The Maverick's Mind-Space

MOST AWAITED MOVIES

The New Year is nearing and people say that no one knows what it holds in store for us. But I do. Among others, one thing I know about and expecting are some of the great movies that are going to be released in 2006.

Here is my list of the most awaited movies of 2006.

1. Lady in the water (English):

Written and directed by Manoj N. Shyamalan, this movie is being talked about in almost all the movie forums in the world. Arguments are going on about whether the movie would be a fairy-tale or a thriller, and whether it would have a twist or not. The trailer has raised the expectations. Still not interested? Read the plot outline below:

Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) has been quietly trying to disappear among the burned-out lightbulbs and broken appliances of the Cove apartment complex. But on the night that irrevocably changes his life, Cleveland finds someone else hiding in the mundane routine of the modest building – a mysterious young woman named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard), who has been living in the passageways beneath the building’s swimming pool.

Cleveland discovers that Story is actually a “narf” – a nymph-like character from an epic bedtime story who is being stalked by vicious creatures determined to prevent her from making the treacherous journey from our world back to hers. Story’s unique powers of perception reveal the fates of Cleveland’s fellow tenants, whose destinies are tied directly to her own, and they must work together to decipher a series of codes that will unlock the pathway to her freedom.

But the window of opportunity for Story to return home is closing rapidly, and the tenants are putting their own lives at great risk to help her. Cleveland will have to face the demons that have followed him to the Cove – and the other tenants must seize the special powers that Story has brought out in them – if they hope to succeed in their daring and dangerous quest to save her world...and ours.

2. Rang De Basanti (Hindi):

A star-studded cast (Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Kunnal Kapoor, Siddharth, Soha Ali Khan), awesome music (A R Rahman) and a really interesting plot. What else do you need to make a film so much anticipated? The songs are already topping the charts. They give a feel of what would happen in the movie. The story seems to be a cross between Yuva and Lakshya.

Plot outline: A young idealistic English filmmaker, Sue, arrives in India to make a film on Indian revolutionaries and their fight for freedom from the British Raj. Owing to a lack of funds, she recruits students from Delhi University to act in her docu-drama. She finds DJ (Aamir Khan), who passed out five years back but still wants to be a part of the University because he doesn't think there's too much out there in the real world to look forward to. Karan (Siddharth), the son of Industrialist Rajnath Singhania, who shares an uncomfortable relationship with his father, but continues to live off him, albeit very grudgingly. Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), is a middle class Muslim boy, who lives in the bylanes near Jama Masjid, poet, philosopher and guide to his friends. Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), the group's baby, innocent, vulnerable and with a weakness for only one thing - girls. Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni), the fundamentalist in the group, the only one who still believes that politics can make the world a better place and finally Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) - the sole girl in the group, tomboy and vivacious spirit, engaged to Ajay (Madhavan) - the dashing air pilot. Sue's film makes DJ and his friends stop and stare at themselves for being the actual descendants of these great men and never recognizing and celebrating their courage and spirit. 'Rang de Basanti' is a youthful drama, yet light hearted in the moments that the group shares amongst themselves... before some incidents effect a serious change...which ends in the climax.

3. V for Vendetta (English):

Written by the Wachowski brothers who made The Matrix Trilogy, this movie is being hyped as the most anticipated movie of the year 2006. Hugo Weaving, the baddy Agent Smith in The Matrix Trilogy is the hero V in this venture.

Plot outline: Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as "V." Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V ignites a revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V's mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself - and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

Some of the other movies which are being awaited for are:

The Making of a painter – M.F.Husain’s autobiographical venture

Shivaji, the Boss – The Union of two stalwarts, Rajini and ….A R Rahman

Sholay 2 – Ramgopal Varma’s daring attempt at remaking a blockbuster

Fannah – Aamir Khan plays the role of a terrorist

The Davinci Code – Dan Brown’s best selling story + Tom Hanks

Ice Age 2

Mission Impossible 3

Jurassic Park 4

-0-0-0-0-