My Bollywood’s Best of 2021

INTRODUCTION

I have done blogging my own version of Filmfare for seven straight years. Since the late 1990s, I have observed and got annoyed on many occasions when I witnessed the prestigious awards show of Filmfare losing its credibility. Therefore, I have been managing to scrutinize and make my own list of honors who, I believe, deserved the most and need to be recognized.

Since 2014, I have been passing my annual report of Bollywood’s best every year. My Bollywood’s best had 21 categories that are segregated into three different sections which are musical (5), technical (10), and major (6) sections. This time, I have added one more category in technical that is ‘Best Makeup & Hairstyling’. I felt that is the need of the hour as things have changed and improved in the Hindi-film industry.

And yes, the industry is changing, in a sense that the new generation of writers and directors, a collective group of veteran actors and new artists, are trying to do new and attract the audience in the industry. Just, for example, Kajol picked a pretty different film last year, Tribhanga. Akshay Kumar, out of the equation, played a supporting role in Atrangi Re which is quite not his thing. Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi, with all the highly talented ensemble cast, got the critical acclaim it deserved. A few years ago, this wasn’t possible due to a large inclination towards mainstream cinema. But now we observe flexibility and the audience is willing to try innovative.

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MY BOLLYWOOD’S BEST OF THE PAST YEARS

Those who want to read my previous annual reports of Bollywood’s best, click on any of the following links:

2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019 2020

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SELECTED HINDI FILMS FOR THE 2021 ANNUAL REPORT

For music, I keep my options open and there is no limit to the number of films because quality work in music can happen in any film. But besides music, I chose the following Hindi films released last year under my scrutiny to judge for all the categories:

Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi, Pagglait, Tribhanga, Nail Polish, Kaagaz, 12’o’Clock, Jamun, The Girl on the Train, Bombay Rose, Ahaan, Sandeep aur Pinky Faraar, Silence… Can You Hear It?, Milestone, Sardar Ka Grandson, Skater Girl, Sherni, Haseen Dilruba, Toofan, Mimi, Dial 100, Shershaah, 200 Halla Ho, Chehre, Thalaivii, Ankahi Kahaniya, Rashmi Rocket, Sardar Udham, Hum Do Hamaare Do, 83, Dhamaka, Atrangi Re, and Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui.

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HOW MY ANNUAL REPORT IS PREPARED?

So how do I work myself as a film critic honoring in the blogs every year?

1. I judge and pass my reviews of the selected films.
2. After watching each and every selected film, I make notes about the plusses and minuses, and further note down in what categories these films qualify.
3. From this year, each of the 22 categories will have a maximum of 5 nominations and for the first time in eight years, I will now rank my nominations. No more ‘Other Notable Works’ or ‘Special Mention’. If I feel I need to write a few lines in any category, I will.
4. After I am done with honors, I will write down the total number of nominations and wins submitted in my report as stat fun.

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MY BOLLYWOOD’S BEST OF 2021

The wait is over…

Allow me to honor Bollywood’s artistic and technical excellence in 2021 according to Sami Naik.

MUSICAL SECTION

BEST BACKGROUND SCORE

A.R.RAHMAN (ATRANGI RE)

2nd. Shantanu Moitra (Sardar Udham)

3rd. Benedict Taylor & Naren Chandavarkar (Sherni)

4th. Sanjay Wandrekar (Nail Polish)

 

BEST MALE PLAYBACK SINGER

HARICHARAN SESHADRI (TERE RANG – ATRANGI RE)

2nd. Jubin Nautiyal (Hanjugam – Bhuj: The Pride of India)

3rd. B Praak (Raanjha – Shershaah)

 

BEST FEMALE PLAYBACK SINGER

SAINDHAVI PRAKASH (NAIN BANDHE NAINO SE – THALAIVII)

2nd. Priya Saraiya (Kalle Kalle – Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui)

3rd. Shreya Ghoshal (Chaka Chak – Atrangi Re)

 

BEST SONG & LYRICS

RAANJHA (JASLEEN ROYAL, B PRAAK, ROMY, ANVITA DUTT – SHERSHAAH)

2nd. Tere Rang (Haricharan Seshadri, Shreya Ghoshal, Irshad Kamil, A.R.Rahman – Atrangi Re)

3rd. Ananya (Arijit Singh, Javed Akhtar, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy – Toofan)

4th. Nain Bandhe Naino Se (Saindhavi Prakash, Irshad Kamil, G. V. Prakash Kumar – Thalaivii)

5th. Main Teri Ho Gayi (Millind Gaba, Pallavi Gaba, Happy Raikoti, Tanishk Bagchi – Sardar Ka Grandson)

