Badhaai Do to Death On The Nile, here's a list of films releasing in theatres in February

Badhaai Do:

Harshwardhan Kulkarni directs this gay-lesbian marital rom-com with Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar stepping into the prickly shoes of two people who have nothing in common except their closeted sexuality. Here is hoping that the film will perform better at the box office than the other rom-com Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui  about sexual deviancy. Release date: February 11. Death On The Nile:

This Agatha Christie adaptation directed by the distinguished Kenneth Branagh (have you seen his Belfast, if not see it… fast!) was repeatedly postponed and not only because of the pandemic. One of the film’s leads Armie Hammer was suddenly embroiled in a career-snuffing cannibalistic sex scandal. The producers’ Fox Star had two choices. They could either let the Hammer fall on Armie’s role or they could postpone the release indefinitely until public memory about the scandal faded. They opted for the latter option since scrapping Hammer would mean scrapping Gal Gadot’s role as they play husband and wife. So the Wonder Woman has saved another human life…or has she? As the Bengalis say Armie Jani Na.Release date February 11. Khiladi:

As we all know after Pushpa(who hates tears as much as Rajesh Khanna) Telugu cinema is considered supreme at the pan-India box office. But will Ravi Teja who had a string of flops in the past few years–  Touch Chesi Chudu, Nela Ticket,  Amar Akbar Anthony, Disco Raja  all were critical and commercial failures—have the same impact as Allu Arjun in    Pushpa? In  Khiladi, Ravi Teja plays a double role. The film is directed by Ramesh Varma who earlier directed Ravi Teja in    Veera  which was a hit. Release date: February 11 Gangubai Kathiawadi:

The mother of all gangster epics, Sanjay Leela Bhansali moves out of his comfort zone to direct the story of a female gangster who ruled Mumbai’s underworld and whose name made her adversaries pee in their collective pants. For those who think Alia Bhatt is too delicate looking to be ferocious, all I can say is wait and watch. The ever-dependable Ajay Devgan joins Alia in an outstanding cameo. This is the film that is expected to revive the movie business in 2022. Release date February 25. Hey Sinamika:

Malayalam cinema has been ruling the roost for a few years now. One of its top star actors Dulquer Salmaan who recently played a scummy scamster in Kurup  steps into the breezy musical zone. His costars are Aditi Rao and Kaajal Aggarwal and his director is the choreographer Brinda. Release date February 25. Bheemla Nayak:

Another Telugu superstar Pawan Kalyan returns with a full-fledged masala film. Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati play two cops at loggerheads over a moral issue while Sagar K Chandra directs. The film is a remake of the Malayalam hit Ayyappanum Koshiyum  which starred Buju Menon and Prithviraj in stellar performances, very tough to the encore. Release date 25 February.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.