Bollywood's bent on making history!

MUMBAI: Okay everybody, hold your horses, History is all set to repeat itself. The Marathas will once again strike fear into the hearts of the British with war cries of Har Har Mahadev; the Hindu Peshwa Bajirao will once again woo his Muslim love, the brave and beautiful Bajirao Mastani; Mangal Pandey rises again to avenge his Indian brethren against the British; and Shah Jahan will painstakingly build the immortal tribute Taj Mahal for his departed Mumtaz Mahal; Prince Salim and Anarkali will play out their destiny once more; and war guns will boom again during the Kargil war.What's more, no less than five cinematic incarnations of Bhagat Singh recently trod all across the silver screen. Before you think we've invented a time machine that enables us to potter all over the past, present and future, here's enlightenment: We're talking about Indian films that will be made in roughly the next one year. And of the five films on the legendary valour of Bhagat Singh and his patriotic cronies, that released and bombed at the box-office. In spite of the sorry fate of these films, the Hindi film industry is adamant that History is where the moolah is. Statistics be damned. So we have a hoard of filmmakers making a beeline for their dust-gathering history books. And here are the first few who've already set the ball rolling. Vivek Oberoi has recently signed Roland Joffe's The Invaders which relates the tale of the first British defeat at the hands of Mahadji Shinde (Vivek plays a brave warrior, Udaji) in the year 1779. Incidentally, the producer Ajey Jhankar of Neelmudra Entertainment Ltd, will spend a mind boggling (by Indian standards) 40 million dollars to re-enact this proud story. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whose Devdas is India's official entry to the Oscars, is reportedly toying with the idea of bringing to life Peshwa Bajirao's love lore with Bajirao Mastani in all its stately beauty. That, after excelling himself in remaking that unfading account of undying love, Devdas. Although the filmmaker himself has denied that he has made up his mind about his next story as yet, no one can deny the appeal of yet another touching folk lore! Akbar Khan is currently labouring to make a Rs 50 crore film on the history of the Taj Mahal. The film stars Kabir Bedi as Shah Jahan, Arbaaz Khan as Aurangzeb, his son, and Arbaaz Ali as Jehangir (Shah Jahan's father). Not to forget, Manisha Koirala plays Princess Jahan Ara (Shah Jahan's daughter) and Pooja Batra plays Shah Jahan's mother, Noorjahan. The film has been in the making for some time now, and it is anybody's guess whether it will create history at the box-office. (Now wonder where all that money is being spent, considering there aren't any big actors? Making another real life Taj Mahal?) Aqeela Productions is making Anarkali where Sonu Nigam will play Prince Salim to Akansha's Anarkali. Kiron Kher has been roped in as Maharani Jodhabai and Amrish Puri will be Emperor Akbar. Nice bit of casting, you say? You bet, one can almost imagine the stern Amrish Puri in the emperor's clothes! Talking about more recent History, J.P.Dutta's latest film LoC is based on the Kargil war and he's roped in a cast that looks like a veritable Who's Who of the Hindi film industry. Abhishek Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Nagarjuna, Saif Ali Khan, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, Manoj Bajpai... whew! And so on. Not to mention the line up of top actresses to lend the romantic angle to a blood and gore film. Raveena Tandon, who's testing the waters as a producer with Stumped, has also joined the bandwagon. Apparently, her film has the Kargil War as its background and is set during the last World Cup. How's that for timing? The most talked about film, however, will be Ketan Mehta's film on Mangal Pandey which stars the inimitable Aamir Khan. Not because of the late patriot's appeal, but because of the man portraying him on screen. Aamir Khan has excelled at every role that he has played in the last few years and all eyes are now on his next film. With Lagaan making it to the Oscar nominations, you can bet the country is once again hoping the cinematic master will finally bag the trophy this time. With Indian cinema hell bent on going back in time, it's high time we brushed up on our past too. History, any body?