20 Bollywood films to look forward to in 2015

As we step into the new year today we look at Bollywood with a lot of excitement Apart from the bigticket releases for festive occasions a host of sequels are set to hit the marquee As usual superstars will focus on reaffirming their position while the young guns will battle their way to the top mdash and filmmakers try their best to enter the Rs 100 crore hall of fame hitlist picks some of the mostawaited films this yearFanDirector Maneesh SharmaCast Shah Rukh KhanIn brief Arguably with the greatest fan following worldwide the superstar will essay the role of his biggest fan himself in the movieWhy Will be interesting to see SRK in not a largerthanlife role Releases August 14PikuDirector Shoojit Sircar Cast Amitabh Bachchan Deepika Padukone and Irrfan In brief Set in Kolkata the comedy drama will show the fatherdaughter relationship but with a quirky spin Why The star cast itself is enough reason to pull one to the theatres Releases April 30Bajrangi BhaijaanDirector Kabir KhanCast Salman Khan and Kareena KapoorIn brief It is a romantic drama which centers on the relationship between a Muslim boy and a Hindu Brahmin girlWhy One Khan directing another Khan should be interesting Releases Mid JulyBajirao MastaniDirector Sanjay Leela BhansaliCast Ranveer Singh Deepika Padukone and Priyanka ChopraIn brief A period romance on Peshwa Baji Rao and his passion for courtesan MastaniWhy SLBs dream project that was stuck for over a decade Releases December 25Bombay VelvetDirector Anurag KashyapCast Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka SharmaIn brief A story of a boxer and an aspiring Jazz singer and how their hopes and realities collideWhy Kashyap turns director after a long gap and Karan Johar will be seen as a villain in this film Releases May 13RoyDirector Vikramjit singhCast Ranbir Kapoor Arjun Rampal and Jacqueline FernandezIn brief A romantic thriller in which Ranbir plays a thief Why The fact that we get to see Ranbir on screen after so long Releases February 13NH 10Director Navdeep SinghCast Anushka Sharma Neil Bhoopalam and Darshan KumarIn brief A thriller based on a couples road trip gone awryWhy Anushkas maiden home production Releases March 6WazirDirector Bejoy NambiarCast Amitabh Bachchan Farhan Akhtar Aditi Rao HydariIn brief Big B plays a wheelchairbound chess grandmaster while Farhan essays the role of an ATS officer in the filmWhy The legend in a neverseenbefore avatarReleases Yet to be announcedShaandarDirector Vikas BahlCast Shahid Kapoor and Alia BhattIn brief A romantic comedy which is touted to be Indias first destination wedding film Why Have you watched Queen Do you really need a reason Releases Yet to be announcedTitliDirector Kanu Behl Cast Ranvir Shorey Amit Sial Shashank Arora and Lalit BehlIn brief A semi autobiography on Titli the youngest member of a violent carjacking brotherhood who plots a desperate bid to escape the family business Why It was selected in the Uncertain Regard Section at the last Cannes Film Festival Releases Yet to be announcedJagga JasoosDirector Anurag BasuCast Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina KaifIn brief The film has Ranbir playing a detective Why Rumoured lovers offscreen coming together after a hiatus of nearly six years And the allure of a detective film Releases August 28ShamitabhDirector R BalkiCast Amitabh Bachchan Dhanush and Akshara HasanIn brief It revolves around a deaf and dumb man Dhanush who gets a voice courtesy Big BWhy The odd combo of Dhanush and Big B and the fact that it marks the debut of Akshara legendary actor Kamal Haasans younger daughter Releases February 6Detective Byomkesh BakshyDirector Dibakar BanerjeeCast Sushant Singh Rajput and Swastika MukherjeeIn brief The crime thriller based on the exploits of a fictional detective character Byomkesh Bakshi originally created by Bengali writer Sharadindu BandopadhyayWhy Dibakar of course Also for the nostalgia that Byomkesh Bakshi brings Releases February 13BadlapurDirector Sriram Raghvan Cast Varun Dhawan Nawazuddin Siddiqui Huma Qureshi and Yami GautamIn brief A revenge dramaaction thriller in which Varun sheds his romantic hero image to play a baddieWhy Pure curiosity to see the otherwise lover boy Varun get into a serious role Releases February 20TamashaDirector Imtiaz AliCast Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika PadukoneIn brief The Kapoor scion plays a nomad while Dippy will be seen as a bubbly girl on a trip to Corsica following the trail of her favourite comics characters Asterix and ObelixWhy Imtiazs sensitive storytelling and exflames starring together in yet another project Releases December 25MS DhoniDirector Neeraj Pandey Cast Sushant Singh RajputIn brief A biopic on by far the most successful Indian cricket captain by the same name Dhoni has won us two of the biggest tournaments in world cricket mdash T20 World Cup in 2007 and ICC World Cup in 2011 Why Now that MSD has retired from Test cricket this becomes all the more interesting Releases Yet to be announcedMain Aur CharlesDirector Prawaal RamanCast Randeep Hooda and Richa ChaddaIn brief Loosely based on the bikini killer Charles Sobhraj known for drugging and killing several Western tourists in Asia in the 70sWhy Who isnt fascinated by Sobhrajs story And of course the fact that Randeep is playing him Releases March 13PhantomDirector Kabir KhanCast Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif In brief It is a counterterrorism drama film set post the 2611 attacks in Mumbai and centers on Indian agents working to combat global terrorist outfits The lead actors are both secret agents Why It is the directors fourth film dealing with terrorism and spies after Kabul Express 2006 New York 2009 and Ek Tha Tiger 2012 Releases April 3Dil Dhadakne DoDirector Zoya AkhtarCast Anil Kapoor Farhan Akhtar Ranveer Singh Priyanka Chopra Anushka Sharma and Shefali ShahIn brief It revolves around a dysfunctional Punjabi family on a cruise tripWhy The interesting plot and the starstudded cast Releases June 5Prem Ratan Dhan PayoDirector Sooraj Barjatya Cast Salman Khan and Sonam KapoorIn brief An Indian family drama in which Salman will be seen as a kingWhy Barjatyas comeback project and Sallu playing Prem againReleases Diwali