Fast Forward 2018 - Salman, Aamir, Shah Rukh, Akshay, Ajay, Hrithik, Varun Book The Holiday Calendar With 12 Releases

Holiday season is always quite lucrative for Bollywood, especially when big ticket films arrive with top superstars. 2018 is no different, what with almost all major holidays already been booked by some major biggies. Let's take a look.

Lohri (13th January) - Mukkabaaz, 1921, Kaalakandi (all release on 12th January)

This weekend could well have seen some major films releasing, given the fact that Tiger Zinda Hai would already have completed three weeks and PadMan/Aiyaari were still two weeks away. Still, surprisingly not many superstars chose this Friday. Nonetheless, it has given space to some really interesting films to arrive instead, what with Mukkabaaz, 1921 and Kaalakandi making it a three-way clash at the Box Office.

Republic Day (26th January) - PadMan, Aiyaary

Last year this weekend saw the massive clash of Raees and Kaabil . This year it is time for Brothers 'jodi' of Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra to find themselves on the opposite sides of the fence with PadMan and Aiyaary hitting the screens. Both films are quite different from each other. Former is a social drama with hygiene as the central element whereas latter is a spy thriller from the house of Neeraj Pandey.

Holi (2nd March) - Drive, Hate Story 4

Karan Johar seems to have picked this slot well. Last year he struck gold with Badrinath Ki Dulhania which brought audiences into theaters on this festive occasion. This year he is bringing Sushant Singh Rajput and Jacqueline Fernandez's Drive, an adrenalin pumping action thriller. On the other hand there is a surprise in store in the form of Hate Story 4 which is an erotic drama with Urvashi Rautela as the femme fatale.

Good Friday (30th March) - Sanjay Dutt 's biopic and Blackmail

One of the biggest releases of the first quarter of 2018 is set to be Rajkumar Hirani 's next, the Sanjay Dutt biopic. Though one still waits to hear about the title of the film, intrigue is already building around the Ranbir Kapoor starrer. Meanwhile, there is another film releasing alongside by the name of Blackmail. After Hindi Medium , Irrfan Khan would be back again and this time he has Kirti Kulhari for company.

Vaisakhi (13th April) - October

Traditionally, Vaisakhi hasn't really seen any major biggies hitting the screen. However, this could well turn out to be a much sought after date as in 2018 Varun Dhawan would be bringing his October on this festive occasion. Directed by Shoojit Sircar , this one is a musical romantic tale with an edgy feel to it. Given the kind of popularity that Varun enjoys amongst youth and family audience, the timing is right as well.

Eid (15th June) - Race 3 and Fanne Khan

Eid and Salman Khan are synonymous of each other, it is as simple as that. The superstar has admitted that bringing Tubelight on this festive occasion was a catastrophe. However, rest assured he would strike in a major way with Race 3. He would be seeing competition in the form of Fanne Khan though which has Aishwarya Rai Bachchan coming up with Anil Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao . It is going to be a massive Eid!

Independence Day (15th August) - Gold

Akshay Kumar has already blocked plans for Gold to arrive on the Independence Day. This is well much in continuation to the supremacy that he enjoys on the national holiday, as seen in Toilet - Ek Prem Katha and before that Rustom as well. This time around he would be bringing to fore yet another patriotic tale and that too with a sports backdrop. The fact that it is set in a period era makes it even more interesting.

Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October) - Sui Dhaaga – Made In India (releases on 28th September), Vishal Bhardwaj’s film with Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan (planned for 2nd October)

Since Gandhi Jayanti falls right in the middle of the week, there are two films vying for attention. First to arrive would be Sui Dhaaga - Made In India, a Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma starrer, which releases on the Friday before that. However, as for the Tuesday holiday of Gandhi Jayanti, talks are on that Vishal Bhardwaj's yet-untitled next with Deepika and Irrfan could well arrive on this major national holiday.

Dussehra (19th October) - Ajay Devgn and Luv Ranjan's rom-com

Yet another untitled film of the year is the one where Ajay Devgn gets into a romcom avatar for director Luv Ranjan. The date chosen is right too with festivities kick-starting for Dusshehra. So far, there is no competition yet for this date and hence Ajay has the ground wide open to make merry. However, as the year progresses, it won't be surprising if there is some re-juggling in the arrival dates for other films.

Diwali (7th November) - Thugs of Hindostan

Many moons ago, Yash Raj Films and Aamir Khan booked plans for Thugs of Hindostan. Though intermittently there were talks that Ajay Devgn could well be bringing his Indra Kumar starrer Total Dhamaal on this date, none of that is happening and the Aamir Khan film is seeing a clean run. One can well assume that quite a few records would be broken and history would be rewritten once the film hits the screens.

Guru Nanak Jayanti (23rd November) - Super 30

Hrithik Roshan arrived on the big screen quite a while ago when his Kaabil released on the Republic Day weekend. Now he would be seeing next, Super 30, arrives in theaters on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti. The festive day hasn't really been much in demand for the Bollywood folks as yet but the release of Super 30 could well change that for years to come.

Christmas (25th December) - SRK-Aanand L. Rai's next and (tentatively) Kedarnath (release on 21st December)

Inarguably the biggest holiday of the year, as evidenced in records that are set time and again, 25th December is arriving in the middle of the week. Hence, the new releases are arriving a Friday earlier or later. The one to take the lead is Shah Rukh Khan and Aanand L. Rai next film which features former in a double role. While the film would indeed open huge, one waits to see if Kedarnath continued to stick to this date.