For the first time in many years, Bollywood will witness some big ticket releases with huge star-power all in the month of January, generally considered a 'jinx' for the industry.
From megastar Amitabh Bachchan, action hero Sunny Deol, superstar Akshay Kumar to filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, all are set to release their films in the first month of 2016, leading to many clashes at the box office.
The year will begin with "Wazir", starring Bachchan and actor Farhan Akhtar. The high voltage drama-thriller is produced by filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra and helmed by "Shaitan" director Bejoy Nambiar.
"Wazir" will clash with the social-drama "Chauranga", produced by Onir and starring actor Sanjay Suri, Tannishtha Chatterjee among others.
It will be followed by "Ghayal Once Again", releasing on January 15, which has been directed, written and produced by Deol. It is the sequel to the 1990 super-hit action drama "Ghayal" and will mark the comeback of Deol who starred in the iconic role of amateur boxer Ajay Mehra.
The date will also mark the return of actress Juhi Chawla, who will make a come back after two years with "Chalk n Duster". The film, which brings life of two teachers, also stars veteran actress Shaban Azmi, Zarina Wahab and Divya Dutta.
The Friday post these two films will witness another clash at the box office with Akshay's "Airlift" and the adult comedy "Kyaa Kool Hai Hum 3", releasing on January 22.
Based on the evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait during the Iraq-Kuwait war, "Airlift" marks Akshay's second consecutive release in January after his last year's espionage-drama "Baby", while "Kyaa Kool Hai Hum 3" is the third instalment in the hugely popular adult-comedy series "Kyaa Kool Hai Hum".
It stars actors Tusshar Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani among others.
The last Friday of the month will end with yet another
adult-comedy clashing with a big-star film. Sunny Leone starrer "Madtizaade" and R Madhavan's "Saala Khadoos" will release on January 29.
Produced by Rajkumar Hirani, "Saala Khadoos" is a bilingual sports drama film helmed by debutant Sudha Kongara. The film features Madhavan as a hard task-master boxing coach and also stars boxer Ritika Singh.
"Mastizaade" stars Leone in a double role and also features actor Tusshar Kapoor and Vir Das.
The year 2015 saw many releases in January too, from Arjun Kapoor's "Tevar", Bipasha Basu's "Alone" to Ayushmann Khurrana's "Hawaizaada". But it was only "Baby" which was successful.
In the past, few films have worked at the box office during January which is considered a lull period as viewers are still in the holiday mood.
In January 2014, it was only superstar Salman Khan's "Jai Ho" that worked decently at the box office and was the solo big release.
While in 2013 it was "Race 2" which was successful among other releases like "Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola", "Inkaar" and "Akaash Vani".
With January, 2016 offering an attractive line up of films for the audiences, it will be interesting to see if the star-studded month can finally break the jinx and deliver good at the box office.