 

BEST MUSIC

A. R. RAHMAN (ATRANGI RE)

2nd. Tanishk Bagchi, Jasleen Royal, Javed-Mohsin, Vikram Montrose, B Praak (Shershaah)

3rd. Sachin-Jigar & Tanishk Bagchi (Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui)

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TECHNICAL SECTION

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

DEEPALI NOOR & NEETA LULLA (THALAIVII)

Kangana Ranaut, Arvind Swamy in Thalaivi Movie Images HD

2nd. Veera Kapur (Sardar Udham)

3rd. Shivank Kapoor (Chehre)

4th. Rohit Chaturvedi (Pagglait)

5th. Darshan Jalan & Manish Tiwari (Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi)

 

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

PATTANAM RASHEED, RAMESH MOHANTY & SURESH MOHANTY (THALAIVII)

2nd. Vikram Gaekwad & Mariann Coletta (83)

 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

PRIYA SUHAS (CHEHRE)

2nd. Parijat Poddar (Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi)

3rd. Priya Ahluwaliya (Skater Girl)

4th. Devika Dave (Sherni)

5th. Mansi Dhruv Mehta & Dmitrii Malich (Sardar Udham)

 

BEST SOUND DESIGN

ANISH JOHN (SHERNI)

2nd. Dipankar Jojo Chaki & Nihar Ranjan Samal (Sardar Udham)

3rd. Manas Choudhary (Dhamaka)

 

BEST EDITING

SANDEEP SETHY (SILENCE… CAN YOU HEAR IT?)

2nd. Sangeeth Varghese (The Girl on the Train)

3rd. Jabeen Merchant (Tribhanga)

4th. Chandrashekhar Prajapati (Sardar Udham)

5th. Deepika Kalra (Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi)

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

ANGELLO FACCINI (MILESTONE)

2nd. Avik Mukhopadhyay (Sardar Udham)

3rd. Tribhuvan Babu Sadineni (The Girl on the Train)

4th. Rakesh Haridas (Sherni)

5th. Rafey Mahmood (Pagglait)

 

BEST ACTION

STEFAN RITCHER & SUNIL RODRIQUES (SHERSHAAH)

 

BEST STORY

MANJARI MAKIJANY & VINATI MAKIJANY (SKATER GIRL)

2nd. Aastha Tiku (Sherni)

3rd. Renuka Shahane (Tribhanga)

4th. Umesh Bist (Pagglait)

5th. Laxman Utekar & Rohan Shankar (Mimi)

 

BEST SCREENPLAY

ABAN BARUCHA DEOHANS (SILENCE… CAN YOU HEAR IT?)

2nd. Ivan Ayr & Neel Manikant (Milestone)

3rd. Manjari Makijany & Vinati Makhijany (Skater Girl)

4th. Seema Pahwa (Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi)

5th. Nadja Damouchel & Gitanjali Rao (Bombay Rose)

 

BEST DIALOGUES

SEEMA PAHWA (RAMPRASAD KI TEHRVI)

2nd. Bugs Bhargava & Sudeep Naik (Nail Polish)

3rd. Yashaswi Mishra & Amit V. Masurkar (Sherni)

4th. Asad Hussain (Bombay Rose)

5th. Ranjit Kapoor & Rumy Jafry (Chehre)

 

BEST SCENE

JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE (SARDAR UDHAM)

There can be no better scene than dramatizing this horrifying part of pre-independence history. This scene was kept on wait after two hours well spent on developing the story and Udham’s character in entirety. The intensity and provocation of that bloodshed were extremely detailed. This scene was deliberately shot violent. The graphic detailing of this three-minute scene full of gunshots and painful cries was more savage than what Lord Attenborough showed in Gandhi. It was a scene that boiled the emotions and broke the hearts. Udham’s commentary about his fury for this incident all this time made his case.

2nd. Sardar Revisiting her Lahore House (Sardar Ka Grandson)

3rd. Sandy Loses Her Child (Sandeep aur Pinky Faraar)

4th. Arjun Thakur Recovering from Vomitting (Dhamaka)

5th. The revelation of Maanvi (Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui)

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MAJOR SECTION

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

PARESH RAWAL (TOOFAN)

2nd. Manoj Pahwa (Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi)

3rd. Arjun Rampal (Nail Polish)

4th. Raghubir Yadav (Pagglait)

5th. Vijay Raaz (Sherni)

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

SAKSHI TANWAR (DIAL 100)

2nd. Sheeba Chaddha (Pagglait)

3rd. Amruta Subhash (Dhamaka)

4th. Tanvi Azmi (Tribhanga)

5th. Kirti Kulhari (The Girl on the Train)

 

BEST ACTOR

VICKY KAUSHAL (SARDAR UDHAM)

 

Vicky as Sardar will be remembered as one of the best performances in Hindi cinema for this new decade. You feel pain when his portrayal agonizes. There is much discomfort to watch his rage and hatred for British Imperialism and he has perfected that genuity you want to watch in the films about Indian freedom against the British. His tense courtroom scene of justification and in a lengthy struggle of saving many lives after the massacre are the best examples of Vicky’s notable performance.

