<p>Hopefully, we need not wish ourselves ‘Good Luck’! The paradigm changes set in motion in the previous decade — mainly from 2017— about which new kind of Hindi motion picture connects and resonates with the audience, will continue. As always, film-goers prefer diverse or even new genres, and now standards have gone up, with myriad factors responsible for this shift. Here then, is a look at the significant films we can expect in 2020.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>The decade begins</strong></p>.<p>The decade’s beginning will set the mood. The first release on January 3 is a comic triangle about a journalist, his love, and a (funny) don: <span class="italic">Sab Kushal Mangal</span>. This film introduces the first newcomers of the new decade: Priyaank Sharma, son to veteran actress Padmini Kolhapure and producer Tutu Sharma, and Riva Kishan, daughter of Ravi Kishan, with Akshaye Khanna returning to the comedy space as the don.<br />January 10 will give us the spectacular historical <span class="italic">Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior</span>, the first of Ajay’s planned productions on unsung Indian warriors. It co-stars his wife Kajol a good ten years after teaming up for <span class="italic">Toonpur Ka Super Hero</span>. Writer-director Om Raut has been researching this Maratha story for five years. <span class="italic">Raazi</span> director Meghna Gulzar strikes another biopic chord on the same day with acid attack victim Laxmi Agarwal’s story <span class="italic">Chhapaak</span>, which even inspired its heroine Deepika Padukone to turn producer.</p>.<p>January 24 will see a musical entertainer and a content-driven film vying for attention: <span class="italic">Street Dancer 3D</span>, a dance musical with Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor, and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s <span class="italic">Panga,</span> featuring Kangana Ranaut in another women-centric movie that promises to outclass Ashwiny’s <span class="italic">Nil Battey Sannata</span> and <span class="italic">Bareilly Ki Barfi</span>. <span class="italic">Street Dancer</span> and <span class="italic">Tanhaji</span> are both 3D spectacles.</p>.<p class="CrossHead Rag"><strong>Superstars as movie drivers</strong></p>.<p>Akshay Kumar begins 2020 with Sooryavanshi. Co-produced by Reliance Entertainment, Karan Johar and Akshay’s home banner Cape Of Good Films, this is Rohit Shetty’s most ambitious action drama that brings together his cult law-men <span class="italic">Singham</span> (Ajay Devgn) and<span class="italic"> Simmba</span> (Ranveer Singh) with this new anti-terrorist cop played by Akshay. In short, it is India’s first cop universe.</p>.<p>Katrina Kaif is the heroine in what the trade calls a “surefire 300 crore earner”. Akshay’s <span class="italic">Laxmmi Bomb</span>, a horror comedy about a transgender, will also take on the next Salman Khan adventure, <span class="italic">Radhe: India’s Most Wanted Bhai</span>. The latter is an action drama featuring Disha Patani and directed by Prabhudeva (while the former is a remake of <span class="italic">Kanchana</span>, a hit Tamil film directed by Raghava Lawrence, who makes his Hindi debut here). Kiara Advani is the leading lady.</p>.<p>A period drama that will be made in record time is Yash Raj Films’ magnum opus <span class="italic">Prithviraj</span> that releases on November 13. Akshay’s last release will be <span class="italic">Bachchan Pandey</span>, an action drama loosely inspired by <span class="italic">Veeram</span>, again a Tamil hit. Kriti Sanon is back with him after <span class="italic">Housefull 4</span> and so is that film’s director, Farhad Samji.</p>.<p>In this Christmas day release, Akshay’s film takes on the ambitious Indian remake of <span class="italic">Forrest Gump </span>— Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor Khan’s <span class="italic">Laal Singh Chaddha</span>, which he also co-produces.</p>.<p>The latest addition to the superstar list, Ranveer Singh, is featuring in <span class="italic">’83</span>, the saga of India’s first World Cup win in 1983. Ranveer plays Kapil Dev, and wife Deepika plays his wife for the first time in a contemporary story without a tragic end for them on reel. Kabir Khan directs this April 10 release.</p>.<p>Ajay Devgn will do two more films in Bhuj—<span class="italic">The Pride Of India</span> (August 14) and <span class="italic">Maidaan</span> (November 7). The first is a patriotic saga of 300 Indian women who rebuilt a crucial IAF airbase that helped India win the 1971 war and co-stars Sonakshi Sinha, Pranitha Subhash, Sanjay Dutt and Rana Dagubatti. It is directed by debutant Abhishek Dudhaiya. <span class="italic">Maidaan</span> is a sports biopic on football coach Syed Abdul Rahim and co-stars Keerthy Suresh. It is produced by Boney Kapoor.</p>.<p class="CrossHead Rag"><strong>Sequels</strong></p>.