Bollywood Masala Mix
2019 is upon us and with a new year comes a fresh new batch of Bollywood films. The previous year saw the underdogs (Andhadhun, Tumbbad, Raazi) emerge the big winners and content reigned kind, making one more optimistic about what the next 365 days will look like for Hindi films. Close to 40 upcoming Bollywood movies of 2019 have been announced (so far), spanning a wide variety of genres. From war films like Akshay Kumar’s Kesari and Uri, which stars Vicky Kaushal and Yami Gautam, to romances like Luka Chuppi and Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, the Hindi film industry has some pretty powerful aces up its sleeve. Check out all the movies coming to a big screen near you this year:
1. Uri: Release date: January 11, 2019
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam, Mohit Raina, Paresh Rawal
Synopsis: 2018’s breakout star Vicky Kaushal will next be seen in this action drama based on the surgical strikes carried out against Pakistan by the Indian Army as a retaliation for the Uri attacks of 2016.
2. Bombairiya: Release date: January 11, 2019
Cast: Radhika Apte, Akshay Oberoi, Amit Sial, Ravi Kishan, Siddhant Kapoor, Shilpa Shukla
Synopsis: When her phone is stolen, a Public Relations Executive who hates people gets caught in a dangerous game of cat and mouse involving hitmen, the CID and a mysterious parcel.
3. Blank: Release date: January 11, 2019
Cast: Sunny Deol, Karan Kapadia, Ishita Dutta
Synopsis: Karan Kapadia will be making his debut with Sunny Deol in the coming-of-age drama. The film will also reportedly star Ishita Dutta, who played Ajay Devgn’s daughter in the 2015 thriller Drishyam.
4. Amavas: Release: January 11, 2019
Cast: Nargis Fakhri, Sachiin Joshi, Mona Singh
Synopsis: Nargis Fakhri makes a comeback to Bollywood opposite Sachiin Joshi in a film that features all the markers of tacky horror: a beautiful woman, a haunted house and a secret that will destroy it all.
5. Thackeray: Release: January 23, 2019
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita Rao
Synopsis: Based on the life of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, this Nawazuddin Siddiqui-Amrita Rao starrer carries Bollywood’s streak of biographical dramas into 2019.
6. Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi: Release: Jan 25, 2019
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Atul Kulkarni, Suresh Oberoi, Danny Denzongpa, Ankita Lokhande
Synopsis: Based on the life of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi (nee Manikarnika Tambe), the historic biographical chronicles the heroic queen’s war against the East India Company and British colonial exploitation during the First War of Independence in 1857.
7. Cheat India: Release: January 25, 2019
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Shreya Dhanwanthary
Synopsis: India’s ultra-competitive academic scene becomes a playground for a conman who promises to ensure the desired results for his clients, one way or the other.
8. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga: Release: February, 2019
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Juhi Chawla, Regina Cassandra
Synopsis: Starring real life father-daughter duo star as a family in a film that follows two love stories, decades apart, and the complications in both.
9. Sonchiriya: Release: February 8, 2019
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee and Ashutosh Rana
Synopsis: Based in Chambal, once a stronghold of dacoits, the film's characters call the badlands of central India home.
10. Gully Boy: Release: February 14, 2019
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Pooja Gor
Synopsis: Based on the lives of DIVINE (Vivian Fernandes) and Naezy (Naved Shaikh), famous for their collab Mere Gully Men, the musical drama will explore India’s hip hop scene.
11. Luka Chuppi: Release: March 1, 2019
Cast: Kriti Sanon, Kartik Aaryan, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Synopsis: Set in small town Uttar Pradesh, Luka Chuppi will see Kriti Sanon and Kartik Aaryan star together for the first time in a romcom where a good boy meets a bad(-ish) girl and love seems inevitable.
12. Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar: Release: March 1, 2019
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Tarun Gahlot
Synopsis: A police officer from Haryana and a corporate executive – two sides of an emerging India – are forced to come together by circumstances. The only thing that unites them: their hatred for each other.
13. Badla: Release: March 8, 2019
Cast: Tapsee Pannu, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ali Fazal
Synopsis: The joint production by Azure Entertainment and Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies, Badla is based on the 2016 crime thriller Contratiempo which tells the story of a businessman who finds himself locked in a hotel room with only the body of his murdered, married lover to keep him company.
14. Merey Pyarey Prime Minister: Release: March 8, 2019
Cast: Anjali Patil, Makrand Deshpande, Rasika Agashe
Synopsis: Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the film follows the life of a child in the slums of Mumbai who wants his single mother to have a proper toilet (as opposed to open defecation) and asks the Prime Minister of India to help him solve his sanitation issues.
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Tabu, Jimmy Shergill, Rakul Preet Singh
Synopsis: Pyaar Ka Punchnama director Luv Ranjan’s De De Pyaar De is expected to be based on urban relationship trends.
16. Romeo Akbar Walter: Release: March 15, 2019
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy
Synopsis: Directed by Robbie Grewal, Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW) is a period thriller set during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War and is reportedly inspired by true events.
17. Kesari: Release: March 21, 2019
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
Synopsis: Based on the true events that transpired during the Battle of Saragarhi, Kesari tells the story of what is considered as the greatest last stands in military history – where 21 Sikh soldiers held their ground and fought to the death when attacked by an army of 10,000 Afghans.