2nd. Manav Kaul (Nail Polish)

3rd. Raghubir Yadav (Jamun)

4th. Manoj Bajpayee (Silence… Can You Hear It?)

5th. Pankaj Tripathi (Kaagaz)

 

BEST ACTRESS

PARINEETI CHOPRA (SANDEEP AUR PINKY FARAAR)

Parineeti has to be the most improved actress of the last year who gave not one but two brilliant performances. But this role, she had the grip. When a role for a woman in desperate help or seeking freedom from her misery requires a solid actress to perfect it, talented actresses like Aliya Bhatt, Taapsee, and Bhumi are coming to your mind. So Dibakar chose Parineeti and gave her the platform. You observe her when she loses her child, when she gets scared on a lot of occasions, or when she tries to escape the rape attempt. A marvelous display of mental and emotional acting.

2nd. Sanya Malhotra (Pagglait)

3rd. Shweta Basu Prasad (Jamun)

4th. Parineeti Chopra (The Girl on the Train)

5th. Kangana Ranaut (Thalaivii)

 

BEST DIRECTOR

SHOOJIT SIRCAR (SARDAR UDHAM)

Sardar Udham is one of the best directed Hindi films I have watched in recent years. Shoojit’s presentation makes me wonder if Sardar Udham actually is an Indian film. It is some accomplishment. The courtroom scenes, Sardar speaking about freedom alone in the park, Sardar’s quest for O’ Dwyer, and most significantly, the horrifying Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and its extremely lengthy aftermath are the bullet reasons why I feel that Shoojit has set the standards and raised the bar of directional artistry too high.

2nd. Manjari Makijany (Skater Girl)

3rd. Seema Pahwa (Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi)

4th. Bugs Bhargava (Nail Polish)

5th. Gitanjali Rao (Bombay Rose)

 

BEST FILM

SKATER GIRL

Believe me! Honoring the best film of the year is the most challenging judgment. And being a film critic, it is my responsibility to make a decision that supports the purpose of being the best. Milestone focused on the struggle of a broken man in the wake of tragedy; while Nail Polish highlighted a complicated criminal case. Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi was a family drama but with a real-feel dramatization. Sardar Udham shows the darker side of the freedom fighter. All these films had elements that have been watched before but were extraordinary films.

Skater Girl is a totally different rhythm and beat that sparks attraction to its audience with a fresh direction, and a catchy screenplay. A story about a village girl who finds her heart in skating after two foreigners introduce skateboarding is a genuine love story to filmmaking.

The writers spent one year getting the feel of the village and creating the characters that stamp some quality portrayals. And this is exactly why Skater Girl looks so real and close to life.

2nd. Sardar Udham

3rd. Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi

4th. Nail Polish

5th. Milestone

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TABLE OF MULTIPLE WINS & NOMINATIONS

MULTIPLE WINS & NOMINATIONS
WINS	NOMS	FILMS
3	10	Sardar Udham
3	5	Atrangi Re
3	5	Thalaivii
2	5	Skater Girl
2	4	Shershaah
2	3	Silence… Can You Hear It?
1	8	Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi
1	7	Sherni
1	3	Chehre
1	3	Milestone
1	2	Toofan
1	2	Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar
1	1	Dial 100
	6	Nail Polish
	6	Pagglait
	4	The Girl on the Train
	3	Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui
	3	Dhamaka
	3	Tribhanga
	3	Bombay Rose
	2	Sardar Ka Grandson
	2	Jamun
	1	Bhuj: The Pride of India
	1	83
	1	Mimi
	1	Kaagaz

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Thank you for reading my annual Bollywood honors report. I will return with a new report next year. Share your opinion below. Stay safe.

My Bollywood’s Best of 2017

Alright, the time has neatly arrived to speak about the Hindi films released in the year 2017. Starting from 2015, I am yearly publishing my report through my blog about the best things happened in the Hindi cinema. My yearly season of watching Hindi films arrives every last quarter of the year. I pick some films from the list of year wide releases in which I find potential, watch, write a review and place the films in different categories where I believe the project was good for certain aspects.