<p>In the year when Amitabh Bachchan has been advised to curtail work and has even considered quitting, he will be, interestingly, seen twice in two weeks — on April 17 and April 24.After Shoojit Sircar’s family comedy <span class="italic">Gulabo</span> <span class="italic">Sitaabo</span> with Ayushmann Khurrana, he works with Emraan Hashmi in the Rumi Jaffrey thriller, <span class="italic">Chehere</span>.</p>.<p>John Abraham takes on Ajay’s <span class="italic">Bhuj</span>… with his home production, <span class="italic">Attack</span>, a patriotic action drama directed by Lakshya Raj Anand, and starring Jacqueline Fernandez and Rakul Preet Singh. On another patriotic date, October 2, he releases <span class="italic">Satyameva Jayate 2</span>, which competes for attention with Shoojit Sircar’s second directorial in 2020, <span class="italic">Shaheed Udham Singh</span> featuring Vicky Kaushal.</p>.<p>Kartik Aaryan, the latest actor to make a mark commercially, will be seen in two films: Imtiaz Ali’s next, which stars Sara Ali Khan, and the Anees Bazmee directed <span class="italic">Bhool Bhulaiya 2</span> that co-stars Kiara Advani.</p>.<p><span class="italic">Satyameva Jayate 2</span> and <span class="italic">Bhool Bhulaiya 2</span> are not the only sequels of 2020. <span class="italic">Baaghi 3</span>, reunites Tiger Shroff with <span class="italic">Baaghi</span> heroine Shraddha Kapoor and <span class="italic">Baaghi 2</span> leading lady Disha Patani who makes a cameo. <span class="italic">Hungama 2</span> will mark the return of Shilpa Shetty and director Priyadarshan after a long gap, with Paresh Rawal as the principal character. <span class="italic">Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan</span> features Ayushmann Khurrana as a gay, and is a sequel to the 2017 <span class="italic">Shubh Mangal Saavdhan</span>. Naturally it has no heroine, but co-stars Jitendra Kumar as Ayushmann’s love interest. Homi Adajania helms <span class="italic">Angrezi Medium</span>, the sequel to <span class="italic">Hindi Medium</span> that stars Kareena Kapoor Khan with Irrfan Khan — it is the latter’s comeback film.</p>.<p>Last but not the least, Mahesh Bhatt returns to direction with <span class="italic">Sadak 2</span>, a full 21 years after his last directorial <span class="italic">Kartoos</span>. The film sees him direct younger daughter Alia Bhatt for the first time, besides Sanjay Dutt and elder daughter Pooja Bhatt from the cast of the original 1991 hit.</p>
<p>Hopefully, we need not wish ourselves ‘Good Luck’! The paradigm changes set in motion in the previous decade — mainly from 2017— about which new kind of Hindi motion picture connects and resonates with the audience, will continue. As always, film-goers prefer diverse or even new genres, and now standards have gone up, with myriad factors responsible for this shift. Here then, is a look at the significant films we can expect in 2020.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>The decade begins</strong></p>.<p>The decade’s beginning will set the mood. The first release on January 3 is a comic triangle about a journalist, his love, and a (funny) don: <span class="italic">Sab Kushal Mangal</span>. This film introduces the first newcomers of the new decade: Priyaank Sharma, son to veteran actress Padmini Kolhapure and producer Tutu Sharma, and Riva Kishan, daughter of Ravi Kishan, with Akshaye Khanna returning to the comedy space as the don.<br />January 10 will give us the spectacular historical <span class="italic">Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior</span>, the first of Ajay’s planned productions on unsung Indian warriors. It co-stars his wife Kajol a good ten years after teaming up for <span class="italic">Toonpur Ka Super Hero</span>. Writer-director Om Raut has been researching this Maratha story for five years. <span class="italic">Raazi</span> director Meghna Gulzar strikes another biopic chord on the same day with acid attack victim Laxmi Agarwal’s story <span class="italic">Chhapaak</span>, which even inspired its heroine Deepika Padukone to turn producer.</p>.<p>January 24 will see a musical entertainer and a content-driven film vying for attention: <span class="italic">Street Dancer 3D</span>, a dance musical with Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor, and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s <span class="italic">Panga,</span> featuring Kangana Ranaut in another women-centric movie that promises to outclass Ashwiny’s <span class="italic">Nil Battey Sannata</span> and <span class="italic">Bareilly Ki Barfi</span>. <span class="italic">Street Dancer</span> and <span class="italic">Tanhaji</span> are both 3D spectacles.</p>.<p class="CrossHead Rag"><strong>Superstars as movie drivers</strong></p>.