First Trailer For Akshay Kumar's ROWDY RATHORE Blows The Roof Off!

I expected to be impressed by the promo for Prabhu Deva's upcoming Rowdy Rathore, but not this impressed!  Rowdy Rathore is the Bollywood remake of S.S. Rajamouli's (Magadheera, Yamadonga) Vikramarkudu, which was original a hit in the Telugu film industry that starred personal favorite Ravi Teja in the lead role. Two years ago Vikramarkudu was remade in Tamil as Siruthai, starring Karthi and did well, but nowhere near the Telugu numbers. After the success of the film in two other languages and considering the huge resurgence in old-school masala films in Bollywood exemplified by Salman Khan's recent successes, it was inevitable that Vikramarkudu would come to Bollywood, and it looks fucking sharp!

Rowdy Rathore has a wonderful pedigree behind it, with numerous extremely talented filmmakers and cast members on board. The director, Prabhu Deva, kicked off the most recent Hindi masala boom with Salman Khan's Wanted in 2009, itself a remake of Telugu film Pokiri. That film, with it's innovative cinematography and fantastically choreographed action sequences, went on to make Prabhu Deva, previously best known as a dancer/dance choreographer, a big name behind the camera. Western audiences might recognize Prabhu Deva as Benny Lava from the viral video that hit YouTube a few years back.

The cast is also very well-versed in successful Bollywood masala films. Akshay Kumar was the action king of the 90's, and while his recent films have largely failed to land with audiences, with the exception of Singh is Kinng, his series of Khiladi films made him a household name, and his ability to combine action and comedy is second to none in India. Starring opposite him is Sonakshi Sinha, who made her debut performance in neo-masala juggernaut Dabangg.

With a trailer packed with action like this one, plot is almost secondary, but UTV have decided to give a synopsis of the film on their website, and here it is:

Shiva (Akshay Kumar) is a small time conman in love with Priya (Sonakshi Sinha), a pretty girl whom he met at a wedding he wasn't invited to. Into this picture perfect world enters six year old Neha who inexplicably believes Shiva to be her dad! And if this wasn't bad enough, Shiva also becomes the object of a series of life threatening attacks by a gang of deadly criminals who seem to know something he doesn't. While trying desperately to save his life and love, Shiva stumbles upon a deadly secret. A secret that will take him to a small town in Bihar; a town terrorized by its ruthless MLA and the mafia he controls; a town whose inhabitants' only hope for redemption is... Shiva!

In truth, I couldn't care less what Rowdy Rathore is about. If Prabhu Deva manages to capture the same spirit he did with Wanted, and if the film lives up to the trailer at all, I think we've got a real winner on our hands. Rowdy Rathore looks like it could be this year's Singham, only I have more faith in Prabhu Deva than Rohit Shetty. Roll on, June 1st!