2019 has been a year of learning for Bollywood. We saw content-driven films continue to thrive at the box office, while certain films failed to do well despite their star cast. While biggies such as Akshay and Hrithik had multiple releases this year, with Salman’s Dabangg 3 scheduled for December, here are a few stars who have been AWOL from the big screen this year.
1. Shah Rukh Khan
Since the release of Deewana in 1992, Shah Rukh has starred in at least one film every year. But after the back-to-back failures of Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017) and Zero (2018), King Khan has taken a sabbatical. Apart from voicing Mufasa in the Hindi version of The Lion King reboot, he has remained away from the big screen. His close friend Karan Johar recently spoke about this and said, “He has taken a year off only to analyze and when he is going to come back with a film, it is going to be talking point in the industry. So, you can't erase somebody's lineage, somebody's talent by a few setbacks.”
The My Name is Khan star appears to be busy spending time with his family. In fact, his wife Gauri Khan recently joked that she's very happy about SRK's break as he can now take care of AbRam. Rumours of a collaboration with Tamil film director Atlee have been doing the rounds, though an official confirmation is awaited.
2. Deepika Padukone
Deepika has been absent from the big screen since Padmaavat hit theatres in early 2018. The actor has been hard at work shooting for 2020 releases, such as Meghna Gulzar’s Chhapaak, which she is also producing. Starring Vikrant Massey, the film is based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal and is scheduled to release in January 2020. Deepika is also part of Ranveer Singh-starrer 83, where she plays Kapil Dev’s wife Romi Bhatia. In October, she announced a collaboration with producer Madhu Mantena adapt the Mahabharat for the big screen. She will play Draupadi in the film.
3. Aamir Khan
Aamir was last seen in the debacle that wasThugs of Hindostan. The film, which released in November 2018, was a box office failure despite its star cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Sheikh. As the movie was bashed by critics and fans alike, Aamir tweeted an apology seeking forgiveness from his fans.
But given the perfectionist nature of Aamir, long breaks between films have been common since Lagaan. The actor is currently prepping for Lal Singh Chaddha, the official adaptation of Forrest Gump. He recently took to Instagram to share the first look.
4. Anushka Sharma
After four releases in 2018 (Sui Dhaaga, Sanju, Pari and Zero), Anushka Sharma was surprisingly absent from the movies this year. After Zero failed to make a dent at the box office, speculations arose that Anushka was planning to quit Bollywood as she wasn’t getting any new films. The actor cleared the air saying that she has reached a point in her career where she can do films at her own leisure. She further added that playing three dramatically different characters in Pari, Sui Dhaga and Zero was hectic.
During her time off, the star was seen accompanying Virat Kohli to the ICC Cricket World Cup and the West Indies series. The duo also visited Bhutan during Virat’s break. She is also set to don the producer’s hat once again as her banner Clean Slate Films is producing a new Netflix original series Mai.
5. Ranbir Kapoor
Ranbir Kapoor’s received praise for his performance as Sanjay Dutt in 2018’s Sanju, including from the Munna Bhai actor himself, who called his performance “extraordinary”. The actor has been busy shooting, with the two-part Brahmastra coming up next year, followed by Shamshera starring Vaani Kapoor (and if we dare to believe the rumours, preparing for his wedding to Alia Bhatt). He also made frequent visits to the US where his father Rishi Kapoor spent most of 2019 undergoing cancer treatment.
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