Eros to add muscle with 35 movie releases in 2008

MUMBAI: Eros International plans to have an unprecedented line-up of 35 releases in 2008, indicating that it wants to scale up to dominate the Indian movie market.

Eros says it will be highly focused on its blockbuster releases this year which include the Eros International-Rose Movies co-production Drona, to be released over the Indian Independence Day weekend. Directed by Goldie Behl, the film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Jaya Bachchan and KK Menon.

Eros will this year release Sujoy Ghosh‘s Aladin, the evergreen Arabian nights story in a new Bollywood format with a high level of visual effects.

Eros will also release Toonpur ka Super Hero, an animation film with live characters. Starring the husband-wife duo Ajay Devgan and Kajol, Toonpur is a story in which a reel life hero accidentally lands in the world of cartoons and transforms into a real life hero.

Other films slated for release this year include You, Me Aur Hum marking the directorial debut of leading actor Ajay Devgan; the Diwali weekend bonanza Yuvraj, a musical film directed by Subhash Ghai starring Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, and Eros International-Sajid Nadiadwala co-production Kambakht Ishq directed by Saabir Khan with Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in the lead roles.

In addition, romantic comedy God Tussi Great Ho starring Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan and Sohail Khan is slated for release this year. Also scheduled to release is the Ganesh Acharya directed comedy Money Hai Toh Honey Hai with Govinda, Aftab Shivdasani, Celina Jaitley and Hansika Motwani in the lead roles.

Eros will release Ravi Chopra‘s Bhootnath, the Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla starrer with a special appearance by Shah Rukh Khan internationally this year.

Other films in the pipeline for global release in 2008 include Ram Gopal Varma‘s Sarkar Raaj and Rakesh Roshan‘s comedy Krazzy 4. Directed by Jaideep Sen, the film stars Juhi Chawla, with leading character actors Irfan Khan, Arshad Warsi, Rajpal Yadav and Suresh Menon as the gang of crazy four.

Other releases during the year include Mehbooba (a romantic comedy by Afzal Khan and starring Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan and Manisha Koirala), Haal-e-dil (a young love story directed by Anil Devgan and starring newcomers - Producer Kumar Mangat‘s daughter Amita Pathak and actor Shekhar Suman‘s son Adhyayan Suman), Had Bahedi (with Rishi Kapoor), The Great Indian Butterfly (Sarthak Dasgupta), Pankh (an unusual story starring Bipasha Basu and Mahesh Manjrekar), Hijack (by Kunal Shivdasani starring Shiney Ahuja and Esha Deol) and Mr. White Mr. Black (a comic suspense thriller starring Suniel Shetty and Arshad Warsi).

Eros International has recently released Bombay to Bangkok, Sunday and Black and White directed by Subhash Ghai this year.

In the regional cinema space, Tamil media and entertainment company Ayngaran International, an Eros International company, has at least 15 films lined up for release this year. Films by directors like Prabhu Deva, Raju Sundaram, Jhananthan, Vishnu Vardhan, Selva Raghavan and other few filmmakers will be part of the Eros-Ayngaran bouquet.

The Eros International-Ayngaran slate includes Aegan by Raju Sundaram starring south superstars Ajith and Nayanthara, a yet untitled project by Prabhu Deva as a director with Vijay and Nayantara in the leads, Peraanmai by Jhananathan having Jeyam Ravi as the lead star, Sarvam by Vishnu Vardhan and Arya along with Trisha in the lead roles, two untitled projects by Selva Raghavan and a host of other films.

The international line-up of Tamil films include Kuruvi by Dharani starring Vijay and Trisha, Jeeva and Aneez, Dhaam Dhoom with Jeyam Ravi and Kangana Ranaut in the lead, Varanam Ayiram by Gautam Menon and starring Surya with Sameera, Kanthaswamy with Vikram and Shriya, the Surya and Tamanna starrer Ayan.