Shahid Kapoor

Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Haider - a young man returns home to Kashmir on receiving news of his father's disappearance. Not only does he learn that security forces have detained his father for harboring militants, but that his mother is in a relationship with his very own uncle. Intense drama follows between mother and son as both struggle to come to terms with news of his father's death. Soon Haider learns that his uncle is responsible for the gruesome murder, what follows is his journey to avenge his father's death.

Set in 1303 AD medieval India, Padmaavat is the story of honor, valor and obsession. Queen Padmavati is known for her exceptional beauty along with a strong sense of justice and is the wife of Maharawal Ratan Singh and pride of the Kingdom of Chittor, a prosperous kingdom in the north west of India. The legend of her beauty reaches the reigning sultan of Hindustan – Allaudin Khilji. The sultan who is a tyrant, is fixated with wanting anything that is of exceptional beauty for himself. He lays siege on the impregnable fortress of Chittorgarh.

Teri Meri Kahaani spans three eras, with each era featuring a pair of lovers as portrayed by Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. It opens in Bombay in 1960 as breezy but unemployed musician Govind (Shahid) bumps into famous Bollywood actress Ruksar (Priyanka) on a Poona-to-Bombay rail coach. Their flirtation persists all the way to the Bollywood studio, but then is derailed by an unexpected love triangle. As things look their bleakest, the camera cuts away.

Life in the 1990's was remarkably different for the average Indian. Consumerism had not set in. It was devoid of most of the luxuries of the West. In fact everything "imported" was good, and everything Indian, passe. Badmaash Company is an extraordinary story set in the 1990's in middle class Bombay (as it was known then), of four ordinary youngsters Karan (Shahid Kapoor), Bulbul (Anushka Sharma), Chandu (Vir Das) and Zing (Meiyang Chang) who came together to start an import business of things longed for by yuppie Indians!

Four years after winning the best-student-of-the-year trophy from his architectural college, and with designs to set the Canadian landscape on fire, Raj Malhotra (Shahid Kapur) is still struggling to find that One Chance to showcase his mettle. When he misses out on yet another opportunity due to fate's cruel intervention, he starts losing heart. However, fate has another trick up its sleeve for Raj. He stumbles upon a quirky oracle, Hasina Bano Jaan (Juhi Chawla). She advises him to find and keep a charm by him, that would change his stars and make everything work in his favor.

Dil Bole Hadippa! (My Heart Shouts Hooray!) makes a good intro to Bollywood/Indian musicals. It has all the splash of full-out Bollywood but with terrific modern updates and a little something for everyone. For the ladies there's the predictable but crackling good rom/com tension between Shahid Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee. With all this wrapped up in a cricket championship with a little gender-bending to keep it off-balance, guys should find it just as entertaining.

Vivah unabashedly hearkens back to India's more traditional conventions, and specifically that of the arranged marriage. Released in 2006, Vivah tells the story of two young people, Prem and Poonam, strangers to one another yet destined to be wedded. So it'd be nice if they like each other. Poonam (Amrita Rao) is an orphaned girl from the small town of Madhupur, who was raised in her uncle's household. She is beautiful and demure and brought up to be obedient and traditional.