Salman Khan's Bodyguard kicks off the big film season

Big films releasing around festivals is a Bollywood tradition. In the recent past, Salman Khan owned the box office with releases around Eid — Dabanng in 2010 and Wanted in 2009, leading to speculation that the Eid weekend bodes spectacularly well for him. This year, the big Eid release is Salman’s Bodyguard, co-starring Kareena Kapoor and directed by Southern filmmaker, Siddique. Let’s see if he scores a hat-trick with Bodyguard this time round. The other two Khans also have their favourite holidays marked; Aamir Khan has pretty much set aside the Christmas weekend, which has proven lucky for him for many years now – Taare Zameen Par (2007), Ghajini (2008) and 3 Idiots (2009). Shah Rukh Khan is the big Diwali draw, apart from Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn, or big films scheduled for release that time of the year. This year sees his ambitious Ra One release around the time. Some of the films that are set to entertain us in the next few weeks: August 31: Bodyguard Starring: Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor. A very good-looking pair that is back together after debacles like Main Aur Mrs Khanna and Kyon Ki. This is a remake of the hit Malayalam film of the same name, directed by Siddique, who also directed the Malayalam version. Salman has adopted many of the mannerisms of his bodyguard, Shera, in the film. Interestingly, Shera had once wanted to be an actor and did the filmi rounds with Akshay Kumar a long time ago. Of course, Akshay became a superstar and Shera, a superstar’s bodyguard. Directed by: Siddique. Watch it factor: Salman Khan, of course! September 9: Mere Brother ki Dulhan Starring: Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif and Ali Zafar, being hailed as Pakistan’s Prince of Pop. Imran and Katrina have been paired together for the first time and it remains to be seen if they work. But then, Katrina has not not worked with any actor. She made it work even with a rotund Govinda in Partner ! And the third wheel, Ali Zafar, well, he is a third wheel in the plot. Directed by: Ali Abbas Zafar. Watch it factor: Katrina Kaif playing a bad ass ’70s rock chick swinging to Dhunki, smoking et al. September 16: Mausam [caption id=“attachment_66294” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Again, a fresh pair, who look good in the trailers and songs so far. Image from Mausam’s Facebook page.”]  [/caption] Starring: Shahid Kapur and Sonam Kapoor. Again, a fresh pair, who look good in the trailers and songs so far. It’s been a while since Shahid entertained us with onscreen histrionics and Sonam got into clothes other than Dior, in tune with her schoolgirl character in Mausam. Directed by: Pankaj Kapur. Watch it factor: Shahid and Sonam’s on screen kiss. Nah! Shahid Kapur. September 23: Hum Tum Shabana Starring: Tusshar Kapoor, Minissha Lamba and Shreyas Talpade. Other than being pitched as a dark comedy, and that it’s directed by the same guy who gave us Bheja Fry, there’s been more talk on how Tusshar can’t stand the director and vice versa. Very unusual, since Tusshar is known to be an affable and peaceful guy. Cheap tricks to hype the film? Possible, but it isn’t really helping. Directed by: Sagar Bellary Watch it factor: No clue! September 30: Tell Me O Khuda Starring: Esha Deol, Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Arjan Bajwa, Farooq Sheikh, Deepti Naval, Johny Lever and Madhoo. This film is about Esha’s search for her father, played by Dharmendra. The last time Hema Malini directed a film back in 1992, Dil Aashna Hai, it starred Shah Rukh Khan and the late Divya Bharti, and had a similar premise of Divya looking for her father. Coincidence? Directed by: Hema Malini. Watch it factor:  Esha Deol’s comeback on screen with daddy Deol, lavishly produced by momma Hema Malini. September 30: Mod Starring:  Ayesha Takia Azmi and Rannvijay Singha, who makes his film debut after the successful MTV Roadies stint as VJ. This film is Nagesh Kukunoor’s Indianised version of the original Taiwanese film, Keeping Watch. Directed by: Nagesh Kukunoor. Watch it factor:  Nagesh Kukunoor’s directorial style. And if you hadn’t noticed already, all the above are love stories, give or take a Bollywood formula or two.