18. Mental Hai Kya: Release: March 29, 2019
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao
Synopsis: Mental Hai Kya is an adult black comedy starring Rajkummar Rao and Kangana Ranaut, and will be the latter’s second release in 2019.
19. Notebook: Release: March 29, 2019
Cast: Zaheer Iqbal, Pranutan Bahl
Synopsis: A Salman Khan Films production, Notebook is a romance set in Kashmir and will act as a launchpad for both its protagonists.
20. Junglee: Release: April 5, 2019
Cast: Vidyut Jammwal, Atul Kulkarni, Makrand Deshpande
Synopsis: A vet (Jammwal) returns home to his father’s elephant reserve and ends up uncovering a global poaching racket.
21. The Zoya Factor: Release: April 5, 2019
Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Sonam Kapoor
Synopsis: Through a series of what appear to be coincidences, an advertising executive working on a shoot with the Indian cricket team is declared their lucky charm. The players believe her presence brings them good fortune – except for the team’s tall, dark and handsome captain.
22. Kalank: Release: April 19, 2019
Cast: Madhuri Dixit, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sanjay Dutt
Synopsis: Set in pre-independence India, Dutt has revealed that Kalank is a drama centred around two families. Reports have also hinted at the film being set to the backdrop of the Partition of India.
23. Arjun Patiala: Release: May 3, 2019
Cast: Diljit Dosanjh, Kriti Sanon
Synopsis: Though a tall woman and a vertically challenged man begin a romance, the differences in their stature result in a series of unfortunate, though comic, events.
24. Student Of The Year 2: Release: May 10, 2019
Cast: Tiger Shroff, Ananya Panday, Tara Sutaria, Aditya Seal, Manoj Pahwa, Farida Jalal, Samir Soni
Synopsis: Though the plot to the Student of the Year sequel has been kept under wraps, here are some of the theories the internet has thrown at us: Gul Panag might make an appearance, as will Will Smith and Tiger Shroff may play a hearing and speech impaired student.
25. Jabariya Jodi: Release: May 17, 2019
Cast: Parineeti Chopra, Sidharth Malhotra, Aparshakti Khurana, Javed Jaffrey, Ruslaan Mumtaz
Synopsis: Chopra’s third release of the year and Malhotra’s second, the film is reportedly based on the practice of pakadwa vivaah – a tradition in Bihar where young men are kidnapped and made to marry, in order to avoid dowry.
26. India’s Most Wanted: Release: 24 May 2019
Cast: Arjun Kapoor
Synopsis: Shot in Nepal and New Delhi, the thriller is “inspired by the real capture of India’s most wanted, without firing a single bullet.”
27. Bharat: Release: June 2019
Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Tabu, Jackie Shroff, Disha Patani
Synopsis: Bharat is the official adaptation of South Korean drama Ode to My Father (2014) which looks at historical events from 1950s onwards through the journey of an ordinary man.
28. Kabir Singh: Release: 21 June 2019
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani
Synopsis: A Hindi-language remake of the Telugu film Arjun Reddy, Kabir Singh tells the story of brilliant surgeon with alcohol and anger issues who become hell bent on self-destruction when his ex-girlfriend gets married.
29. Good News: Release: July 19, 2019
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh, Kiara Advani
Synopsis: The comedy-drama is expected to focus on fertility. According to reports, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor will play a couple trying to conceive.
30. Saaho: Release: August 15, 2019
Cast: Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh
Synopsis: Saaho will mark Prabhas’ Bollywood debut and will reportedly see him playing a not-so-honest policeman.
31. Batla House: Release: August 15, 2019
Cast: John Abraham, Mrunal Thakur, Prakash Raj
Synopsis: John Abraham plays ‘India’s most decorated/controversial cop’ in a movie based on the events of the Batla House Encounter.
32. Mission Mangal: Release: August 15, 2019
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Nithya Menen, Kirti Kulhari, Sharman Joshi
Synopsis: Based on the true story of India’s Mars mission, Mission Mangal will reportedly be the country’s first space film.
33. Chhichhore: Release: August 30, 2019
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Prateik Babbar, Varun Sharma
Synopsis: After Dangal, director Nitesh Tiwari moves on to Chhichhore which he calls ‘a timeless tale of timepass’.
34. Marjaavaan: Release: October 2, 2019
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Tara Sutaria, Riteish Deshmukh, Rakul Preet Singh
Synopsis: According to producer Nikkhil Advani, Marjaavaan is a “violent, dramatic love story” and will be Bollywood new comer Tara Sutaria’s second project in 2019.
35. Taanaji: The Unsung Warrior: Release: 22 November 2019
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, Suniel Shetty, Pankaj Tripathi
Synopsis: A period drama based on the life of Tanaji Malusare, a military leader who served Chhatrapati Shivaji, the founding ruler of the Maratha Empire.
36. Brahmastra: Release: December 25, 2019
Cast: Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Mouni Roy, Dimple Kapadia, Nagarjuna
Synopsis: Directed by Ayan Mukerji, this will be the first film that is intended to be a high budget superhero trilogy.
37. Panipat: Release: 06 December 2019
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Padmini Kolhapure, Rekha
Synopsis: The period war drama is based of the Third Battle of Panipat between the forces of the Maratha Empire and the armies of Ahmad Shah Abdali and his Indian allies.