I am delighted to observe a slight change in waves at some parallel lines which were drawn to follow and focus on mainstream entertainment. There do are numerous films which offer its viewers to enjoy the rollercoaster. But in a few years, the content of creativity and understanding the characterization and principles of filmmaking and visual cinematic presentation has changed. Viewers show interest and are excited to accept change but that innovation is and will increase by a minor percentage. The quality of filmmaking has changed, not because of the cameras but due to the producers offering talented filmmakers and people from other cinematic professions a chance to show their creativity. Films are recognized abroad in the different film festivals. Actors like Manav Kaul, Pankaj Tripathi, Rajkummar Rao, Radhika Apte, Seema Pahwa, Swara Bhaskar, and Sanjay Mishra are achieving recognition from the majority of viewers. These names were hardly believed to be discussed or remembered a few years ago.

From scores of releases, I picked only 28 films for watching and some other films, in addition, to listen to some tracks which did justice to the musical department and to my ears. Millions of people have their opinions, I have mine strictly on the bases of my observation, judgment and understanding as a film critic. No, I do not write for magazines or newspapers as a critic or writer because when most of the companies pay you, you are expected to pass the review to keep everyone happy. Blogging is freedom and before I proceed, let me forward to you my same work on Bollywood’s best in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Like before, I will segregate the categories into three different sections i.e., musical (5), technical (10), and major section (6). In most of the categories, I will brief a small explanation where I find necessary. In most of the categories, I will also make some honorable mentions which are the individuals or the films deserve to be counted among the best.

This is to inform you that the list of 21 categories from the 3 sections is created and presented from my selection and observing the following films released in India in 2017:

Phillauri, Haraamkhor, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Hindi Medium, Anaarkali Of Aarah, Mantostaan, OK Jaanu, Lipstick Under My Burkha, Poorna, A Death In The Gunj, Indu Sarkar, Daddy, Simran, Mom, Mukti Bhawan, Sarkar 3, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Trapped, Fukrey Returns, Newton, Jolly LLB 2, Tumhari Sulu, Chef, Ittefaq, Rukh, Ajji, Secret Superstar, and Gurgaon.

The above-mentioned films which miss all the recognitions below are to be believed that those films didn’t live up to my expectations. Also for your reading, let me clarify that the films are not ranked in ‘Other Notable Works’.

Besides the films I have picked above, I have a special regret of missing the following films which I was not able to watch due to lack of availability or availability in extremely low video/audio quality:

Kadvi Hawa, Dear Maya, Dobaara, G Kutta Se, Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, and Ribbon 

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MUSICAL SECTION

BEST BACKGROUND SCORE

TAJDAR JUNAID (MUKTI BHAWAN)

Other Notable Works:

1. Raghu Dixit(Chef)
2. Hitesh Modak(Simran)
3. Sajid–Wajid(Daddy)
4. Mangesh Dhakde(Lipstick Under My Burkha)
5. Sameer Uddin(Phillauri)
6. A.R.Rahman(OK Jaanu)

BEST FEMALE PLAYBACK SINGER

MEGHNA MISHRA (NACHDI PHIRA – SECRET SUPERSTAR)

There were not enough impressive singing to my ear to the tracks I listened to. But this Nachdi Phiraan came as a surprise. I first felt if Zaira Wasim was really singing in the studio but then I found out that she was another 17yo like Zaira whose voice perfectly fitted in her. What a phenomenal singing by this young girl. It is all magic when she raises her voice from Tere Ishq Da Chola Pehen Ke. Meghna Mishra is a new singing sensation with a lot of promises.

Other Notable Works:

1. Rekha Bhardwaj (Saat Rangon Se – Dear Maya)
2. Ronkini Gupta (Rafu – Tumhari Sulu)
3. Jasleen Royal (Din Shagna Da – Phillauri)

BEST MALE PLAYBACK SINGER

ARKO (NAZM NAZM – BAREILLY KI BARFI)

This is the first time I have heard Arko’s voice. I was actually not aware of his past contribution. I am informed by my brother that he was behind the composition of most of Jism 2’s tracks. Coming back to Nazm Nazm, what impresses me is his distinctive voice sung on his own lyrics and composition which gives the listener a real feel. Also, this song reminds the 90sh typical fall-in-love tracks. 

Other Notable Works:

1. Arijit Singh (Phir Bhi Tumko Chahunga – Half Girlfriend)
2. Atif Aslam (Main Agar – Tubelight)
3. Jubin Nautiyal (Bawara Mann – Jolly LLB 2)

BEST SONG & LYRICS

DIN SHAGNA DA (JASLEEN ROYAL/NEERAJ RAJAWAT – PHILLAURI)

There were dozens of impressive tracks and was pretty hard to decide my favourite from 2017.  Many tracks build different variations of moods. So why Din Shagna Da? Because of an extreme simplicity of its being a wedding ballad blended with Jasleen’s addition to grand piano and guitar in a typical Punjabi wedding score.

