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If everything goes according to the Hindi film industry’s plans, 2023 is going to be the year of blockbusters. In the coming 12 months, we’ll get a Ranveer Singh-Alia Bhatt romance (Rocky Aur Rani ki Prem Kahani), two Ranbir Kapoor films (Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, Animal), two Kareena Kapoor Khan films (The Devotion of Suspect X, The Crew), two Kartik Aaryan films (Shehzada, Satyaprem ki Katha) as well as three Shah Rukh Khan starrers (Pathaan, Jawan, Dunki). While Prabhas’s Project K is listed for 2023, there are rumours it might be delayed to 2024. Still, the actor has two confirmed films with Adipurush, Salaar. And Allu Arjun will be back in Pushpa: The Rule. Fans, pace yourself. Everyone else, say a prayer that the storytelling lives up to the hype.
Date: 13th January
Director: Aasmaan Bhardwaj
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Konkona Sensharma, Naseeruddin Shah, Kumud Mishra, Radika Madan, Shardul Bhardwaj, Tabu
A black comedy thriller marking the directorial debut of Vishal Bhardwaj's son, Aasmaan Bhardwaj, Kuttey follows three gangs on a rainy night in the outskirts of Mumbai.
Date: 20th January
Director: Shantanu Bagchi
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Rashmika Mandanna, Sharib Hashmi, Kumud Mishra
After facing multiple delays, Mission Majnu is finally set to release on Netflix this month. The film promises to tell the untold story of India’s greatest covert operation during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
Date: 10th February
Director: Rohit Dhawan
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon
A rom-com drama said to feature Kartik Aaryan’s first-ever action sequence, Shehzada is about Bantu, who goes on a journey of self-discovery. The film’s first look showed us Aaryan beating up people, riding a scooter and striking SRK-esque poses, and Kriti Sanon winking. Hopefully, she has more to do in the film than she did in this first look.
Date: 8th March
Director: Luv Ranjan
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor
There was some speculation that Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar might be inspired by Barsaat (1949) because of the similarities between the two films’ posters. Can Shraddha Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor recreate the magic of Nargis and Raj Kapoor? The cast also includes Dimple, Ajay Devgn and Boney Kapoor.
Date: 7th April
Director: Nitesh Tiwari
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor
Bawaal has been written by Nitesh Tiwari and wife Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, along with Piyush Gupta, Nikhil Mehrotra and Shreyas Jain. The film was reportedly shot in Lucknow, Netherlands and Poland. We can’t wait to see what story covers this geographical range.
Date: 21st April
Director: Farhad Samji
Cast: Salman Khan, Pooja Hegde, Shehnaaz Gill, Venkatesh, Jagapathi Babu
Bhai’s back! And he’s getting married! On-screen, that is. The action comedy is about two siblings who try to get their older brother married off, hoping it will pave their own path to wedded bliss. Khan’s last release was Mahesh Manjrekar’s Antim: The Final Truth, in 2021.
Date: 28th April
Director: Karan Johar
Cast: Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi, Jaya Bachchan
Described as a family entertainer, Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani is Karan Johar’s first directorial project in seven years, with his last – Ae Dil Hai Mushkil – releasing in 2016. Johar’s vision and the star power attached to the project make it one of the most anticipated releases of 2023.
Date: 2nd June
Director: Atlee
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi
Jawan will mark Atlee and Nayanthara’s Hindi film debut, and will allegedly have a special appearance by Deepika Padukone. It is also the first time after Fan (2016) that SRK will be seen in a dual role.
Date: 16th June
Director: Om Raut
Cast: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh
Adipurush is based on the Hindu epic, Ramayana. When its trailer was launched last year, the sub-par VFX and special effects got flak from all quarters of the internet. Director Om Raut then delayed the film’s release, promising to rework it to make it a better cinematic experience.
Date: 29th June
Director: Sameer Vidwans
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani
Slated as a musical rom-com, Satyaprem Ki Katha has Aaryan and Advani sharing screen once again after Anees Bazmee’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022). The cast includes Supriya Pathak and Gajraj Rao.
Director: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna and Parineeti Chopra
A gangster film that weaves an intricate web between its characters, Animal follows the journey of the protagonist who finds himself becoming a beast. The poster shows Ranbir Kapoor in his beast mode, which clearly involves bulging biceps, blood spatter, a cigarette and an axe.
Date: 28th September
Director: Prashanth Neel
Cast: Prabhas, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Shruti Haasan, Jagapathi Babu
The director of K.G.F: Chapters 1 and 2 (2018 and 2022, respectively) join forces with the hero of Baahubali. It doesn’t get more explosive than this — or so hope Prabhas and his fandom. After the listless box office performance of Saaho (2019) and Radhe Shyam (2022), the actor needs a big hit.
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Alaya F, Jyothika, Sharad Kelkar
Based on the life of industrialist Srikant Bholla, Sri follows his journey from being the first international visually impaired pupil to study Management Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to establishing Bollant Industries. Bholla is reportedly co-directing Sri, and Jagdeep Sindhu has written it.
