It's the season for sequels in Bollywood

Lily

B.R
Staff member


Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Film-maker Aditya Chopra's unusual love story about a geeky Surinder Sahni (Shah Rukh Khan) who leads a dashing double life as a dancer called Raj, only to win over his accidental wife Tania, (Anushka Sharma) did impress many.

But we were unable to lap up this peculiar romance, only because it unveiled the possibilities of infidelity, something that its makers strangely ignored under the adage: all's fair in love and war.

While SRK's deeply contagious charm is credited for its success, we think delving a little into the complexities of Sahni's psyche could go a long way in churning out a humorous psychological thriller - a genre that's unintentionally unique to Bollywood.

Part II could find Sahni with a bizarre personality disorder, where he breaks into a jig at the most inappropriate moments with his rhythmic lady holding the key to his sanity.



Karthik Calling Karthik

The gorgeous Shonali (Deepika Padukone) finds herself embroiled in an emotional roller coaster after an affair with her atypical co-worker Karthik (Farhan Akhtar) takes an unsuspecting schizophrenic turn.

Despite nailing a gripping script, director Vijay Lalwani was unable to hold our attention. The strange calls from Karthik to himself become tedious after the first round. While Lalwani closes the first part on a positive tone, we plan to skip the sympathy trail altogether and take it to a whole new menacing level, where we allow Karthik to indulge his evil alter ego.

As the second instalment rolls out, Karthik's normal life, with his lady love Shonali ensuring everything's under control, is shaken after dead bodies are uncovered in an abandoned house. A racy thriller unfolds.



My Name is Khan

Bollywood feeds on the Hollywood staple of terrorism, pegging its story to the backdrop of the September 11 attacks. Film-maker Karan Johar's Rizwan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) may suffer from Asperger syndrome, yet he doesn't back out from travelling the length and breath of the mighty American shores in a bid to clear the prejudices that have cropped up following the terror attacks.

"My name is Khan, and I'm not a terrorist" is his slogan, one he eventually conveys to the American president. It's baffling how Johar thought this line could solve the crisis. While his efforts were sidelined by critics for unintended comic overtones, we'd try to work on the same premise.

When we revisit the tale, we find the FBI roping in Khan to tackle an alien invasion by shooting him into outer space with a special message for the extraterrestrials.



Hisss

What was touted as a prestigious Hollywood project on the famous Indian mythology of the snake woman suffered a setback after film-maker Jennifer Lynch distanced herself from it. While stories of deceit behind the camera appeared far more interesting than the tale itself, it left the feisty Mallika Sherawat trying miserably to salvage the situation, even parading film festivals with a snake wrapped around her neck.

When the curtains are drawn, we find the snake woman succeeding in avenging the death of her partner. But we'd return to find how her wrath doesn't end just yet. This time round, it's her children who are in the eye of the storm, with evil minds exploiting them. Sherawat will get into the skin of the character once again to ensure that no harm befalls her kin.



Chak De India

Shah Rukh Khan's aviator-styled aggressive take on the hugely patriotic hockey coach Kabir Khan swept the entire nation off their feet. His team of girls not only won the Hockey World Cup on-screen but they also conquered our hearts. In fact, I think it is one of the best spirited Bollywood sports films, along with Iqbal and Lagaan. This genre is often ignored in an industry that's obsessed with watching men and women romanticise around trees.

What Sylvester Stallone did for boxing on the big screen as the inspirational Rocky Balboa in the Rocky series, Khan can do for the Indian national sport. We'd definitely back the Chak De team and their coach as they win numerous prestigious titles, which obviously means it could extend to more than one sequel.



Drona

When Hollywood presented numerous superheroes: Spider-Man, Superman and Batman, among the prominent few, B-town never really matched up. Since every Bollywood hero has immense super powers the ones who did appear in shiny, superhero-like costumes didn't stand out. Even as Hrithik Roshan worked wonders with Krrish, he could never replace Spidey.

The long-haired Drona (Abhishek Bachchan), was a reluctant superhero, and his hesitation echoed in the disastrous box office recording. So while Hancock found himself an efficient PR executive to give him a facelift, we'd hire Hancock to groom Drona into a perfect hero, probably our only hope.
 
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