It's Raining Sequels in Bollywood

It seems like the sequel fever has hit Bollywood. Or it may well be that Bollywood lacks original talent and rehashing a winning formula is a safe bet. Whatever be the reason, repeats and rehashes are well on their way.

Here's a list of films that will go the sequel-way:

No Entry: The 2005 hit with loads of nonsense packed in from the Boney Kapoor camp is well on its way for a remake. The original cast remains: Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan and Fardeen Khan. Currently, the script is being written.

Krissh: The film, in any way, was a continuation of Hrithik Roshan starrer Koi Mil Gaya. Looks like papa Rakesh Roshan is working on Krissh 3 with the original cast of Hrithik and Priyanka Chopra in mind.

Don: The Chase Begins: A remake of the original Amitabh Bachchan starrer went on to be a hit with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. Looks like director Farhan Akhtar has already shot parts of the sequel with the original cast of SRK and Priyanka Chopra. The new film will be called Don 3: The Chase Continues and will see Kunal Kapoor as a new entrant.

Golmaal 3: The original was an Amol Palekar - Utpal Dutt and a cult classic. Director Rohit Shetty took the same and misplaced identity theme and churned around his own tale. Golmaal 3 we saw the third in this series last year. Expect the fourth this year. The original cast of the first part returns this time.

Dabangg: The Salman Khan smash hit will return to the screens again with the core team of Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and Sonu Sood reappearing.

Race: The 2008 will be seen again with the sequel being called Race 2. From the original Anil Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan will remain. But instead of Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar we will see John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Sonakshi Sinha.

Housefull: The multi starrer Sajid Khan film that hit the jackpot last year is all set to make a re-entry and will in all possibility go on the floors in June. Sajjid is currently scripting the tale. Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh and John Abraham will star in the sequel.

Once Upon a Time in Mumbai: Another hit last year and based on the life of don Haji Mastan will return again but this time telling the tale of Dawood Ibrahim. It'll be called Once Upon a Time in Dubai. Akshay Kumar may star in it.

Yamla Pagla Deewana: Old boy Dharmendra is all set to rock again alongwith his sons as the comic caper is all set to re-made again.

Dostana: This 'gay love story' will see a re-make also. But this around Priyanka will be replaced with Katrina Kaif while Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham stay.

Comedies in Bollywood

Comedies find a special place in the Hindi film industry and the genre has been popular with moviegoers for decades. When you watch a comedy movie, you leave all your troubles behind and laugh to your heart's content. It is a three-hour stress-busting experience with youngsters, middle-aged and older audience all thronging to cinema halls to watch the latest Bollywood rib-ticklers. Three of the top ten grossing films of 2009- 'De Dhana Dhan', 'Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani', 'All the Best: Fun Begins' were comedies. The latest Bollywood movies to hit the theatres in 2010, 'Housefull' and 'Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai' were comedies and given a thumbs up by the audience.

New Hindi movies, of late, are experimenting with different comedic genres. Comedies are divided into different types or genres such as black comedy, physical comedy, deadpan comedy, spoof and blue comedy. One example of a recent black comedy is Zoya Akhtar's 'Luck by Chance', starring Farhan Akhtar. It recounts the story of an aspiring actor and his struggles to make it big in Bollywood. Another example is the Abhay Deol starrer 'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!' which received critical acclaim. Another cult-hit of the black comedy genre is 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron' with Om Puri and Satish Shah in lead roles.

Films like 'Dostana' and Ritesh Deshmukh-starrer 'Masti' belong to the blue comedy genre with double meanings/double entendres and innuendos. Comedies such as these made references to homosexuality and gay culture, which were met with applause as well as criticism. Those applauding say that it is high time that Indians stop being conservative and learn to become comfortable with the concept of homosexuality. Critics say the gay community has been portrayed in an insulting way in Bollywood comedies, doing more damage than good.

From legendary movies such as 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi', 'Padosan' and 'Angoor' to slapstick comedy 'Andaaz Apna Apna' and others such as 'Hera Pheri', comedy movies will always remain popular with the Indian audience.

Twittering Bollywood Celebrities

Bollywood had been bitten by the twitter bug. Celebs have taken to tweeting in a big way, finding time to connect with fans between their hectic shooting schedules. And the fans are also responding enthusiastically to their screen idols with some big Bollywood names boasting thousands of loyal followers. With most phones applications allowing people to tweet on the go, there is no doubt that movie fans like Bollywood mobile these days.

The basic objective behind Bollywood tweeting, as one would imagine, is to stay on moviegoers' radar and try to be as visible as possible. Actors and actresses promote their latest movies, announce opening of new restaurants, clothing lines, fitness centres on twitter. Tweeting is not limited to only promotions, with stars commenting on social issues, expression their political views and even sharing personal experiences with their fans. There's Priyanka Chopra who actually gives advice to her fans to recuperating Lisa Ray who tweeted about her fight with melanoma and successful recovery. The recent Mangalore airport plane crash had Amitabh Bachachan expressing his grief on the microblogging site.

Tweeting is not limited to young Bollywood. Veteran actor Shammi Kappor is a big fan of twitter and can be seeing tweeting very often. He was most recently in the news for asking starlet Deepika Padukone (also on twitter) out on a date on twitter. The latest celebrity to join the twitter bandwagon is Amitabh Bachchan himself who has managed to garner a whopping 39,000 followers after just three days of joining the site. Ditto Salman Khan who currently has about 148,489 followers and King Khan (Shahrukh) with a neat 394,736 followers.

They say that 'all publicity is good publicity' in show business. In this celebrity-crazy world, the concept of mobile Bollywood thanks to twitter has become popular way for movie fans and celebrities to reach out to each other.