Director: Maneesh Sharma
Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif
The third instalment of this spy thriller will have Shah Rukh Khan making an appearance in the Salman Khan-starrer.
Date: 1st December
Director: Meghna Gulzar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra
Meghna Gulzar’s historical film is inspired by the life of Sam Manekshaw, Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. It’s the second time we’ll see Vicky Kaushal working with Gulzar in a film set in this period. Raazi (2018), which unfolded just before the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, was the first.
Date: 22nd December
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Boman Irani
Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki revolves around the unchecked use of the ‘Donkey Flight’ (an illegal way of entering a foreign country via multiple stops in other countries) by Indians to immigrate to countries like Canada and the United States of America.
Films that don’t have release dates (yet):
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Cast: Suhana Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Dot, Agastya Nanda, Vedang Raina, Yuvraj Menda
This reimagining of the Archies comics will see some of the most beloved star kids of Bollywood make their screen debut. Zoya Akhtar has set the story in the Sixties, in an Anglo-Indian community.
Director: Nandita Das
Cast: Kapil Sharma, Shahana Goswami, Tushar Acharya
Zwigato was first screened at the Toronto Film Festival last year and is set to release in 2023. The movie chronicles the hardship of a common man as he loses his job due to the pandemic and works as a delivery guy for a food delivery app called Zwigato.
Director: Aparna Sen
Cast: Konkona Sensharma, Arjun Rampal, Tanmay Dhanania
The Rapist – an uncompromising chronicle of the aftermath of rape – poses questions about gender, class, and institutional contradictions in India.
Director: Hansal Mehta
Cast: Zahaan Kapoor, Aditya Rawal, Aamir Ali, Juhi Babbar
Helmed by Hansal Mehta, Faraaz is based on the real-life terrorist attack that ravaged a Dhaka cafe in 2016. The film unfolds over a single night, tracing the story of a young man, Faraaz, who finds himself trapped with two friends in the restaurant.
Director: Anubhav Sinha
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Pankaj Kapur, Ashutosh Rana, Dia Mirza
Initially set to release on November 18, 2022, this film’s release has been pushed to 2023. Bheed is a socio-political drama produced and directed by Anubhav Sinha. This is the first time Sinha will be working with Rajkummar Rao.
Director: Sudhir Mishra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bhumi Pednekar, Sharib Hashmi, Sumit Kaul, Sumeet Vyas, Rockey Raina and TJ Bhanu
Touted as a ‘quirky thriller’, director Sudhir Mishra said that Afwaah chronicles a story that he has lived with for a long time and has worked "each day to make it quirky and twisted". The film marks Mishra’s second collaboration with Siddiqui after Netflix’s Serious Men.
Director: Rajesh Krishnan
Cast: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kriti Sanon, Tabu
Described as a comedy riot, the film is set against the backdrop of the airline industry and has a stellar cast. The film is produced by Ekta Kapoor (Balaji Motion Pictures Limited) and Rhea Kapoor (Anil Kapoor Productions), marking their second collaboration with Kareena Kapoor Khan after Veere Di Wedding (2018).
Cast: Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil
Director: Sukumar
Described as “bigger and better than Pushpa: The Rise”, the film will see Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil reprising their roles from the first part.
Director: Raja Krishna Menon
Cast: Ishaan Khatter, Mrunal Thakur, Priyanshu Painyuli, Soni Razdan.
Pippa is based on the book The Burning Chaffees by Brigadier Balram Singh Mehta, a first-hand account of a pivotal battle fought between India and Pakistan, days before the 1971 war was officially declared. Pippa’s music is by A.R. Rahman.
Director: Papa Rao Biyyala
Cast: Shriya Saran, Sharman Joshi, Shaan, Prakash Raj, Suhasini Mulay, Benjamin Gilani, Gracy Goswami, Ozu Barua
An Ilaiyaraaja musical drama featuring 11 songs, Music School follows a music teacher and a drama teacher, as they grapple with staging ‘The Sound of Music’ while their students tackle academic pressures and severe competition.
Director: Sudhanshu Saria
Cast: Radhika Madan, Sohum Shah, Pooja Bhatt
Sanaa premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. The film is a social drama about an ambitious woman navigating unresolved trauma.
Director: Vardhan Ketkar
Cast: Mrunal Thakur, Aditya Roy Kapur
Gumrah is the Hindi remake of the 2019 Tamil-language crime thriller Thadam, which was directed by Magizh Thirumeni.
Director: Anurag Basu
Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi, Neena Gupta, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ali Fazal, Fatima Sana Shaikh
Metro: In dino is a spinoff anthology to Basu’s Life…in a Metro (2007).
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Kareena Kapoor, Jaideep Ahlawat, Vijay Varma
Based on the novel by Keigo Higashino, the film follows a single mother and her daughter who commit a crime and a neighbour who helps them cover it up amid a police investigation.