Changing directions

Taking a cue from 2011,big-budget as well as youth-centric films are on the anvil this year. Despite Adaminte Makan Abu,which was made within 8216; 1 crore,winning several accolades and being the official entry to the Oscars,filmmakers are making big-budget movies to offer something new and grand to the audiences.

Casanova has superstar Mohanlal in the title role with a bevy of beautiful ladies for company. It has been shot extensively abroad and is touted as one of the biggest films of 2012. Likewise,Dileep plays a mimicry artiste from Kerala who travels to Spain,becomes a chef and falls in love with a local girl in Spanish Masala. Major portions of the movie have been shot in the scenic country. Austrian model Daniela Zacherl plays Dileeps love interest.

Filmmakers are also aware that the youth form a major chunk of the cinema-going audience. As a result,they are making efforts to attract them to theatres by making films that cater to them. Priyadarshans assistant editor Arun Kumar has attempted Ee Adutha Kaalathu with a young crop of actors like Indrajith,Murali Gopy,Nishan,Anoop Menon,Bengali model-theater artiste Tanushree Ghosh and Mythili. Multi-narrative movies are also being attempted post the release of Traffic,which starred Srinivasan,Anoop Menon,Kunchako Boban and Sandhya. The movie went on to become a huge hit and is also being remade in Hindi starring Sunny Deol and Paresh Rawal.

This year,filmmakers are also attempting sequels that are a combination of two earlier films. Mammootty played the collector in The King and Suresh Gopi was in the role of a Police Commissioner in The Commissioner. Now they come together in The King And The Commissioner.

Even adaptations will be seen in the form of Karmayogi. Director V.K. Prakashs adaptation of Hamlet,which is winning rave reviews at various film festivals,will hit screens soon.

Casanova

Whats hot : Mohanlal will be seen with a bevy of beautiful foreign girls half his age

Karmayogi

Whats hot: This is an adaptation of Hamlet by director V.K.Prakash

The King And The Commissioner

Whats hot : Mammootty and Suresh Gopi come together after a long gap in The King And The Commissioner, which is a joint sequel of two of their earlier films,The King and The Commissioner

Marathi

Comedies made Marathi films famous. Experiments and novelty were not happening for a very long time. However,Shwaas changed the scenario and serious films came into the picture. Gradually even horror,thrillers and emotional films were made. Pachhaadlela and Ringa Ringa,to name a few,in the last few years had the audience on tenterhooks with their subjects. Ensemble casts were also in vogue,the best example being Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi. Today,however,the trend is big-budget films with urban-centric subjects. Songs are even being shot on picturesque locales. One such example was Sanai Chaughade a couple of years back. That does not take away the fact that films like Valu,Vihir and Deool that were rural-centric films were also appreciated a lot and even did the rounds of the festivals. Masala is another film by these same makers,Umesh Kulkarni and Girish Kulkarni,that is releasing this year. This again is based in a village.

So there is a clear scope for all kinds of films and not just one genre in Marathi as well. However,it is for the first time that a triple role was attempted in Marathi films last year with Ankush Choudharis Zakaas.

While music was never given much importance,director Aditya Sarpotdars Satrangi Re is already creating waves for its unusual musical track that has big names like Shaan,Shankar Mahadevan and Sunidhi Chauhan lending their voices. The film is about a group of engineering students who realise that their real passion is music.

Satrangi Re

Whats hot : It is a youth-centric film with unusual music

Bluff Master

Whats hot : Ankush Choudhari tries his hand at being a baddie

Bengali

The trend in Bengali cinema,since the last five years,is shooting a film on foreign shores. Hence the budgets have gone up and films are made at an average cost of 8216;2 crore. 100 Per Cent and Aparajita Tumi were shot entirely in Los Angeles while the Swiss Alps and the Eiffel Tower were the locations for Khokababu.

Likewise senior actors will be seen romancing younger actresses. Last year,veteran Prosenjit was seen with a younger Nandana Sen in Autograph. That film made rounds of several festivals and was appreciated for its concept. He will once again be seen romancing a young actress,Padmapriya,in Aparajita Tumi. Rituparna Sengupta,who has been around for almost two decades,is paired with a much younger Nigel Akkara in Muktodhara while Joy Sengupata and Samapika are cast opposite each other in Astro.

Many young directors with a fresh youthful approach such as Mainak Bhoumik,Shibosad Mukherji,Birsa Dasgupta,Anindo Banerji and Sujon Mukherji will be seen helming movies on various subjects. Rather than making movies only on one genre,filmmakers are attempting diverse genres in keeping with the audiences changing taste. Viewers will also get a chance to see several youth-centric films like Godaye Gondogol,Accident,Bedroom,Maach Mishti And More,Ghente Ghaw,Khokababu,100 Percent Love and many more. Clearly,Bengali cinema is alive and kicking as it has its hands in many pies.

Aparajita Tumi

Whats hot: Prosenjit romances a young girl

Muktodhara

Whats hot: Rituparna Sengupta will be seen with a much younger man,Nigel Akkara

Nobel Chor

Whats hot: Mithun Chakraborty plays the title-role in the film that has already won some awards

Namita Nivas With inputs from Shoma A Chatterji and Unni R Nair