The decision taken by Anushka as well as Katrina does make sense as they both have been at the top of their game and deserve to feature in a film where they truly have an exciting part to play.
Joginder Tuteja
These are the leading ladies who have been in the business of more than 10 years each. Some of them have been around for a longer period. While the name of each of these superstar heroines spells success, they have been quite cautious when it comes to signing their next flick.
We are talking about Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif were last seen together in Zero. While Anushka was the leading lady, Katrina played a supporting part. The film emerged as a major disaster at the Box Office.
Anushka has even floated her production house and had made Phillauri last, in which she acted as well. However, there has been no new announcement from her, either for her own company or with a different producer.
On the other hand, Katrina Kaif was supposed to be a part of Varun Dhawan's next, Street Dancer 3. However, she backed out of the film and is currently hunting for a better script.
The decision taken by Anushka as well as Katrina does make sense as they both have been at the top of their game and deserve to feature in a film where they truly have an exciting part to play. Anushka did feature in the Rs 300 crore club success Sanju but she basically had a supporting part to play in the Rajkumar Hiani film. On the other hand, Katrina Kaif suffered two back to back disappointments as before Zero, her fans were left disappointed by her two songs and four scenes part in Thugs of Hindostan.
While one waits to see what do Anushka and Katrina pick up next, other leading ladies too are choosing their parts very carefully.
After leading the show in the Rs 300 crore club success Padmaavat, Deepika Padukone spent good part of 2018 in planning for her wedding with Ranveer Singh. A wise decision since once-in-a-lifetime event like this did deserve all her attention, especially when she is the numero uno female superstar in Bollywood currently.
She has signed just one film, Chhapaak, which has Meghna Gulzar as the director. Playing the part of an acid attack survivor, it is meant to be a performance oriented affair for her. As for her going the massy route, there are strong indications that she would be heading for Hollywood soon to begin shooting for Vin Diesel's xXx 4.
There was a point in time though when her name was announced for Vishal Bhardwaj's gangster flick Sapna Didi but now the project has been shelved.
Meanwhile, Kareena Kapoor Khan is continuing to call the shots in Bollywood as after delivering a superhit in Veere Di Wedding, she is now gearing up for her next, Good News. She is reuniting with her Kambakkth Ishq leading man Akshay Kumar after 10 years and one expects the Karan Johar production to be a fun affair. This is the only movie though that she has signed.
Same holds true for Priyanka Chopra Jonas, whose last Indian release was Jai Gangaajal (2016). Though she has done a few Hollywood films [Baywatch, Isn't It Romantic] and a TV series [Quantico] in the interim period, when it comes to her Indian connect she has signed only one film, The Sky Is Pink. The title of this Shonali Bose directed film suggests that this could well be an English film for the niche audiences.
One waits to see though which is the next hardcore commercial entertainer that Priyanka Chopra signs. Given the fact that she stays on to be pretty much in demand in the Bollywood circles, one hopes to see her in an out and out mainstream Bollywood flick as well.
Interestingly, apart from Katrina Kaif, rest all leading ladies [Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Priyanka Chopra Jonas] are married. The stocks still stay on to be high though for each one of them and one hopes that it is just a matter of time before newer announcements are made about their upcoming Bollywood films.
Leading Bollywood heroines and their upcoming films:
Deepika Padukone - Chhapaak, xXx 4 (tentative)
Anushka Sharma - To be announced
Katrina Kaif - To be announced
Kareena Kapoor Khan - Good News
Priyanka Chopra - The Sky Is Pink
(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. He loves the word 'Bollywood' and truly believes that it has a ring to it that is sweeter than 'Hollywood')
