Eklavya	Guru

 

Guru

Director: Mani Ratnam
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, R. Madhavan, Vidya Balan, Mithun Chakraborty, Mallika Sherawat
Why: Because it is a Mani Ratnam film. Because it is an A.R. Rahman musical. Because the law of averages will ensure the Abhi-Ash pair works. Because of Mallika Sherawat’s first item number.
Buzz: Gulzar and Rahman had to create the Barso re song overnight when Ash hurt herself while learning to cycle and the original introduction song had to be dropped.

Ta ra rum pum

Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Victor Banerjee
Why: Because Saif and Rani are paired again after Hum Tum. Because Siddharth Anand made the very urbane and very cool Salaam Namaste. Because the backdrop of Manhattan has been shot by Binod Pradhan (Devdas, Rang De Basanti).
BUZZ: The original title was Ta Ra Rum Pum Pum but producers Yash Raj Films had to drop one ‘Pum’ because Shekhar Kapur refused to part with the title.

Salaam-e-ishq

Director: Nikhil Advani
Cast: Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Govinda, Akshaye Khanna, Ayesha Takia, John Abraham, Vidya Balan, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Sohail Khan, Ishaa Koppikar
Why: Because the star cast says it all. Because Nikhil Advani made Kal Ho Naa Ho. Because Govinda plays a guide.
BUZZ: Karan Johar will make a special appearance in the film as himself with Priyanka Chopra playing an item girl obsessed with KJo!

Saawariya

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor
Why: Because it is a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. Because the lead pair has the genes of two star actors, Rishi Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. Because it is Sony’s first Indian co-production and will have a record 2,000-print release.
BUZZ: Rani Mukherjee will play the role of a courtesan in a special appearance and may dance to the choreography of Shiamak Davar.

Eklavya

Director: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Sanjay Dutt, Sharmila Tagore, Jackie Shroff, Raima Sen, Boman Irani
Why: Because Vidhu Vinod Chopra once made Parinda and Khamosh. Because Pradeep Sarkar is the visual director. Because the mother-son duo of Sharmila Tagore and Saif come together in a film for the first time.
BUZZ: Chopra and his team used 800 camels for the shooting of a particular scene.

Jodha akbar

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai
Why: Because it is an Ashutosh Gowariker film. Because it is Hrithik Roshan’s only release in 2007. Because Hrithik and Ash come together after Dhoom:2. Because Ashutosh-Rahman make period music again after Lagaan.
BUZZ: Ashutosh has been shooting the war scenes in Jaipur in the wee hours of the morning before the local crowds come star-gazing and disrupt shooting.

Chooriyan

Director: Pradeep Sarkar
Cast: Rani Mukherjee, Abhishek Bachchan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kunal Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan
Why: Because Pradeep Sarkar made the most brilliant debut in recent years with Parineeta. Because Bengali dynamites Rani and Konkona come together for the first time. Because Jaya and Abhishek have more footage than in Desh.
BUZZ: With Varanasi as the backdrop, Sarkar had taken tips from Rituparno Ghosh, who shot Chokher Bali there.

Rgv ke sholay

Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Ajay Devgan, Sushmita Sen, Prashant Raj, Nisha Kothari
Why: Because of the ‘to remake or not to remake’ national debate. Because it is make or break for the most courageous film-maker of this generation. Because Amitabh Bachchan plays Gabbar Singh. Because Mohanlal plays Thakur.
BUZZ: Jai and Veeru in this new Sholay are not best friends. They are more guru-shishya, with Devgan’s Veeru calling the shots.

Chak de india

Director: Shimit Amin
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Vidya Malvade
Why: Because it is Shah Rukh’s only release of the year with Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om eyeing a 2008 release. Because the game of hockey needs a filmi hit. Because Shimit Amin made the absolute blinder in Ab Tak Chhappan. Because Sudeep Chatterjee (Dor, Jaan-e-Mann) is framing Melbourne, the backdrop for the film.
BUZZ: Producer Aditya Chopra has shot behind-the-scenes footage for promotion.

Jhoom barabar jhoom

Director: Shaad Ali
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol, Lara Dutta
Why: Because Shaad made Saathiya and Bunty Aur Babli. Because Abhishek and Preity are paired together for the first time. Because the Chelsea football team plays a big part in the movie with Abhishek’s character a big fan. Because the Shankar Ehsaan Loy team believes it is one of their best scores till date.
BUZZ: Amitabh Bachchan is doing an item number in the most bizarre of costumes.