Bollywood's Best Year Ever?
2006 has to be one of the best if not THE BEST year for Bollywood. Not just in terms of the money earned at box office but also the quality of movies that came out of Mumbai this year. Is it just a blip or a sign of great times ahead? This one would be tough to answer, I hope it is the latter, but one can only wish.
This year wasn't only about big star lineups, but a number of movies with meaningful story lines and smaller budget also pleased the audience. Just like everyone I have my favorites too and I am going to recap them here, a month and few days before the year ends....
Movies that I liked, which also hit the jackpot - Over the last few years, this has became a rarity. It was so hopeless that I had to force myself to like some of the hit movies by comparing them with other crap which Bollywood was releasing. But NO MORE; with the arrival of Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai, I am in lau (love) with Bollywood again. Both movies explored a theme which the blockbusters of recent years have shied away from, the theme of patriotism, honesty and righteousness. They were not only successful in imparting the message, but also became darlings of the moviegoers. Other films that were also termed hits and I enjoyed watching this year were - Chup Chup Ke, Malamal Weekly, Bluffmaster, Dhoom 2 (still in the first week, will probably be a superhit), Taxi No. 9211 and Jaan-E-Mann. In fact 36 China Town, though mindless was a good DVD watch.
Movies that I didn't like, but hit the jackpot - Well this one is not new. Bollywood has been tormenting me for years with this recycled, safe, formula movies with 100 stars, one of them you are bound to love and that will force you to buy the ticket. Don, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (KANK), Phir Hera Pheri (PHP) and Krrrrish (did I miss out an "r") top this list for me. I went to see Don because of Farhan Akhtar and SRK; in case of KANK it was the B's, for PHP it was Baburao and Co that lured me and I don't know why I saw KKrish. No matter what you guys say, I hated all four movies and not because I am biased against a certain actor or director, but they were genuinely bad movies. Another movie that comes a close second in this race and was a big draw at box office was Fanaa. It had a pretty far fetched, beaten to death story line, but the reason I liked it better than others was the magical on screen chemistry of Kajol and Aamir. Another stupid movie that became a hit because of songs and a serial kisser dude, was Aksar (blech!!). I watched the entire movie because of Udita Goswami, her Asian-Indian looks, kept me locked.
Movies that I liked, but didn't hit the jackpot - Omkara starts this list for me. Great adaptation by Vishal and excellent performance by Saif Ali Khan (as if my nickname didn't make it abundantly clear!!), makes it my favorite flop movie of this year. Being Cyrus and Khosla Ka Ghosla are two other movies that I liked for completely different reasons. I thought Being Cyrus was really bizarre and that's probably what appealed to me. It's not often you see movies like that coming out of Bollywood. Khosla Ka Ghosla on the other hand, was fun and adorable, yet a strong satire on our society. Movies like this need to be promoted, because I think Indian film makers have world class talent and by nurturing them we'll be exposed to more good movies like these.
Other Notables that I missed - Dor and Gangster are the two most talked about that I missed. I have only heard praises about Dor and am looking forward to watching it on DVD (unless someone wants to stop me). Gangster on the other hand, is a different story. I started watching this movie and then the nasal-Meena-Kumari-voice of the lead actress, drove me nuts and I had to turn it off. Maybe I should be brave and give it another shot. The other one that I missed and was a hit, is Golmaal. I have had mixed reviews on that one, but I think I can watch it for Arshad Warsi's comedy.
Well that brings me to the end of my list for this year, which is far from over. As we head into another big month for Bollywood, December, we will see three, very hyped movies - Baabul, Bhagambhaag and Guru. There is Kabul Express too, which I think will struggle, but I am not going to make that mistake of predicting the box office again, because who knows we might have another Vivaah on our hands:-)
Anyways, whether I liked them or not, thats one impressive list of movies and I would love to hear from you folks about what you think of 2006 so far....
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Bollywood’s Best Year Ever? posted at IndianPad.com...
I only saw about six of the
I only saw about six of the 2006 releases, but from those alone, combined with the comments and reviews I've read about the other films of this year, I sometimes think that Bollywood is in a new golden age - I don't think this will turn out to be an anomolous year. As the current crop of big names gets older, if the industry creates compelling, age-appropriate roles for them (rather than insisting on making them dance round trees into their fifties) I am hopeful that the industry's output will only get more richly varied and interesting. There will always be the awful alongside the good - that can't be helped - but there will also be many films that will be truly different, and will be remembered as classics in the future. That's my optimistic outlook, anyhow; as I said above I only saw a small fraction of this year's releases, probably the best fraction, so my outlook may be a little *too* optimistic.
Here's what I saw this year -
*Rang de basanti* and *Lage raho Munnabhai* - two of the best Hindi films I've ever seen
*Jaan-e-mann* - a refreshing look at the tired old love triangle plot; some of its artistic conceits worked quite nicely
*Don* - better than I thought it would be, but still what it was
*Fanaa* - poorly plotted, over-the-top, totally unmemorable save for the excellent work of its two stars
*Umrao Jaan* - disappointing in almost every way save one (Shabana Azmi never disappoints).
Great comments Carla....I
Great comments Carla....I think so too that Bollywood certainly came of age this year.....you should also watch Omkara and Khosla Ka Ghosla two very mature and really good movies....
I forgot to mention Umrao Jaan, I think the second half was good, but not good enough to make up for the weak first half....plus the movie flopped too.....
Good summary of 2006! You
Good summary of 2006! You have probably mentioned all the good, bad n ugly movies of the year so far. I think Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Woh Lamhe and Tom Dick and Harry also did decent business. I have not watched any of these but i guess they were above average - business wise.
