10. Pyaar Ke Side Effects
December 26, 2006
Director: Saket Choudhary
Starring: Mallika Sherawat, Rahul Bose, Ranvir Sheorey, Sharat Saxena
This came out of nowhere. Debutant director Saket Choudhary -- you may know him as the man who wrote Asoka -- started off with a bizarre casting combination, bringing together The Woman Of Bosom and The Man Of Bluster. Not a promising film in any way, this one sprung a whammy giving us a romantic comedy that was actually both romantic and often uproariously funny: not usual Bollywood fare at all.
Yes, the jokes were predictable. Yes, a lot is scooped out of Hollywood rom-com standards, including the flavour. Yet it's amusing and new to desi cinemas, and very watchable indeed. Mallika Sherawat is an absolute revelation -- the woman can act, and has sharp comic timing -- and the film is worth it just for Ranvir Sheorey's brilliance. Try and sit through the painful Frank Sinatra lift (My Way, no less!), because The Scoreboard is one of the best written comic scenes on screen this year.
9. Jaan-E-Mann
(2)December 26, 2006
Director: Shirish Kunder
Starring: Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta
The beginning makes it work. A far cleverer film than most realised, this take on Bollywood romance pays tribute to the genre while deftly almost spoofing its very foundations. Debutant director Shirish Kunder was being unfairly touted as a Farah Khan me-too, his choreographer wife walking away with great applause a couple of years ago for her Main Hoon Na. Kunder continues in similar vein, cheeky to a fault, but adds a zingy love-story that coasts along effortlessly.
This is one of the films that shows just how underutilised Salman usually is. Here he's pushed and delivers pretty constantly, carrying the film well. Some inspired lunacy, great visuals and smart referencing keep the film sharp, and while the story steps into maudlin mush, the fresh visual treatment rescues it from being painful. And while Kunder's Broadway stylings must be appreciated, the film's highlight is Akshay. If there is one thing you'll remember from this zany film, it's that ridiculously infectious, goofy laugh.
8. Krrish
(2)December 26, 2006
Director: Rakesh Roshan
Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Rekha, Naseeruddin Shah
Alright, so the script was really weak. But a million loopholes aside, this film needs to be applauded for taking Bollywood back into the land of superheroes. While Krrish isn't our first caped wonderboy, he's definitely our first superhit superhero, and that blockbuster mainstream success is a massive step for the tragically overlooked Fantasy genre in Indian cinema.
As superheroes go, he isn't a top performer. Krrish is a weakly written, derivative character that has no reason to click. Except, he's played by Hrithik Roshan. Fuelled purely by his fierce screen presence, Krrish becomes a character you like, enough to indulge in. It's a great film for kids, and while those of us wanting our superheroes dark and brooding may feel let down, it's certainly a landmark film giving birth to a new, appropriately big-budget Bollywood genre.
7. Dor
(4)December 26, 2006
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Starring: Ayesha Takia, Gul Panag, Shreyas Talpade
Curiously, this one is very directly related to The Best of 2005 list. Directed by Kukunoor, who had the #2 spot last year with his Iqbal, it's a reworking of director Kamal's overwhelming Malayalam film Perumazhakkalam -- last year's number one.
A heartbreakingly tragic story, beautiful in its symmetry. Ayesha and Gul play strangers, far-flung brides with husbands working in Dubai. One day they are hit by devastating news: Gul's husband has killed Ayesha's husband. Both girls are sucked into instant melancholy, but Gul sees a gleam of hope. She sets out, armed only with a picture of Ayesha and the fact that she lives in Rajasthan.
Nagesh has always been an eternal optimist. His story becomes more of a fable as we are asked to suspend disbelief and logic, and wait for this impossible quest to come to its fruition. It's a far lighter film than the original, and is visually Kukunoor's finest. Ayesha is brilliant, but Talpade does the star turn as a constant chatterbox, making this film truly special.
6. Dhoom: 2
December 26, 2006
Director: Sanjay Gadhvi
Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Hrithik Roshan, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai
This isn't merely a very cheesy film, but so riddled with plotholes that it'll make your head hurt. D2 is a collection of random moments, and is decidedly more music video than movie. Dhoom: 2 is so unabashedly about style, it's ridiculous. Everything in the film is about The Look, as it leaps from high point to higher point with glee.
And, with Hrithik.
Alright, so Bipasha Basu, Uday Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan also officially star, but this is Roshan's vehicle, an astonishingly big-budget film focussing solely on that star and his undeniable coolth. And you can't blame the makers. Roshan fires up the screen with mad, effortless style, leaving women gasping breathlessly and men jealous, awed. From abs to Americanisms, Roshan has the X-factor down pat, and proves himself in a totally different league.
The director must be applauded, though, for turning Aishwarya Rai into a jaw-droppingly hot woman -- we don't even notice her dialogue delivery, we're so busy staring at her legs. Add to that Bipasha Basu in a terrific range of bikinis, and everyone's happy. But then Hrithik already took care of that. Whoa.
5. Gangster
December 26, 2006
Director: Anurag Basu
Starring: Shiney Ahuja, Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut
A goon and a singer, smitten by an irredeemable drunk. One of the tightest scripted thrillers in a long while, this one is low on budget but pretty darned intense. A very solid film with well-written characters, Gangster is a revelation, the kind of film that gives young/struggling filmmakers hope. It's gritty yet sophisticated, flawed yet often inspired -- falling just short of perfect.