Lyrics are simple and so realistic. Makes you imagine a young bride singing for her soon-to-be husband before the wedlock. And then, Jasleen Royal’s voice does the perfection of bringing a beautiful and utopian imagery of your beloved in her bridal dress.

Din Shagna Da has to be the best wedding track after Mehndi Hay Rachne Wali from Zubeidaa.

Other Notable Works:

1. Bawara Mann (Jubin Nautiyal/Neeti Mohan/Junaid Wasi/Chirantan Bhatt – Jolly LLB 2)
2. Main Agar (Atif Aslam/Amitabh Bhattacharya/Pritam – Tubelight)
3. Nachdi Phira (Meghna Mishra/Kausar Munir/Amit Trivedi – Secret Superstar)
4. Nazm Nazm (Arko – Bareilly Ki Barfi)
5. Jee Lein (Arjun Chandy/Neeti Mohan/Savithri R Prithvi/Gulzar/A.R.Rahman – OK Jaanu)

BEST MUSIC

RAGHU DIXIT (CHEF)

What is counted in ‘Best Music’? For me, it is the quality of Music. Almost all the tracks are relaxing, smooth and tempo builder. Khoya Khoya and Tere Mere are the toppers amongst all the tracks. Raghu Dixit’s contribution moves you and the story together and I honestly believe he deserves the credit as his hard work went pretty unnoticed in the mainstream media. I am not doing any favour but as compared to the other films, I find his tracks for Chef far better than the other notable works which are:

1. A.R.Rahman (OK Jaanu)
2. Tanishk-Vayu (Shubh Mangal Saavdhan)
3. Sashwat Sachdev & Jasleen Royal (Phillauri)
4. Amit Trivedi (Secret Superstar)

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TECHNICAL SECTION

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

RUPA CHOURASIA (ANAARKALI OF AARAH)

Other Notable Works:

1. Veera Kapur (Phillauri)
2. Rohit Chaturvedi (Lipstick Under My Burkha)
3. Nidhi Gambhir & Divya Gambhir (Daddy)
4. Shruti Wadetiwar (Mukti Bhawan)
5. Sachin Lovalekar (Ajji)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

SHAMIM KHAN, SIKANDAR AHMAD & TIYA TEJPAL (AJJI)

Other Notable Works:

1. Meenal Agarwal (Phillauri)
2. Vikram Singh (Lipstick Under My Burkha)
3. Parul Sondh (Daddy)
4. Avyakta Kapur (Mukti Bhawan)

BEST SOUND DESIGN

UDIT DUSEJA (DADDY)

Other Notable Work: Anish John (Trapped)

BEST EDITING

A. SREEKAR PRASAD (HINDI MEDIUM)

Other Notable Works:

1. Charu Shree Roy (Lipstick Under My Burkha)
2. Manas Mittal (Mukti Bhawan)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

MICHAEL MCSWEENEY & DAVID HUWILER (MUKTI BHAWAN)

Other Notable Works:

1. Jishnu Bhattacharjee (Ajji)
2. Sirsha Ray (A Death In The Gunj)

BEST ACTION

SHAM KAUSHAL (DADDY)

BEST STORY

ALANKRITA SHRIVASTAVA (LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA)

To be honest, it was a tough call. I actually picked Anvita Dutt‘s Phillauri and wrote one paragraph in reasoning why the story of Phillauri was the best. But then I stopped myself and looked towards other potential stories I watched.

In my other picks, there is Saket Chaudhary‘s Hindi Medium which shows in a funny way how much effort do the parents make to send their children to a better educational institution. Then there is Atanu Mukherjee‘s Rukh which speaks about a teenager who lost his father in a road accident refusing to believe if that was an accident or a murder. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, written by Garima-Siddharth, raised the issue of having no toilet and emphasized on the eradication of open defecation. Mukti Bhawan, penned by Shubhashish Buthiani, was about a son helping his father to live his last few days to the holy city of Varanasi.

Then I made up my mind that the story has to be bolder with a brave message. Lipstick Under My Burkha surpasses the definition of being the best story.  The film speaks about the compromised social lives of four women of different ages and statuses from the same society living in Bhopal. Being centered on feminism, the story splendidly executes and handles the issues of different women whether they are right or wrong. 

