GanguBai kathiawadi (Hindi)
Director: Sanjay leela Bhansali

The latest film from the maker of Bollywood blockbusters marks a a significant change of pace. GangubaiKathiawadi stars Alia Bhatt as a woman who lives life on her own terms. The role spans several decades – the protagonist goes from being the 17-year-old Ganga, a girl from Kathiawad, Gujarat, to become the matriarch of Mumbai’s red-light district and a key figure in the city’s underworld.

Illiralare Allige Hogalare (kannada)
(Confined hither… Can’t go thither)
Director: Girish Kasaravalli

Girish Kasaravalli’s first feature since Koormavatara (2011) is an adaptation of a short story by Kannada writer Jayant Kaikini. The story, written in the early 1990s, revolves around an 11-year-old village boy who is employed by a family in Mumbai to look after their child. The celebrated auteur’s 15th feature probes the rural-urban divide, the dynamics of class and the dilemmas of childhood.

Laal Singh Chaddha (Hindi)
Director: Advait Chandan

Aamir Khan plays the titular role in Laal Singh Chaddha, an official remake of the Tom Hanks hit of a quarter century ago, Forrest Gump. The original screenplay has been reworked for Indian audiences by stage and film actor Atul Kulkarni. The film is helmed by Advait Chandan, who made his debut with Secret Superstar, produced by Aamir. Laal Singh Chaddha, which has Kareena Kapoor and Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi in key roles, follows important events in India’s contemporary history from the standpoint of the simple-minded protagonist.

Chuzhali (Malayalam)
Director: Lijo Jose Pellissery

Even as his Jallikattu premiered in the Toronto International Film Festival in September, Lijo Jose Pellissery, one of Kerala’s most exciting contemporary filmmakers, was shooting his next. The cast of the new film, titled Chuzhali, includes Joju George, Chemban Vinod Jose, Vinay Forrt and DileeshPothan. By the time the crime thriller is ready to travel, the prolific director will probably be in the midst of Disco, to be filmed in Las Vegas.

Aquarium (Bengali)
Director: Aditya Vikram Sengupta

Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s third feature film is an Indo-French-Norwegian co-production shot by Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s cinematographer GokhanTiryaki. The director of Labour of Love and Jonaki has cast Bengali actors Sujan Mukhopadhyay, Sreelekha Mitra and BratyaBasu in the new film. Aquarium hinges on between a temperamentally mismatched married couple whose relationship unravels against the backdrop of a major financial scam that
shook Bengal recently.

Chhalaang (Hindi)
Director: Hansal Mehta

Director Hansal Mehta and actor Rajkummar Rao team up for the fifth time for this social drama about a physical training (PT) teacher in a small school in Haryana who learns the hard way to take his job seriously. Chhalaang, co-produced by Bollywood star Ajay Devgn, is in a markedly lighter zone than the intense films that the director-actor duo has delivered so far – Shahid, City Lights, Aligarh and Omerta.

Kayattam (Malayalam)
Director: Sanal kumar Sasidharan

The first production venture of actress Manju Warrier, Kayattam, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s sixth feature,has been wrapped up after an eventful shoot in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh. The crew of the film, including the director and the actress-producer, were stranded for several days in a remote location due to heavy rain and snowfall. A special rescue operation had to be mounted to get them out of there.Sasidharan’s previous film, Chola, was in the Orrizonti competition in Venice last year.

Angrezi Medium (Hindi)
Director: Homi Adajania

A follow-up to the 2017 social comedy Hindi Medium, Angrezi Medium, directed by Homi Adajania (Being Cyrus, Finding Fanny), features Irrfan Khan in the lead role. The cast of the film includes Kareena Kapoor Khan, Radhika Madan (Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota) and Dimple Kapadia. Scheduled for release in the third week of March, Angrezi Medium is one of the year’s most anticipated films because it is Irrfan’s first outing after his hospitalization.