Cool Movies For The Hot Season

Gritty dramas, thrillers, breezy entertainers, and a much-awaited biopic... After a not-so-rosy start to the year, Bollywood saves its best for the summer

- Suhani Singh

Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts. The weather is about to get worse,” says Ranbir Kapoor as a young Sanjay Dutt in the teaser for Sanju, Rajkumar Hirani’s highly-anticipated summer release. So far, 2018 has been a bumpy ride for Bollywood. The historical drama Padmaavat just about struck the Rs 300 crore mark, still impressive given that it didn’t release in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The presence of Akshay Kumar wasn’t enough to convince people to watch a film on menstrual hygiene, with Pad Man only managing Rs 78 crore. In a reflection of our dwindling standards, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, a misogynistic bromance, and Baaghi 2, in which Tiger Shroff’s Rambo-inspired character drives around Kashmir with a human shield, were the only films to cross the coveted Rs 100 crore mark. Add to that the Hollywood blow of Avengers: Infinity War, which has become the second-highest grossing film this year—Rs 187.4 crore and growing.

This summer will be a testing period for Hindi films. And filmmakers and actors are making bold bets. Alia Bhatt spearheads a drama on her own in Raazi. The talented Kapoor dabbles in the biopic genre with Sanju. The combined girl power of Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor and Swara Bhaskar comes together for a film with no A-list heroes in Veere di Wedding. If the ambitious projects fail, there’s always Bhai aka Salman Khan doing what he does best: flexing his muscles and romancing a PYT in the action thriller Race 3 (releasing June 15). Here’s what to expect this summer.

I spy, I patriot