2005 has witnessed number of varied subjects turning out to be money spinners at box office. Offbeat ‘Page 3′ to a family drama ‘Waqt’ to a comedy ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ to a classy ‘Parineeta’ are just some of those examples, each of which had a different story to tell.

Comedy (Kya Kool Hai Hum), lust (Zeher), emotions (Black), love (Lucky), horror (Kaal), drama (Sarkar) - audience got to see everything BUT for an action thriller that would result in adrenaline going for an overdrive! ‘Elaan’, released in January 2005 promised a lot but failed to deliver.

Ditto for Karam and Jo Bole So Nihaal that ‘could’ have satisfied the hunger of those looking for non-stop action, thrills and chills. Alas, but each of them flattered to deceive !

Come 8th July and the wait should finally be over for the first 100% action thriller that should set the cash registers ringing.

‘Dus’ promises to have all the necessary ingredients for a wholesome ‘masala’ entertainer and looks set for a bumper opening all over India. That’s one of the prime reasons why advance booking has already opened this Monday at number of theatres across the country.

The storyline of ‘Dus’ is quite simple. Global terrorists have laid a master plan to blow up thousands of innocent lives and the bomb has already started ticking. The world is at ransom and ATC (Anti terrorist cell) has just seven days before May 10 (Dus) to fuse their plans.

People involved in this mission are DIG Siddhant (Sanjay Dutt), squad members Shashank (Abhishek Bachchan), Aditi (Shilpa Shetty), Aditya (Zayed Khan) along with Canadian police officer Dan (Sunil Shetty) and Neha (Esha Deol). How they thwart the plans of the evil and come up with an operation that entire world would admire forms the basic crux of ‘Dus’

Though there are number of reasons why one would want to throng the theatres to catch the first show of ‘Dus’, we list down ‘Dus Bahane’ that sound exciting enough to go for ‘Dus’ !

10) There was a ‘Dus’ and there is a ‘Dus’. Remember ‘Dus’ that was launched back in 1997 but couldn’t get released due to untimely death of its director Mukul S. Anand. Nitin Manmohan was the producer who cherished the dream of unfolding his drama on global terrorism.

He couldn’t realize it then but circa 2005 and he is ready with a changed script, fresh starcast and Anubhav Sinha at the director’s helm to come up with an even bigger product. If teasers from Mukul S. Anand’s ‘Dus’ created a stunning impact when shown on television, 21st century version is one step ahead with an even bigger canvas.

9) BAD MAN. Oh, how much do we love Gulshan Grover, the one and only ‘Bad Man’ to make his comeback. Probably he was waiting for a setup as BIG as ‘Dus’ to terrorize audiences once again with his original ‘evil’ antics.

Off late he has been doing more of character roles (most recently being ‘Dil Maange More’) with fine effect, but we would want him back in his growling self anytime…anyplace!

Shilpa Shetty as a deadly female member of the Anti Terrorist Cell. After a stunning performance in ‘Phir Milenge’, she really needed to chill down. And chill she does with all her flying kicks and punches that would make any stuntman (or woman) feel proud.

Look out for her body language and brutal expressions while delivering kicks and you know she is not the lady who could be taken for a ride.

7) Pankaj Kapur in his first major role after last year’s ‘Maqbool’. And no, he is not required to display any major histrionics this time around. Instead, it’s more of a comic role of Hasmukh Mehta who helps the team of heroes in their mission to fight against the evil.

6) Mayte Garcia. Yes, you read it right ! She is the 32 year old woman from Puerto Rico, on whom the super hit track ‘Deedar De’ has been choreographed. And this should settle all doubts regarding the identity of this dusky female with strong Indian looks, that was kept under wraps.

She should set the temperatures soaring as a great choice for this high voltage item track that is turning out to be as big success as the title song !

5) Anubhav Sinha’s transition from an emotional story teller to a full fledged action-thriller director. The same guy who made his love story ‘Tum Bin’ stare right on the face of Big B’s high profile ‘Aks’ (both the movies released on the same day) and still come unscathed, gets set to unleash the power of ‘Dus’.

In between he came up with a delightful light movie ‘Aap Ko Pehle Bhi Kahi Dekha Hai’ that had a couple of stylishly shot action sequences. These very scenes promised a versatile director in the making. It would be interesting to see how he has managed to keep his entire high profile starcast come together for Nitin Manmohan’s dream called ‘Dus’.

4) Coming together of Sanjay Dutt and Sunil Shetty. Since ‘Kaante’, none of the movies in the recent past that have starred them together have been successful, be it Rudraksh, Rakth or Tango Charlie. ‘Dus’ could be one big stage for them to display their brawny act one more time.

The theme of the movie requires mature men and with Zayed Khan shown as a ‘bomb-happy’ dude, it would require some mature handling of terrorism by the two hunks.

3) Great action coordinated with the help of a crew behind number of Hollywood blockbusters. Since action and thrills constitute the USP of the movie, producer Nitin Manmohan has left no stone unturned to enable director Anubhav Sinha to come up with a polished product.

Though action from ‘Dus’ may not be able to match the sheer grandeur of Hollywood stunts, at the least it should be able to beat any Bollywood movie from the past. Watch out for Zayed Khan’s stunts on the bike a la Mission Impossible or Abhishek’s car chases or the planes that are made to clash in the sky !

2) Abhishek Bachchan, who is now a rock star after super-success of ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ and positive opening of ‘Sarkar’ that is steadily marching towards another successful outing for the father-son ‘jodi’. ‘Yuva’, ‘Dhoom’, ‘Phir Milenge’, ‘BAB’, ‘Sarkar’ and now ‘Dus’ - the world couldn’t have been a better place for a star called Abhishek Bachchan who is slowly stopped being called ‘Chota B’ after managing to create an identity of his own.

1) Just watching the title song ‘Dus Bahane’ should be a reason enough to watch ‘Dus’ on the big screen. Male bonding has never looked better than the lovable antics of Abhishek Bachchan and Zayed Khan on the stage.

Choreography of the track is flashy and deserves a wide screen viewing in a multiplex equipped with world class Dolby system. ‘Dus’ could easily survive on these 10 minutes of glory by composer Vishal-Skhekhar, even if rest of the movie turns out to be half as good as the song.

A Peacock spreads its mesmerizing wings underneath the scorching blue sky. Vibrant puppets descend from the gnarled branches of an ancient tree.

Golden sands of an endless desert keep on swirling. And a beautiful folk tale from Rajasthan comes to life in PAHELI.

Once upon a time, there was a lovely girl who was married to a man who was only interested in making money. There was a Ghost who fell madly in love with her.

On the wedding night itself, the husband left the home for five long years on account of his business. The ghost took on the husband’s appearance and entered her life.

A few years later when the husband returned home, the villagers and the relatives were bewildered how this situation gets resolved is the PAHELI.

Paheli is the dilemma of the girl who had to choose between the Ghost’s Eternal love and her husband’s insensitive monotone.

Paheli is the dilemma of the husband who had to face rejection from his own people.

Paheli is the dilemma of the Ghost who wanted to be Human and yet remain sincere and honest to his love.

Paheli is the dilemma of the parents who accepted an adorable son who was not their real son.

Paheli is the dilemma of the villagers who had to decide whether to live with the ambiguity or to resolve the riddle.

Paheli is based on a legendary story “Duvidha” written by literary Statwart Vijaydan Detha.

Keeping the simplicity of the original folk form intact, Vijaydanjee has added contemporary dimensions in his story that stand monumental in Indian literature.

Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee play the lead roles in the movie and are supported by Amitabh Bachchan, Sunil Shetty and Juhi Chawla.