Abhishek, Mrunal Thakur, Taapsee Pannu: Faces to watch out for in 2020

Taapsee Pannu
If you've loved Anubhav Sinha's Mulk, Article 15, surely you're looking forward to the fresh part of the director's socially conscious/relevant trilogy - Thappad, on women's issues, starring Taapsee Pannu, who hasn't looked back since Pink (2016). She follows this up as a Kutchi athlete in her second sports drama (after Soorma), Rashmi Rocket. But her Bollywood murder-mystery, Haseen Dillruba - directed by Vinil 'Hasee Toh Phasi' Mathew, written by Kanika Dhillon (Manmarziyaan, Judgementall Hai Kya) - has us most intrigued for a pop-corn pit-stop.

Avinash Tiwary
Everyone who's seen the films Laila Majnu (2018; written and produced by Imtiaz Ali), and the fine Mumbai-indie Tu Hai Mera Sunday (2016), has loved actor Avinash Tiwary. Except, few, if any, have seen those hugely under-rated films. Given Karan Johar picked Tiwary for his short film in Ghost Stories (2020), and he's the male lead in The Girl On The Train remake, co-starring Parineeti Chopra, the actor who made his TV debut opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Yudh (2014) might not remain so under-rated anymore.

Siddhant Chaturvedi
Zoya Akhtar's Ranveer Singh starrer Gully Boy singularly helped two things break into the mainstream. One, the Indian underground hip-hop/rap scene. Two, that gem of an actor, Siddhant Chaturvedi, as MC Sher. Coming up for this super talented, new kid on the block: Lead roles in Kapoor & Sons' director Shakun Batra's relationship drama, alongside Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday; and Yash Raj's Bunty Aur Babli 2, no less. Iska time aa gaya.

Abhishek Bachchan
If you consider Anurag Kashyap's Manmarziyaan (2018) as Abhishek Bachchan's return to a film set after almost a four-year gap, you know he means business. Or, rather, creative satisfaction - by way of script selection. Bachchan Jr makes his web debut with Amazon Prime's sequel of Breathe, appears as Bob Biswas in Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani spin-off, produced by Shah Rukh Khan. Not to forget stock 'marketeer' Harshad Mehta's biopic The Big Bull, given Guru (2007) on Bombay's real 'big bull' Dhirubhai Ambani, remains his best work yet. There's also Anurag Basu's Ludo in the works. What else to add? The dad, of course. Dying to watch Amitabh Bachchan starrers, Shoojit Sircar's Gulabo Sitabo, and Nagraj 'Sairat' Manjule's Jhund, in 2020. But then again, Bachchan Sr has been the face to watch out for, every year, since 1969!

Trio to trust: Ayushmann, Vicky, Rajkummar
Bollywood's current superstar-trio hasn't disappointed with how they've scripted their careers. In particular, Ayushmann Khurrana, who continued his dream run in 2019, with Article 15, Bala, and Dream Girl. Vicky Kaushal broke box-office records with Uri: The Surgical Strike. But the one who has our attention first for 2020 is Rajkummar Rao, given that he stars in the Netflix adaptation of Arvind Adiga's incredible book The White Tiger, being directed by the American-Iranian indie-champ, and Adiga's friend, Ramin Bahrani. There's the horror-comedy, Roohi Afza; Hansal Mehta's Chhalaang; Anurag Basu's Ludo, besides director Suresh Triveni's comedy Dil Se Miley. Khurrana's got Shoojit Sircar's Gulabo Sitabo, and Hitesh Kewalya's Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. Kaushal will hopefully crack it with the horror fest Bhoot: The Haunted Ship, and Shoojit Sircar's Udham Singh biopic. Just observe the range. It already looks like a great year.

Deadly debuts: Tanya Maniktala, Sharvari
Female lead, sharing screen with Tabu, in a web-series directed by Mira Nair, based on Vikram Seth's critically acclaimed tome A Suitable Boy, is the sort of mainstream debut dreams are made of - that's what 2020 looks like for young Tanya Maniktala (bottom). As for Sharvari (top), Yash Raj has her onboard Bunty Aur Babli 2; and Kabir Khan has cast her in Amazon Prime's multi-crore flagship show, the Indian National Army saga, The Forgotten Army. We haven't quite seen both younglings on screen yet. That we'll catch their works now is a given. Wishing them the best, of course.

Mrunal Thakur
For an actor who's been around for some time (mainly doing soaps between 2012 and 2016, making her film debut with the international production, Love You Sonia), Mrunal Thakur really hit Bollywood's big league, with two back-to-back hits, starring opposite Hrithik Roshan (Super 30), and John Abraham (Batla House). Her career having caught momentum, watch out for her full-slate ahead: Umesh Shukla's situational comedy, Namune, Hindi remake of Telugu blockbuster Jersey, starring Shahid Kapoor, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's boxing drama, Toofan, with Farhan Akhtar, and two Netflix productions - the prequel of Baahubali (Before The Beginning) and Karan Johar's segment in Ghost Stories. Quite a bagful.

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