Rudra Productions / Excel Entertainment
If you're only looking to Hollywood to churn out must-see hits this year, then you're not doing the movies right. Bollywood is where it's at. This has been true for years, but 2019 is shaping up to be an especially amazing year in Indian cinema. Here are 15 of the best and most-anticipated Bollywood movies coming out in the next year, from hilarious comedies to heart-wrenching dramas and everything in between.
1
'The Accidental Prime Minister'
Release date: January 11
Starring: Anupam Kher, Akshaye Khanna, Suzanne Bernert, and Aahana Kumra
The Accidental Prime Minister is based on Sanjaya Baru's 2014 memoir of the same name about the time he served as an advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the early aughts.
2
'Uri: The Surgical Strike'
Release date: January 11
Starring: Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam, Paresh Rawal, Mohit Raina, and Kirti Kulhari
This movie tells the real story of the retaliation to the 2016 Uri attack, focusing on Major Vihaan Singh Shergill of the Indian Army.
3
'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi'
Release date: January 25
Starring: Kangana Ranaut, Atul Kulkarni, and Jisshu Sengupta
This film tells the real life story of the warrior queen, Manikarnika, the first woman in history to fight against the British. The 22-year-old queen was one of the leaders of the Indian rebellion in the late 1850s, evening dressed as a man to fight in battle. Bad. Ass.
4
'Thackeray'
Release date: January 25
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Amrita Rao
Thackeray is a biopic that tells the life story of Indian politician Balasaheb Thackeray.
5
'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga'
Release date: February 1
Starring: Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Abhishek Duhan, and Regina Cassandra
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga has everything you need in a movie. Romance? Check. Comedy? Check. Touching coming-of-age story? Check, check, check.
6
'Gully Boy'
Release date: February 14
Starring: Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt
Gully Boy is another film that's based in fact, specifically on the life of Divine and Naezy, underground rappers from Mumbai.
7
'Total Dhamaal'
Release date: February 22
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Javed Jaffrey, Anil Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Mishra, and Johnny Lever
This hilarious movie is a broad, slapstick comedy loosely inspired by 1963's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (which also inspired 2001's Rat Race).
8
'Badla'
Release date: March 8
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Akash Puri, and Ali Fazal
Hollywood isn't the only film capital in the remake business. Badla is a reboot of the 2016 Spanish thriller film Contratiempo, about a man arrested for murdering his married lover.
9
'Mental Hai Kya'
Release date: March 29
Starring: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Shaheer Sheikh, Amyra Dastur, Jimmy Shergill, and Satish Kaushik
When it comes to hitting every note possible in a movie, Mental Hai Kya is about as close as you can get. It's described as an "adult black comedy crime thriller." We're in.
10
'Kalank'
Release date: April 19
Starring: Madhuri Dixit, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt, Hiten Tejwani, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Kunal Khemu, and Sanjay Dutt
Not much is known about this hotly anticipated film that has been in the works for 15 years, but has been kept quite secret. However, its star Sanjay Dutt has said, “it's an emotional film about two families. Basically, it's more of a drama. It's more about values and characters and it's an interesting film.”
11
'Student Of The Year 2'
Release date: May 10
Starring: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, and Ananya Panday
This sequel to 2012's mega hit Student of the Year, which launched the careers of Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Sidharth Malhotra, and Varun Dhawan, apparently includes a cameo from...Will Smith? There's not yet a trailer for this flick, but please enjoy the trailer for the original, above, and get excited!
12
'Bharat'
Release date: June 5
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Tabu, Disha Patani, and Sunil Grover
The movie has mostly made headlines thanks to almost-star Priyanka Chopra, who left the project in 2018 and was replaced by Katrina Kaif. There was speculation at the time that Priyanka's decision to leave the film had something to do with her romance with Nick Jonas, so, you know ~drama~.
13
'Kabir Singh'
Release date: June 21.
Starring: Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani
Kabir Singh is a remake of the south Indian movie Arjun Reddy, and follows an alcoholic, anger-prone surgeon who goes down a dark path when his ex marries someone else.
14
'The Zoya Factor'
Release date: September 20
Starring: Sonam Kapoor and Dulquer Salmaan
This rom-com tells the story of a Rajput girl, Zoya Solanki, who works as an advertising executive (a classic rom-com job) and finds herself becoming the lucky charm for the Indian Cricket team during the 2010 Cricket World Cup. Yes, one of the cricket players falls for her. Obviously.
15
'Brahmastra'
Release date: December 20
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Divyendu Sharma, Alia Bhatt, Dimple Kapadia, Vikram Gokhale, Dhruv Sehgal, Priyal Gor, Nagarjuna Akkineni, and Mouni Roy
This fantasy film is set to be the first in a trilogy and is sure to be positively epic.