BEST SCREENPLAY

ZEENAT LAKHANI (HINDI MEDIUM)

Other Notable Works:

1. Shlok Sharma (Haraamkhor)
2. Alankrita Shrivastava (Lipstick Under My Burkha)
3. Arjun Rampal & Ashim Ahluwalia (Daddy)
4. Akash Mohimen & Atanu Mukherjee (Rukh)
5. Mani Ratnam (OK Jaanu)

BEST DIALOGUES

GAZAL DHALIWAL (LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA)

Yes, that book in Buaji’s hand is one major reason but I am not aware if that fictional book is fictional to the plot. But the dialogues overall are lively and rich to reality. Gazal Dhaliwal had the audacity to speak out in different characters. All four leading ladies had their needs and lipstick was an important factor. Her dialogues give the space and importance to each of them. 

Other Notable Works:

1. Shlok Sharma (Haraamkhor)
2. Anvita Dutt (Phillauri)
3. Asad Hussain (Mukti Bhawan)
4. Gulzar (OK Jaanu)

BEST SCENE

BUAJI EXPOSED!! (LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA)

It is emotionally a disturbing and morally a humiliating scene to watch Ratna Pathak’s Buaji character exposing to the truth in front of the whole neighbourhood. It was like a human who has never revealed his/her entire arm is stripped naked. The scene’s excellence of emotional decline should be credited to Alankrita who does a fantastic job in bringing the four ladies and their stories together at a point where they need the support of each other. It was predictable that the truth about Buaji will come someday to everyone’s attention but it is the beauty of the direction how she breaks the spine of her utopian escapism. Only an artist like Ratna can superbly handle that scene.

Other Notable Scenes:

1. Breaking Toilet on Pandit’s Command (Toilet: Ek Prem Katha)
2. Sridevi’s Breakdown in Hospital (Mom)
3. Spirits’ Reunion (Phillauri)
4. Shutu’s Suicide (A Death In The Gunj)
5. Father-Son Crying and Apologizing (Mukti Bhawan)
6. Sulu’s Heated Argument with Entire Family (Tumhari Sulu)
7. Police Interrogating Manda’s Family (Ajji)

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MAJOR SECTION

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

PANKAJ TRIPATHI (NEWTON)

After so many impressive side roles in recent years, Pankaj has developed his acting finesse in 2017. This has been his most fruitful year with severe critical acclaim with the role in Newton the most to treasure.

Pankaj plays a cynical Assistant Commandant in a Naxal-controlled town. Newton is a Rajkummar-Pankaj show and Pankaj’s character weight is what Rajkummar’s keep on pulling all this time. They have assigned jobs but are completely opposite to commitments. In the whole film, it is hard to understand if Pankaj plays a helpful or a painful role to Rajkummar. 

Other Notable Works:

1. Sudhir Pandey (Toilet: Ek Prem Katha)
2. Mohd Samad (Haraamkhor)
3. Deepak Dobriyal (Hindi Medium)
4. Adil Hussain (Mukti Bhawan)
5. Manav Kaul (Tumhari Sulu)
6. Anu Kapoor (Jolly LLB 2)
7. Raj Arjun (Secret Superstar)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

RATNA PATHAK (LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA)

Yes. LUMB again. Ratna again. Her acting in Buaji character compels me to ignore the other contenders from the list of top performers in this category. I recognized her performance last year in the same category for Kapoor & Sons.

An impressive part of LUMB is that there is no leading character. The plot is so thick that all leading characters support each other, exactly like Kapoor & Sons. What impresses me about Ratna is her adapting any role in a supreme harmony. It doesn’t matter what you are asked, you are a veteran and versatile artist to subdue the character weight. 

When she narrates the erotic novel, she makes me forget Rekha’s voice. Her Rosy avatar completely changes your perception about her being Buaji. It was a phenomenal performance.

Other Notable Works:

1. Anushka Sharma (Phillauri)
2. Sajal Ali (Mom)
3. Neha Dhupia (Tumhari Sulu)
4. Meher Vij (Secret Superstar)

BEST ACTOR

RAJKUMMAR RAO (TRAPPED)

Seriously, who else? Who else can be the best leading male performer than Rajkummar Rao?. And what else will it take to win the Best Actor award in a Filmfare function? For the fourth consecutive year, the best male leading performer of the year was not even nominated in the category of Best Actor! Sanjay Mishra for Ankhon Dekhi in 2014, Nawazuddin Siddiqui for Manjhi in 2015, Manoj Bajpayee for Aligarh in 2016, and now this. Absolutely shocking!

