Mumbai: For the first time in many years, Bollywood will witness big-ticket releases with huge star-power all in the month of January, generally considered a ‘jinx’ for the industry.
From veteran Amitabh Bachchan to action heroes Sunny Deol and Akshay Kumar and filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, all are set to release their films in the first month of 2016, leading to many clashes at the box office — in India, at least.
In the UAE, Wazir (Thursday), Ghayal Once Again and Chalk N Duster (January 14), Airlift (January 21), and Saala Khadoos (January 28) are scheduled for release.
The year will begin with Wazir, starring Bachchan and actor Farhan Akhtar. The high-voltage drama-thriller is produced by filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra and helmed by Shaitan director Bejoy Nambiar.
In India, Wazir will clash with the social drama Chauranga (no UAE release date), produced by Onir and starring actor Sanjay Suri and Tannishtha Chatterjee among others.
It will be followed by Ghayal Once Again, releasing on January 15, which has been directed, written and produced by Deol. It is the sequel to the 1990 super-hit action drama Ghayal and will mark the comeback of Deol, who starred in the iconic role of amateur boxer Ajay Mehra.
The date will also mark the return of actress Juhi Chawla, who will make a comeback after two years with Chalk n Duster. The film, which brings life the world of two teachers, also stars veteran actress Shaban Azmi, Zarina Wahab and Divya Dutta.
The following Friday will see another clash at the box office with Kumar’s Airlift and the adult comedy Kyaa Kool Hai Hum 3, both releasing on January 22 in India.
Based on the evacuation of Indians living in Kuwait during the first Gulf war, Airlift marks Kumar’s second consecutive release in January after last year’s espionage drama Baby.
Kyaa Kool Hai Hum 3 is the third instalment in the hugely popular adult comedy series. It stars actors Tusshar Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani among others. The last Friday of the month will end with yet another adult comedy clashing with a big-star film: Sunny Leone’s Mastizaade and R Madhavan’s Saala Khadoos will release on January 29.
Produced by Rajkumar Hirani, Saala Khadoos is a bilingual sports drama film helmed by first-time director Sudha Kongara. The film features Madhavan as a hard taskmaster boxing coach and also stars boxer Ritika Singh.
Mastizaade stars Leone in a double role and also features actor Tusshar Kapoor and Vir Das.
2015 saw many releases in January too, from Arjun Kapoor’s Tevar, Bipasha Basu’s Alone to Ayushmann Khurrana’s Hawaizaada. But it was only Baby that was successful.
In the past, few films have worked at the box office during January, which is considered a lull period as viewers are still in the holiday mood.
In January 2014, only superstar Salman Khan’s Jai Ho performed decently at the box office. It was the solo big release.
January 2013 had Race 2 which was successful among other releases like Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, Inkaar and Akaash Vani.
With January, 2016 offering an attractive line up of films for the audiences, it will be interesting to see if the star-studded month can finally break the jinx and deliver at the box office.
