2012) may well place Salman Khan firmly back in the saddle after the underwhelming Tubelight this year. Produced and co-written by Aditya Chopra, and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar who helmed Salman's Sultan, the spy-versus-spy thriller has some crowd-wowing ingredients, topped by daredevil stunts.
Co-starring Katrina Kaif again, the second Tiger outing has just completed an extensive shooting spell in Abu Dhabi to maintain its deadline of a 2017 premiere. The plot, or whatever has been disclosed of it, sees Agent Avinash Singh Rathore on a covert mission to battle terrorism.
At this moment, Salman Khan is keeping a low-profile. Closer to the X'mas week, the superstar will no doubt go out on a limb to make it clear that he's back as a man of action. No more tampering with his adored image of the invincible hero after the rejected effort to humanise him as a cry baby
in Tubelight.

Secret Superstar
(Release date: October 19)
Top Bollywood luminaries who've seen the rushes of this little big film, swear it's "outstanding" and a "surprise packet". Produced by Aamir Khan and wife Kiran Rao, the script revolves around a teenage girl's dream to become a singer. This aspiration is a pointer for thousands of youngsters striving nowadays to get featured on TV reality shows and find an entry as playback singers into the otherwise insular realm of movie music.
Aamir Khan features in a key role in the medium-budget, cost-effective film toplining Zaira Wasim, who was super-impressive as the younger daughter of the actor in Dangal. Aamir's manager-turned-director Advait Chauhan's project, slotted for a Diwali release, is said to be "content-driven" - a magic phrase in trade circles at present.

Golmaal Again
(Release date: October 19)
Oh, oh, if Rohit Shetty's fourth edition of the comedy franchise Golmaal (title sourced from Hrishikesh Mukherjee's 1979 laugh-raiser) clashes with Secret Superstar, moviegoers may be spoilt for choice. Be that as it may, indications are that Aamir Khan's production may win with the discerning audiences. Shetty's rough-and-tumble comedies, however, do command a mass following.
Moreover, Golmaal Again is star-packed, with Ajay Devgn, Parineeti Chopra and, quite unusually, Tabu. Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Kunal Khemu and Shreyas Talpade comprise the supporting ensemble. But like it or not, viewers do believe in "more stars the merrier".
Here's looking forward, then, to another round of the movie downpour, fingers and hopes crossed.   
wknd@khaleejtimes.com