The best movies of the year so far are:
Rang De Basanti
Lage Raho Munnabhai
Omkara
Dhoom 2
Jaan-e-mann
Taxi No. 9211
Khosla Ka Ghosla
And probably Guru and Baabul should be good too. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
yeah..time to end 2006
yeah..time to end 2006 :-)
this was indeed a more promising year leading with RDB, Lage raho munnabhai and Omakara. Fanna was good too according to me.
The list of disappointing movies is long enough though. Don, KANK, Phir Hera pheri, Golmaal...so on..
Waiting for Babul and Eklavya --- seems quite promising.
Thats a real good summary of
Thats a real good summary of the awesome year, we will leave behind in a few weeks.
Yup Mr Tyaagi, when you say you have missed something you REALLY HAVE... I was surprised to not see DOR feature in the list for so long.. I think, the Best movie of the year was DOR, for its sheer simplicity and the fact that it pulled off such a feat without any star !
Yup, Kangana Ranaut's voice sure is a put off, but watch Gangster to see what really good direction and acting is. And do not listen to the end if possible, keep the suspense. Its really nice.
My list of best movies this year:
Dor
Gangster
RDB
Lage Raho
Jaane-e-mann
BTW, I thought, VIVAH did not get its due on the site. I agree it sounds so dated for our generation of multiplex viewers, but I hear its not that bad. Besides, if pan-INDIA has liked it, there should be something in it.
All SRK movies this year feature as worst, so is Krish, and so many of the so-called biggies.
i think some of the greatest
i think some of the greatest movies this year had been Rang de basanti, Lage raho munnabhai,vivah and DH2. i think the best movie i liked was vivah. its a very good movie, and thats the m,ovie i want to be the best of the year.i want u guys to tell yr opinion abt this movie, but ya i really lov e this movies
quite surprising that you
quite surprising that you people find dhoom2 better than don. don was much more slick than d2. at least we were not pained by d2's choreographic idiosyncrasies in which they kept focussing on hrithik and ash. and the worst part was ash playing basketball (looked like she had never played before). listless songs were introduced without purpose( which tested abhishek's dancing skills). still fail to understand what bips had been doing in this movie. i do not say that don set an example of cinematic excellence but do not disparage it simply because it is a remake. anyway the year has been great for bollywood. but i think that the movies which are going to come in december might not do as well.
Don was really a crap and
Don was really a crap and sharukh sucked this year...as usual...but DOR, Rang De Basanti,Omkara and khosla ka Ghosla were really good...and baabul and Vivah are good family movies this year...at least you can enjoy these sitting at home with your family...
Re: Bollywood's Best Year Ever?
rang de basanti was the finest piece of indian cinema i have seen recently... a new movie with a new story and a GOOD cast.. probably the movie wouldnt have been this cool if it would have starred arjun rampal, hrithik and srk as rumored!! Being a die-heart SRK fan I still find this movie the best of 2006 and definately deserved the award over LRM!
Lage raho munnabhai was damn tyte too.. would rate it 4 outta 5!! From the acting to the story itself and the direction.... everything was marvellous... music was good too but not as good as rated( ratings have been 4 stars for this one)
You will be suprised but the movie I found better than LRM was KANK..... KANK is a movie not made for typical subcontinent-people... but hey the thing is all round us if you see... from forced marriages to wrong decisions of new/young-lovers and from divorces to extra martial affairs.. its all round us!! but it was still largely rejected... The acting.... the story... the music all 5star rated mayn!! but yae i have to agree Karan did overdo Big Bs character.. i dont know wot was he thinking... but i loved the movie.. and i think KANK is Karans best so far.. yae definately better than K3G and KKHH!!!
Omkara and Dor were amazing too..
The biggest let down for me this year was Dhoom 2!! Damn first the music was the biggest let down... after Dhoom i was expecting a hell lot from D:2... with Ash and Bipasha in bikinis and skirts(which according to me is the only reason why the movie worked) i thought the movie would be AMAAAZINGGG.... I watched this movie at 4 in the morning... i dunt know why the hell i stayed awake for this... damnn... NO PROPER STORY.. POOR STUNTS.. aaaahh and the viilian turned into a good guy... damnn it seemed more like a EKTA KAPOOR serial... and i think stunts from KRISHH and Don were soooo betterr!!!!!
Best Music for this year: 1) KANK and RDB 2) Don and Omkara
Best Star-Cast: RDB.. KANK... LRM...D:2.. Don...
Best remake and sequel: LRM.. Don and Krrish... Phir hera phir to some extent only
Best Acting: Amir for RDB... Sanju for LRM... SRK for Don and KANK.. Saif for Omkara.... Abhishek for KANK and to some extent for Umrao... Arshad Warsi for LRM and the guy in Dor!!! Kajol for fanaa.. Rani and Preity for KANK... Kareena for Omkara.. Ayesha Takia for Dor... Vidya Balam...
Looks and all: Ash for D:2... Preity for KANK... Kareena and Priyanka for Don.... Kajol for Fanaa Hrithik for D:2... SRK for Don(he looked a bit old in KANK expecially in Mitwa)...
Songs for the year:all songs from RDB and KANK... Beedi and Namak from Omkara.. Crazee kia re and Dhoom again from D:2.. Koi tum sa nahin from Krisshh... LRM and Pal pal from LRM... Tere Bin from Bus ek pal...
Yup thts bout it... these were my opinions and i expect you to respect them!
Re: Bollywood's Best Year Ever?
Fahad a very good summary indeed.....although I disagree on the typical sub continent comment.....look around you all the soap operas are filled with similar stories.....
for me it wasn't the story of the movie, I am okay with it and I think its a great topic to explore, but what I didn't like was its treatment......I think Rani Mukherjee did more harm to the movie than good, but more importantly Karan Johar made a big mistake by not creating a strong character for her......songs were good though
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