The festival of Lights Diwali brings extra cheer to cine buffs, as Bollywood releases its highly anticipated films during this period.
This year will see the late maestro Yash Chopra’s last directorial venture ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ (JTHJ), starring Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. This film would lock horns with ‘Son of Sardaar’ (SOS) featuring Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt and Sonakshi Sinha at the box office.
Romance defined
Yash Chopra’s films have come to define romance in Hindi Cinema.
JTHJ promises to be an intense love story and see Yash Raj Films and Shahrukh Khan reunite for a Diwali release after their 2004 success story, ‘Veer Zara.’
The film will also see Shahrukh and Katrina paired together for the first time, while Anushka debuted with Shahrukh’s ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi,’ another Yash Raj production in 2008.
Shot in Europe and Kashmir amongst other places, JTHJ has lilting music by the Oscar winner A R Rahman and lyrics by Gulzar, a popular poet.
‘Golmaal’ was the film that played a major role in reviving the career of Ajay.
Known primarily for his action image, the ‘Golmaal’ series saw him successfully metamorphose into an actor who could handle comedy with action.
SOS hopes to carry on with that formula.
With masala films hitting the bull’s eye for the past few years on the Indian Box office, hopes are high about SOS. An Ajay Devgan home production, this film was directed by Ashwini Dhir, a big name in Indian television.
His earlier film, ‘Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge’ was moderately successful.
Sonakshi Sinha, fresh from the success of ‘Rowdy Rathore,’ teams up with Ajay for the first time, along with Sanjay Dutt who is still basking in the glory of ‘Agneepath.’ Himesh Reshammiya, duo Sajid & Wajid and Sandeep Chawla have composed the songs for this film.
Two-corner contest
Diwali has been a successful release period for Shahrukh in the past, especially in 2006 (‘Don’) and 2007 (‘Om Shanti Om’), winning against ‘Jaan E Mann’ (Salman Khan and Akshaye Kumar) and ‘Saawariya’ (Ranbir Kapoor).
Can SOS reverse the trend? Will Diwali 2012 prove auspicious for the two big films?
Will these two films also enter the coveted ‘100 Crores Film Club?’
The answers to these will be known only after the films are released.
