10 Must See Films Of 2018

1.     Pad Man: On January 26 it’s Akshay Kumar,  and no one else. I will put my money on this heartwarming saga of Arunachalam Muruganantham, the Tamilian  who manufactured economical sanitary  napkins even at the risk of being belittled. Here  is  another man-of-the-masses part for  the ever-enterprising  actor who never shies away from seeming less than heroic because he knows that the true hero is the one who dares to venture into the unknown even at  the risk of stumbling and falling. Pad Man  is directed  by one of my favourites R Balki who courts the quirky with compelling credibility. In Shamitabh it was the Big B giving voice  to mute star Dhanush. InKi & Ka a working wife gets herself  a happy house-husband. In Pad Man gender-sensitization reaches the cyclic level.Yes it’s THAT time of the month.

2.     Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety: Luv Ranjan ,a director who gets into the  head and the bed of the young without acting  like  a  twit of a  director. His remarkable proclivity for youthful candour is in full view in this wackily-titled rom-com where Sonu(Kartik Aryan)’s over-possessive best friend  Titu(Sunny Singh) gets  a girlfriend Sweety(Nushrat Bharucha). It’s a lipsmacking Bromance versus Romance  on February 9

3.     Hichki: For my  money and  time Rani Mukherjee doing the role of a teacher with a neurological  disability is just what the  doctors prescribed. This official remake of   a little-known American film Front Of The Class is the kind of inspirational story we all need in our lives.if not to make us better human beings than at least to not make us worse. Release date 23 February.

4.     Dutt: Ranbir Kapoor playing Sanjay Dutt in a film directed by RajKumar Hirani is not  quite my idea of an inspirational  bio-pic.  Nonetheless this one is of interest  for us to know what mistakes one can make in the journey of life.So this can be taken as an inspirational film in reverse. Verdict on March 30

5.     October: Titled October but releasing in April. But what the heck! A Shoojit Sircar film by any name or in any  month  smells just as sweet. Sircar teams up with the most successful star of 2017—not  counting Salman  Khan—Varun Dhawan for   what the director describes as  the  most unusual love story. We can’t wait for April 13.

6.     Veere De Wedding: The sheer  joy of watching a gallery of interesting  female  actors navigated  by the gorgeous Kareena KapoorKhan and Sonam Kapoor  is enough reason to give this chic-flick(please  note, I am not calling it a chick flick)  a run for its money.Release date 18 May.

7.     Fanney Khan: A famous singer played by Aishwarya RaiBachchan kidnapped by the father(Anil Kapoor) of a wannabe  singer…an  extremely unusual premise and  a solid project to bring together Aishwarya and Anil Kapoor after Taal. Directed  by debutant Atul Manjrekar this remake  of  a Belgian film promises something unusual . Release date June 15.

8.     Gold: If Akshay Kumar owns Republic Day he also exercizes a quasi-copyright  over the Independence Day week. On 15 August comes Gold , a film recreating India’s historic win for hockey at the 1948 Olympics. Reema Kagti’s film would be a  fictional take on what actually happened. The game of hockey would feature prominently in the plot. But there will also be a strong human drama playing at the forefront.And it wouldn’t be just the Olympics victory in 1948 we will be looking at. Gold will look at 12 crucial years in India’s history.Wow. Can’t wait.

9.     Super 30:  Not  kicked by Vikas Behl’s directorial abilities after seeing the mess he made  in Shaandaar. But it would be interesting see the life of the maths genius Anand kumar brought to life on screen by Hrithik Roshan who hasn’t done  a bio-pic before. Releasing 23  November.

10.  Zero: Aanand Rai gets  together with Shah Rukh Khan  for a game changer this Christmas.Crucial for Mr Khan who needs a  clutter-breaker. Releasing 21  December.

And  of course Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavat(i).

Please Note: This list deliberately leaves out prominent  biggie  like Shankar’s 2: 0, Neeraj Pandey’s Aiyaary, Krish’s Manikarnika, Remod’Souza’s Race 3 and  Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs Of Hindostan.