To Catch A Silver Goose

The man who has been called the cheerleader of 'family values' says he has taken a different slant on relationships. For a change, it's not about falling in friendship or in love but about a more grown up and complicated institution called marriage. "It's a look at modern marriages, the reasons why people get married," says Johar. Rumour has it that Big B is at his lascivious, lewd, twisted best.

Johar is not the only one. Sooraj Barjatya too puts marriage under the scanner in Vivaah, starring Shahid Kapur and Amrita Rao. And so does Rajat Kapoor in a relatively small and simple film, Mixed Doubles, about an ordinary couple (Ranvir Shorey and Konkana Sen Sharma) trying to discover the lost spark in their 10-year-old marriage. One fine day, they run into another couple (Rajat and Koel Purie) and sexual tension follows.

Rajat Kapoor’s Mixed Doubles is about reviving the lost spark in a marriage.

Ravi Chopra, a great proponent of family ties, is all set to come up with Babul. Said to be an expansion of the understated Jaya Bhaduri-Sanjeev Kumar relationship in Sholay, it has a widowed Rani and Big B as the loving father-in-law who wants to get her remarried.

Meanwhile, the stunt specialist Anil Gadar Sharma too goes the family way with Apne. "It's about togetherness, about a family that shares its sorrows and joys," says Sharma. The on-screen family bonding gets strengthened by the fact that the lead roles are being played by real-life father and sons, Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby Deol. "No glycerine was used by the three, they cried for real in their scenes," says Sharma. No wonder he's confident it'll moisten the eyes of the masses too. "The film will work with all kinds of audiences, from Mathura to Delhi to New York and London," he claims.

The bigness and family values apart, '06 will also go down as the year of high-profile remakes. Farhan Akhtar is adapting Chandra Barot's '70s blockbuster Don right down to the popular song Khaike Paan Banaraswala. SRK fills in for Big B and Priyanka Chopra does a Zeenat Aman. However, Akhtar also adds his own cool James Bond touch with gizmos like mobile phones playing an important role in the narrative. J.P. Dutta is making Aishwarya Rai do a Rekha in Umrao Jaan with Shabana Azmi in the role played by her mom Shaukat Azmi in the Muzaffar Ali original.

However, the most talked about remake is that of the Abrar Alvi classic Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. Produced by Pritish Nandy Communications, it will be directed by Rituparno Ghosh and will have Priyanka playing chhoti bahu, a character immortalised by Meena Kumari. "The independence movement, the decaying feudal aristocracy, the illicit love, the gender struggle, the loss of innocence. There are lots of conflicting issues in Sahib... which make for a great human drama," says Nandy. But he doesn't want to call it a remake. "We have gone back to the original story and innovated on it. We have a different take. I would call it another version, not a remake," he specifies.

Among the most awaited remakes is Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam directed byRituparno.

Quite like remakes, sequels too will flourish. Rakesh Roshan's much-hyped Kriish would be Koi Mil Gaya 2 with Hrithik all grown up into a martial arts-enabled superman. Dhoom 2 will have him playing the villain with Ash as his bikini-clad arm-candy. The film also boasts Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and some fab mobikes. The RGV factory will deliver Darna Zaroori Hai, a sequel to Darna Mana Hai, with similar supernatural stories strung together. The highlight would be the episode starring Big B and Riteish Deshmukh.

Raj Kumar Hirani would not want to describe his Munnabhai 2, tentatively titled Munnabhai Meets Mahatma, as a sequel. "The spirit may be the same but it's another episode for the two lead characters Munna and Circuit. The world around them changes completely," says Hirani. It reportedly takes Munna and Circuit to the world of law and justice and also talks of Gandhian non-violence.

Munnabhai Meets Mahatma: So does the good doctor become a Gandhian?

Meanwhile, Hirani's producer and mentor Vidhu Vinod Chopra comes back to direction after a gap of six years with Eklavya. He claims it to be one of his most ambitious projects which took him almost five years to write. "It's a dramatic thriller, very Shakespearean in its intent," says Chopra. The story of the loyal guard of an ancient royal castle, the film stars Big B in the lead role with the rest of the cast including Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Boman Irani, Vidya Balan and Sharmila Tagore.

The comeback of '06 would be that of the mercurial Kajol. She stars with Aamir Khan and Tabu in Kunal Kohli's Fanaah, reportedly set in militancy-ridden Kashmir. The film has been produced by the most bankable Bollywood banner, Yashraj Films. But the film with which the popular Yashraj is set to go truly 'alternative' is documentary filmmaker Kabir Khan's debut feature Kabul Express. Set in post 9/11 Afghanistan, it's about a 48-hour car drive through the war-ravaged terrain. John Abraham and Arshad Warsi are the Indian mediapersons stationed in Afghanistan and the rest of the characters are played by actors from around the world.

Lots more in store. Sanjay Leela Bhansali will join hands with Hollywood's Sony Pictures to make Saawariya, a love story with a new star pair, Ranvir (the son of Rishi and Neetu Kapoor) and Sonam (the daughter of Anil Kapoor). Prakash Jha is launching his own production outfit, having announced films with Sudhir Mishra and Nana Patekar besides his own film Rajneeti. Smaller films are also trying out interesting concepts. Rahul Dholakia's Parzania is an immensely moving tale of a Parsi family searching for their son lost in the Gujarat riots. After Page 3, Madhur Bhandarkar takes a look at the underbelly of big businesses in Corporate, and post Macbeth alias Maqbool, Vishal Bharadwaj adapts Othello with Ajay Devgan and Konkana in the lead roles.

Rahul Dholakia’s Parzania explores the plight of a Parsi family in the Gujarat riots.

The debut of the year will be that of Naseeruddin Shah. Not as an actor, of course, but as a director. Yun Hota To Kya Hota ties in four different stories, all of them dealing with the American dream and how Indians want to flee to the 'land of opportunities'. "Each of the stories has a different element to it. There's a thriller, a comedy, a social film and a youth film all rolled into one," says producer Shabbir Boxwala.

Meanwhile, the new year seems to have begun on an auspicious note with Sanjay Gupta's Zinda, a rigorously faithful copy of the violent Korean film Oldboy, pulling in the crowds, and the industry is hoping it will only get more hot and happening with Rakeysh Mehra's youthful and stylish Rang De Basanti. Nothing can gladden the Bollywood heart more than a short and sweet word called hit. And they want to see it written in bold all over '06.