Bollywood's slated for an eventful 2008.
Another big Hollywood studio goes desi, the country's most talked about couple take to the global stage, and our actors start getting their bank accounts really well pampered. Here's a quick look at the events to watch out for in 2008:
First up, the Bachchan World Tour. Like a family out of a Karan Johar slogan, they believe in togetherness. The Bachchan family package -- Amitabh, Abhishek, Jaya -- enhanced with the addition of Aishwarya Rai last year, now goes on a massively hyped world tour this year, even as names like Hrithik Roshan and Akshay Kumar bow out of the proceedings to carve their own on-stage deals.
Speaking of Akshay Kumar, he's really hiking up the crores. Last year, he was India's highest tax-payer, forking over 26 crores. This year, if reports are to be believed, he isn't completely convinced about signing on films that pay him less than double that amount. Yes, a single film. Expect the eager corporates to go hog-wild in their rush to snap up the infallible Kumar, with his golden Box Office touch. And then there's a certain hockey-playing, sixpack-flaunting Khan -- hiking rates higher up than most item-girls' miniskirts.
Like the Bachchan shaadi showed last year -- wait for the anniversary to strike alongside the Drona-Jodhaa Akbar DVD Box Set -- we are still most voyeuristic when it comes to intruding on celebrity romances. And after Saif and Kareena announced their relationship last year with a charmingly casual 'we're together,' this year sees the two come together in Yash Raj Films' Tashan -- as well as a cartoon called Roadside Romeo.
Globally, we're totally poised for massive expansion. After Sony Pictures burnt their fingers with Saawariya last year (only critically, mind you, the film more than recovered its costs), Warner Brothers strikes back in 2008 with the action extravaganza Chandni Chowk To China, to be directed by Nikhil Advani and shot on location in China. And they've been smart: today, if you want to put your eggs in one basket, Akshay Kumar is the man to cast.
Meanwhile, Vishal Bhardwaj has cast stunning Bourne-girl Franka Potente as his Julia -- in what is reportedly a period biopic on the life and times of iconic Bollywood stuntwoman Fearless Nadia. After working with Pan's Labyrinth cinematographer Guillermo Navarro in his AIDS short Blood Brothers last year, Vishal now turns to screenwriter Matthew Robbins -- who wrote Steven Spielberg's feature film debut, Sugarland Express -- to co-write the new film.
So check out the big list of films to watch out for in 2008, add to this the fact that Subhash Ghai might be tight-lipped about his Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif-AR Rahman magnum opus Yuvraaj, and get set for bucketfuls of Bollywood. They say that O'Eight is gonna be a big year.