Kangana Ranaut makes a dramatic debut in a film centring around her. With irresistible ringlets framing her troubled face, her character slurs in and out of lethal situations and high drama, glassy eyes and pout compellingly in place. Shiney delivers a near-flawless performance, high-strung and insecure, both powerful and helpless. And then there's Hashmi, who does well to underplay his character.
It's a well-shot film with smashing use of music, and a killer soundtrack. Some vivid, memorable visual imagery creates quite an impact, resulting in an impressive film.
4. Khosla Ka Ghosla
(4)December 26, 2006
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Starring: Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Ranvir Shorey, Parvin Dabas, Tara Sharma, Navin Nischol, Vinay Pathak
A tremendous cast, a neat-but-twisty plot, superbly written characters and perfect detailing help make Banerjee's brilliant directorial debut. The most heart-warming surprise of the year, this is the indie film success we should all toast and recommend. And one with doubtless potential to gain enough momentum on television to become an eventual comedy classic. A small film that takes us back to the era of simple storytelling, Khosla is as delightful as achievements get.
The story of a middle-class man seeing his hard-earned plot of land usurped by a rogue builder, this isn't merely the film of a common man floundering to get his own back; it's also a magnificent, sarcastic ode to Delhi. The detailing is enormous, visible even in characters' accessories and shop signs, and the humour is simple yet terrifically laden with nuance. It's a very sharply written satire better watched than described, and boasts of the finest ensemble cast in ages. Kher is great, Shorey is a star, Pathak and Nischol create magic, and this is quite simply Boman's finest acting job ever. It�s the kind of film that would make Hrishida smile very wide indeed.
3. Rang De Basanti
(3)December 12, 2006
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Starring: Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Alice Patten, Soha Ali Khan
Talk about groundbreaking. Rakeysh broke the rules, moulding Aamir Khan into just one actor in an ensemble, mixing freedom fighters with graffiti, and legitimising anarchy. The result? A film that incensed the MTV generation out of their apathy and made them take a stand, waking up to issues and taking them to the streets. While some misconstrued the film as an endorsement of violence, it wasn't a justification but a war cry. Voice dissent, voice assent, but just have a ****** voice.
The film is crafted with extraordinary polish. Rakeysh's band of brothers are great individual characters, each helping today's generation connect and relate. The film smartly shuffled through past and present, going from drinking beer at India Gate to Sukhdev's plans of rebellion. Particular applause must also go to Aamir, who bravely relinquished superstar status to be one of the guys -- the one playing to the galleries, by the way -- and walking over to let another lad raise the flag at the climax. A powerful message, packaged with genius.
2. Omkara
(5)December 26, 2006
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Starring: Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Konkona Sensharma, Bipasha Basu, Vivek Oberoi, Deepak Dobriyal, Naseeruddin Shah
Now, this is a movie breathtaking enough to merit being taught in film school. Vishal Bhardwaj creates a dizzyingly intricate texture of style and tone, character and dialogue, music and feel -- and he does it all while remaining marvellously loyal to Shakespeare�s Othello. It's the Bard's tale, but it's overwhelmingly original.
Omkara is a mammoth achievement, a film of poetry and profanity. The dialogues, lewd on the surface and crackling with bawdy charm, can frequently be sourced directly from the 17th century masterwork. The characters are irresistibly raw and flamboyantly folksy, seductive and slithering and desi right down to their very roots. The performances are magical, as Saif breathes vile life into Iago and Konkona proves an Emilia to die for. Devgan plays a restrained Othello while Kareena's Desdemona is enchanting, fragile.
Bhardwaj being a do-it-yourself director to the fullest, his superlative soundtrack is arguably the year's finest album, lending itself to backdrop and foreground with equal ease, Gulzar's lyrics foreboding and relevant at every step. Subtly referential to the extreme, this is a film to revel in over and over again, a beautiful, brutal celebration of grand cinema.
1. Lage Raho Munnabhai
(5)December 26, 2006
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Vidya Balan
Scripts are very rarely this ambitious. Lage Raho combines humour, heightened emotion, bhai-speak, and Mahatma Gandhi in a unique, wholly original blend. Munnabhai MBBS won raucous acclaim, resulting in Sanjay and Arshad acquiring their greatest alter egos ever, Munna and Circuit. It was always going to be a tough act to follow, but even if the sequel was half as good, it'd be a contender for film of the year.
But nobody expected this, a glorious celebration of the two title characters -- now virtually a desi Asterix and Obelix -- and their experiments with truth. It's a film that far eclipses the original, a tough ask. Treading a razor-sharp line, it handled hilarity and tears in the same scene, following it up with a super joke and alternating that with a message from the Mahatma. It's surreal, and the stuff cinematic dreams are made of: you watch the film in theatres unable to believe it can actually be this good. It is.
With the stunning script supported by an inch-perfect cast, Lage Raho is the rare example of a film where all quarters deliver, completely. As an angsty generation would agree, it's easier to make a dark, brooding film. This one, on the other hand, is drenched in hope and sunshine, and is unbelievably contagious. A don talking to the Mahatma and preaching non-violence -- on paper, the idea is preposterous; on screen, it's splendid.
The best Gandhi film ever.
Courtsey Rediff
What do you think folks???
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