Coming back to Rajkummar, his efforts and commitments to the role are commendable. Bein a vegan, he actually eats meat in some of the scenes for the first time in his life. A big thumbs up! This guy goes to a strict carrot diet and drinks coffee for more than 16 days to show the emotional and physical decline of a healthy man. This effort helps Rajkummar to define urban loneliness in the character because he is new to Mumbai.

Other Notable Works:

1. Irrfan Khan (Hindi Medium)
2. Vikrant Massey (A Death In The Gunj)
3. Lalit Behl (Mukti Bhawan)
4. Adarsh Gourav (Rukh)
5. Arjun Rampal (Daddy)

BEST ACTRESS

ZAIRA WASIM (SECRET SUPERSTAR)

In the Indian cinema, typically the most popular industry which is Hindi cinema, what do the viewers expect from a teenage newcomer in the line of professional acting? Yes, there may be promises but we will expect a young boy or a girl to struggle in front of the camera, try to balance the body language and dialogues together. Right? 

Zaira Wasim was 16 when worked in Dangal with Aamir Khan. Next year, he gave her another opportunity to exploit her acting talent. And this time she has astonished me in Secret Superstar. It is nearly impossible at 17 years of age to be so mature and well adhered to the character and its details. Yes, she is a teenager playing a teenager but acting that well in front of the camera is some achievement.

Zaira plays the title role who isn’t being the princess in the film but a dreamer who is surrendered with a very disturbing domestic life. Her facial performance and emotional fluctuation are marvellous. How real it looks when she acts in the song ‘Nachdi Phira’, that scene can make anyone admit if she really was singing. How tempestuous when she argues with father before he beats, or when she refuses to go abroad.

If this incredible newcomer continues to perform like this with consistency, then she is one massive name in the making. 

Other Notable Works:

1. Shweta Tripathi (Haraamkhor)
2. Swara Bhaskar (Anaarkali Of Aarah)
3. Kirti Kulhari (Indu Sarkar)
4. Saba Qamar (Hindi Medium)
5. Kangana Ranaut (Simran)
6. Sridevi (Mom)
7. Vidya Balan (Tumhari Sulu)
8. Sushama Deshpande (Ajji)

BEST DIRECTOR

DEVASHISH MAKHIJA (AJJI)

Aye. Brilliant mind on the director’s chair do his/her work different from others and that is how the filmmaking is exemplified. Ajji is about a ten-year-old girl Manda who is brutally raped before being found by her grandma, Ajji. When the culprit is found to be the son of a politician, everyone in the family goes silent but Ajji.

One of the simplest stories is stretched to a lengthy 103 minutes. But why too lengthy? The answer lies in a terrific direction by Devashish Makhija. In 103 minutes, the director settles the minds of the viewers by taking the parallels of the slums from different angles. He shows the lowest standard of the rapist and tortures your observation for almost 15 minutes to make you believe how far can they go from being sober.

The director never discards in presenting a slum life as the deepest detail is very decorated on the camera, take a keen observation of childish drawings on the wall, dust fixed on the mirror, blinking tube lights, or holes in the shirt of the butcher.

Other Notable Works:

1. Konkona Sen Sharma (A Death In The Gunj)
2. Ashim Ahluwalia (Daddy)
3. Shubhashish Bhutiani (Mukti Bhawan)
4. Alankrita Shrivastava (Lipstick Under My Burkha)

BEST FILM

MUKTI BHAWAN

 

Daya (Lalit Behl) in his late 70s is believing that he is about to die soon and wishes to go to the holy city of Varanasi to attain salvation. His son, Rajiv (Adil Hussain), accompanies him and leaves his family behind to travel and stay with his stubborn father at the desired place.

Mukti Bhawan is that one film which happens once in several years. Technically, this is one of the most gifted films to the Hindi cinema with every department giving you the highest quality job. A fascinating cinematography capturing the heart of Varanasi, the city of Lord Shiva.

Tajdar-Junaid’s soothing background score helps to build the tempo. Production and costume designs give severe originality to the screenplay. The rest lies in a spectacular direction which subjects on one of the best father-son onscreen chemistry ever picturized. Dialogues are very lively and the whole filmmaking is so charismatic.

So many scenes buy your attention like Daya-Rajiv crying, family posing a joyous funeral as wished, Rajiv’s internet chat with family on a weak signal, Rajiv observing final rites of cremation, etc.

Mukti Bhawan’s richest essence is the translation of human emotions and complexities, fluctuation of rage and inability of understanding the generation gaps and its harsh realities. Hard to believe that this gem is directed by a debutant (Shubhashish Bhutiani) who is only 26 years old. Surely a filmmaking prodigy in the development.