<p>Akshay Kumar begins 2020 with Sooryavanshi. Co-produced by Reliance Entertainment, Karan Johar and Akshay’s home banner Cape Of Good Films, this is Rohit Shetty’s most ambitious action drama that brings together his cult law-men <span class="italic">Singham</span> (Ajay Devgn) and<span class="italic"> Simmba</span> (Ranveer Singh) with this new anti-terrorist cop played by Akshay. In short, it is India’s first cop universe.</p>.<p>Katrina Kaif is the heroine in what the trade calls a “surefire 300 crore earner”. Akshay’s <span class="italic">Laxmmi Bomb</span>, a horror comedy about a transgender, will also take on the next Salman Khan adventure, <span class="italic">Radhe: India’s Most Wanted Bhai</span>. The latter is an action drama featuring Disha Patani and directed by Prabhudeva (while the former is a remake of <span class="italic">Kanchana</span>, a hit Tamil film directed by Raghava Lawrence, who makes his Hindi debut here). Kiara Advani is the leading lady.</p>.<p>A period drama that will be made in record time is Yash Raj Films’ magnum opus <span class="italic">Prithviraj</span> that releases on November 13. Akshay’s last release will be <span class="italic">Bachchan Pandey</span>, an action drama loosely inspired by <span class="italic">Veeram</span>, again a Tamil hit. Kriti Sanon is back with him after <span class="italic">Housefull 4</span> and so is that film’s director, Farhad Samji.</p>.<p>In this Christmas day release, Akshay’s film takes on the ambitious Indian remake of <span class="italic">Forrest Gump </span>— Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor Khan’s <span class="italic">Laal Singh Chaddha</span>, which he also co-produces.</p>.<p>The latest addition to the superstar list, Ranveer Singh, is featuring in <span class="italic">’83</span>, the saga of India’s first World Cup win in 1983. Ranveer plays Kapil Dev, and wife Deepika plays his wife for the first time in a contemporary story without a tragic end for them on reel. Kabir Khan directs this April 10 release.</p>.<p>Ajay Devgn will do two more films in Bhuj—<span class="italic">The Pride Of India</span> (August 14) and <span class="italic">Maidaan</span> (November 7). The first is a patriotic saga of 300 Indian women who rebuilt a crucial IAF airbase that helped India win the 1971 war and co-stars Sonakshi Sinha, Pranitha Subhash, Sanjay Dutt and Rana Dagubatti. It is directed by debutant Abhishek Dudhaiya. <span class="italic">Maidaan</span> is a sports biopic on football coach Syed Abdul Rahim and co-stars Keerthy Suresh. It is produced by Boney Kapoor.</p>.<p class="CrossHead Rag"><strong>Sequels</strong></p>.<p>In the year when Amitabh Bachchan has been advised to curtail work and has even considered quitting, he will be, interestingly, seen twice in two weeks — on April 17 and April 24.After Shoojit Sircar’s family comedy <span class="italic">Gulabo</span> <span class="italic">Sitaabo</span> with Ayushmann Khurrana, he works with Emraan Hashmi in the Rumi Jaffrey thriller, <span class="italic">Chehere</span>.</p>.<p>John Abraham takes on Ajay’s <span class="italic">Bhuj</span>… with his home production, <span class="italic">Attack</span>, a patriotic action drama directed by Lakshya Raj Anand, and starring Jacqueline Fernandez and Rakul Preet Singh. On another patriotic date, October 2, he releases <span class="italic">Satyameva Jayate 2</span>, which competes for attention with Shoojit Sircar’s second directorial in 2020, <span class="italic">Shaheed Udham Singh</span> featuring Vicky Kaushal.</p>.<p>Kartik Aaryan, the latest actor to make a mark commercially, will be seen in two films: Imtiaz Ali’s next, which stars Sara Ali Khan, and the Anees Bazmee directed <span class="italic">Bhool Bhulaiya 2</span> that co-stars Kiara Advani.</p>.<p><span class="italic">Satyameva Jayate 2</span> and <span class="italic">Bhool Bhulaiya 2</span> are not the only sequels of 2020. <span class="italic">Baaghi 3</span>, reunites Tiger Shroff with <span class="italic">Baaghi</span> heroine Shraddha Kapoor and <span class="italic">Baaghi 2</span> leading lady Disha Patani who makes a cameo. <span class="italic">Hungama 2</span> will mark the return of Shilpa Shetty and director Priyadarshan after a long gap, with Paresh Rawal as the principal character. <span class="italic">Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan</span> features Ayushmann Khurrana as a gay, and is a sequel to the 2017 <span class="italic">Shubh Mangal Saavdhan</span>. Naturally it has no heroine, but co-stars Jitendra Kumar as Ayushmann’s love interest. Homi Adajania helms <span class="italic">Angrezi Medium</span>, the sequel to <span class="italic">Hindi Medium</span> that stars Kareena Kapoor Khan with Irrfan Khan — it is the latter’s comeback film.</p>.<p>Last but not the least, Mahesh Bhatt returns to direction with <span class="italic">Sadak 2</span>, a full 21 years after his last directorial <span class="italic">Kartoos</span>. The film sees him direct younger daughter Alia Bhatt for the first time, besides Sanjay Dutt and elder daughter Pooja Bhatt from the cast of the original 1991 hit.</p>