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Journalism of Courage
If 2006 heralded the Great Awakening of Bollywood then 2007 promises to be the year of the New Bollywood. Of course, the kitsch will be celebrated in the form of Farah Khan’s Om Shaanti Om, Nikhil Advani’s Salaam-e-Ishq, David Dhawan’s Partner, Yash Raj Films’ Ta Ra Rum Pum Pum and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. There is no escaping that in our La La Land. But the coming year also promises a lot of personal and new wave cinema.
Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par is a fine example of how independent cinema has taken over tinsel town. A story of a dyslexic child and his author father, this is Aamir’s second production. UTV, which stamped 2006 with the awe-inspiring Rang De Basanti and the warm Khosla Ka Ghosla, will yet again venture in uncharted territory with Metro and The Blue Umbrella. While Metro is Anurag “Gangster” Basu’s ode to loving and living in the fast paced cities, The Blue Umbrella is Vishal Bharadwaj’s tribute to Ruskin Bond.
The New Year will also mark the return of great movie moguls: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ashutosh Gowariker. Chopra returns after the lukewarm Mission Kashmir with the star studded Eklavya set in Rajasthan.
With a line-up comprising Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Jackie Shroff and Vidya Balan, nobody can ignore this one. Gowariker’s Jodha Akbar with the Dhoom 2 hotties Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai is also keenly awaited.
Bhansali has his own plans of going into history books since his Saawariya marks the debut of Ranbir Kapoor, the fourth generation of the First Family. Co-starring with Raj Kapoor’s grandson is Anil Kapoor’s daughter Sonam.
Lest we forget the King, Shah Rukh Khan will be in top gear with KBC 3 on television and the truly hatke Chakh De India. SRK plays an aging hockey coach to 11 girls in the Shimit Amin venture. SRK will also don the producer’s hat with Om Shaanti Om, a retro masala that marks the debut of supermodel Deepika Padukone. And what the King can do, the Big B can also do. The coming year will see Amitabh Bachchan play the “lover man” to the hilt. In Ram Gopal Varma’s Nishabd he is the object of affection of an 18-year-old while in ad guru’s Balakrishnan’s Cheeni Kam, Big B is Tabu’s knight in shinning armour. In case you want still some more of the Big B then there is Ram Gopal Varma Ka Sholay where Jai turns into Gabbar Singh.
Year 2007 is also the path-breaking year where some of our Bollywood stars will be seen in true blue Hollywood productions. Aishwarya Rai’s The Last Legion with Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth, Salman Khan’s Williard Caroll-directed Marigold with Ali Later, Sushmita Sen’s Karma, Confession and Holi and Tabu’s Mira Nair-directed The Namesake are all international releases. So, lets say a huge welcome to the New Bollywood.
