Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; December 20, 2017)

Over the next few days, Christmas trees will light up several streets and homes in the city, as a reminder that the last leg of the year is already upon us. New Year, new hopes and vigour, fresh projects, professional and personal alliances… despite the ups and downs in 2017, Bollywood is ready to welcome 2018 with open arms.

Parties, vacations and stayat-home celebrations are all in the works. Of course, there are also actors who are likely to spend NY’s Eve, fulfilling professional commitments.



HERALDING THE NEW YEAR AT HOME
Leading the pack of celebrities who plan to bring in 2018 at home is Shahid Kapoor. After a professionally choc-a-bloc 2017, the actor plans to be home in Mumbai with his wife Mira and daughter Misha. It’s also filmmaker Karan Johar’s first New Year’s Eve in a long time, which will be spent in the cosy comforts of his house. This time, he won’t pack off to London or New York because his twins, Roohi and Yash, are too young to travel. Following suit is Tusshar, who has dropped his plans to travel to Dubai for the year-end. Instead, he will be home with his toddler, Laksshya. Priyanka Chopra is also expected to be with her family on her annual Christmas-NY holiday, keeping in mind her Hollywood calendar.

Ajay Devgn’s daughter Nysa is expected to be back home from her school in Singapore. The Devgns — Ajay, Kajol, Nysa and Yug — plan to spend time at their farmhouse in Karjat. While Radhika Apte will take off to Pune to welcome 2018 with her family, Bhumi Pednekar plans to spend her time indoors, too, with friends and family, before starting a long schedule of her next film.

BOLLYWOOD STARS’ PARTY PLANS THIS NEW YEAR
Aditya Roy Kapur, who is recovering from a recent bout of illness, will also be home. Diana Penty is expected back in Mumbai after the schedule of her next film with Sonakshi Sinha, who also plans to spend time with her parents and siblings. However, on last check, we were told that Sona could be packing off from the city for the NY celebrations. Actor-couple Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover have plans to party with friends in the city.


M.I.A IN MUMBAI
Among those travelling is Sonam Kapoor, who plans to bring in 2018 with her family (parents Anil and Sunita and siblings Rhea and Harshvardhan) and ‘friends’ (read Anand Ahuja) out of the country. Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli will be in South Africa, ditto Akshay Kumar and his family.

Deepika Padukone is likely to be with her parents and sister at their family home in Bengaluru. She eventually also plans to travel to another holiday destination with them.

Jacqueline Fernandez had recently told BT that she will be taking off to Bali with her family for a brief holiday. Shraddha Kapoor and her family are planning to take off on a holiday, too, but are yet to get clarity on the shooting schedule of her upcoming film. Hrithik Roshan, accompanied by his sons Hrehaan and Hridaan, will be travelling to an exotic location to bring in the New Year. Alia Bhatt plans to travel with her gal pals since one of them is getting married in January 2018.

Yami Gautam will head home to Chandigarh to be with her folks. Nimrat Kaur and Taapsee Pannu, independently, plan to ring in the year with friends on different beaches in Goa. Prachi Desai is already packing her bags to go to the US with friends. Ileana D’Cruz is expected to travel, though the location is not known yet. After a successful year at the box office and on the small screen, filmmaker Rohit Shetty will be packing off to Dubai with his family.

Arjun Rampal, who has been shooting continuously in Ladakh for his war film, will be on leave from December 25 to January 2 to spend time with his daughters Mahikaa and Myra and wife Mehr. The family is planning a short vacation, but the destination is yet to be decided. On last check, Sidharth Malhotra was also expected to join the brigade of travellers for a brief holiday.


WORK COMES FIRST
Among the workaholics is Sunny Deol, who is expected to spend the New Year’s Eve working with his son Karan on his debut project. If they wrap up in time, the Deols might head to their farmhouse on the outskirts of Mumbai. Sushant Singh Rajput and his newcomer co-star Sara Ali Khan are also expected to be on set, shooting crucial portions of their romantic drama.

Kangana Ranaut will be on the sets of her historical, along with the rest of the cast. Sanjay Dutt and his family, too will be on the sets of the actor’s film in Kyrgystan. Chitrangda Singh will be busy shooting for two of her upcoming films.