This past year was exceptionally strong for Bollywood and 2013 appears to be just as exciting for Indian film fans. The new year kick starts with a relatively lower budget but very high potential Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. For all of you wondering what that means, just compromise with the fact that Matru (Imran Khan), Bijlee (Anushka Sharma) and Mandola (Punkaj Kapoor) are the three main characters in Vishal Bhardwaj’s promising comedy/romance setting. This will lead to the high budget and higher profile Race 2 later in January. Depending on your personal preference, either of Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Deepika Padukone or even Atif Aslam’s vocals can get your pulse racing. Personally, one believes MKBKM will be the better film.

February will proceed with Ali Zafar’s Chashme Buddoor, a remake of the Farooq Shaikh/Deepti Naval classic from 1981. This David Dhawan recreation casts Zafar in the lead role as well as on the soundtrack and replete with performances from Rishi and Juhi Chawal, this will be a must-watch!

Bollywood’s summer stint will include the intense Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and while Farhan Akhtar would be a good enough reason to watch the film, the fact that it is Meesha Shafi’s Bollywood debut is an added attraction. On that note, Sher, which will mark Humaima Malik’s Bollywood debut sometime next year (date of release is still unconfirmed), is also another film to watch out for.

The 2013 year enders, as always, will be the big-budget productions like Krrish 3, which will release over the Diwali holidays in India (November 1) and Dhoom 3, which will be a later, Christmas release (December 25). Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif fans will be delighted to see them step into the roles of lead antagonists for this franchise.

Meanwhile, here in Pakistan one awaits a release date for the anticipated Waar as well as Kaptaan. Hopes are still high that Aamina Sheikh’s films Lamha and Josh will be cleared for cinema release. And we know that Humayun Saeed, Jami and Asim Reza are all working on feature films though their release dates are very ambiguous. — AHI