Now, Bollywood turns khaki

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" ms="" sans="" serif="" font-size:="">MUMBAI: </span>If 2002 was filled with heists and robbers calling the shots (<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Aankhen, Kaante</span>) in Bollywood, the New Year may well be dedicated to the men in khaki. <br />If last year saw an entire industry of Bhagat Singh films, this might just be the year of the cop as Bollywood readies with a spate of releases on the life and times of the police force.<br />Rolling first is the E Niwas directed <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dum,</span> which portrays wonder kid Vivek Oberoi as an aspiring cop whose dream of serving his country is accompanied by fierce determination and drive. Madhur Bhandarkar’s technique and Feroz Nadiadwala’s guts will be at stake with the biggie <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Aan</span> (previously titled <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Police Force</span>), starring Shatrughan Sinha, Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Suniel Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Preeti Jhaingiani and Paresh Rawal. If trade buzz is to be believed, this slick movie is supposed to be partially inspired by Brian de Palma’s Oscar-winning film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The Untouchables</span>.<br />The other super cop biggie is Raj Kumar Santoshi’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Khaki</span> with a star cast comprising of Amitabh Bachchan, Akshaye Khanna, Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai. The khaki bug has also bitten Prakash Jha, who is offering a film called <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Ganga Jal</span> which attempts a compassionate look at the police force. Based on the Bhagalpur blindings (in the early 1980s) episode, Ajay Devgan dons the cop’s uniform and ultimately gets sucked into a crisis. Govind Nihalani will portray his version of the cop story in Dev that stars stalwarts like Amitabh Bachchan, OmPuri with Kareena Kapoor. <br />Big B’s son will also go the daddy way in debutant Rohit Shetty’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Zameen</span> with Devgan and Bipasha Basu. Lest you think the Khans don’t love the cops, Salman and (hello) brother Arbaaz have been signed by Cinevista Productions for their patriotism inspired film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Sanghaar - the Destroyer</span>. Last but not the least, Anil Kapoor will play a cop with a difference in Anurag Kashyap’s second feature film. Cop out!</div> </div>