Overall, Mukti Bhawan is indisputably the best Hindi film of 2017.

Other Best Films:

1. Hindi Medium
2. Daddy
3. Rukh
4. Ajji
5. Phillauri
6. Lipstick Under My Burkha

Please share your views about my selections. Write your opinions in the comments below. Let me know if you don’t agree and explain your reasons.

Here, I conclude my special report about the best of Bollywood in 2017. I will be back next year with the same reporting for the year 2018. Thank you for reading. 

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My Bollywood’s Best of 2014

Since I became a blogger writing sporadic pieces, I have given my opinion for most of the movies I have watched. There was a time when I used to watch Hindi movies with utter passion but now I hang my glasses. With the calendar year passing by, my rate of watching Hindi-language movies have fallen drastically low now. Reasons are many but majorly what is lacking in nowadays Hindi-movies is a material which make you invest your time quality.

Bollywood still in its second decade of the century majorly lacks stories on which a perfect screenplay can be implemented and put to work. Quality of acting is not sublime and no matter how good the music sounds, the worse are the lyrics. Every beginning of the year, Bollywood and its pundits, moviegoers and viewers are focused on the most prestigious movies award, FILMFARE. Unfortunately, Filmfare also do not justify most of the awards and have richly fallen under the good-pockets and well-known showbiz families.

In the last five years, I have noticed a slight change in movie production companies introducing new faces or encouraging some deserving talents and publicizing their image and promoting their movies on a high scale. In 2014, contrary to my expectations, I have watched some good movies. I chose almost 25 movies from the list of Hindi-language movies of last year from Wikipedia, which helped me increase my options of deciding to pick a promising movie. Some were disappointing but some were exciting.

Today in this blog, I present to you my Bollywood’s best of 2014 from most of the categories I have scrutinized. This is the first time I am blogging for Bollywood and will also publish for Hollywood in near future. I will discuss most of the categories if not all and mention some noteworthy names related to that category. The categories are under three different sections.  So here I go;

MUSICAL SECTION

BEST BACKGROUND SCORE

A.R.RAHMAN (HIGHWAY)

Other Notable Works: Vishal Bharadwaj (Dedh Ishqiya), Amit Trivedi (Queen) & Mathias Duplessy (Finding Fanny)

 

BEST PLAYBACK SINGERS

MIR MUKHTIYAR ALI (FANNY RE – FINDING FANNY)

REKHA BHARDWAJ (JAGAAVE SAARI RAINA – DEDH ISHQIYA)

BEST SONG & LYRICS

PATAKHA GUDDI (NOORAN SISTERS/IRSHAD KAMIL/A.R.RAHMAN – HIGHWAY)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HDTS80dlr4

Other Notable Works: Bismil (Sukhwinder Singh/Gulzar/Vishal Bhardwaj – Haider)

 

BEST MUSIC

MATHIAS DUPLESSY (FINDING FANNY)

Other Notable Works: Amit Trivedi (Queen) & Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (2 States)

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TECHNICAL SECTION

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

SUDESH ADANA (BISMIL – HAIDER)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

PAYAL SALUJA (DEDH ISHQIYA)

There are two prominent features in Dedh Ishqiya which give you detailed texture – dialogues and costumes. Most of the shooting was done in Mahmudabad Palace near Barabanki. As per the script, the ancient Urdu era was revitalized with royalty. So this adds major concern with the two aforementioned features. Payal Saluja (Raanjhanaa, Ishqiya, Maqbool) has done fantastic work with costume designing and her first marks will raise your eyebrows when the attendees will gather at the royal party in Begum Para’s Haveli. Excellent dress-work on Naseeruddin Shah and Huma Qureshi and most impressively on Madhuri Dixit.

Other Notable Works: Dolly Ahluwalia (Haider) & Tabasheer Zutshi (Miss Lovely)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

TABASHEER ZUTSHI (MISS LOVELY)

Ashim Ahluwalia offers a close look at the C-grade pulp Hindi cinema of the eighties which used to make cheap horror-porn movies. It is a bold movie with an independent theme where the director exposes backstage dealings behind the curtains and problems in shooting such movies in the past. With such a script on the floor, all that matters to make the movie so special is costume and production design. If this movie proved its worth on global cinematic village, then full marks to aforementioned designing work, both projected by Tabasheer Zutshi.

Other Notable Works: Subrata/Amit (Haider & Dedh Ishqiya)

BEST SOUND DESIGN

RESUL POOKUTTY (HIGHWAY)

One of few impressive factors from Imtiaz Ali‘s road movie is Alia Bhatt, ARR’s background score, attractive locations, and sound design. The Rahman-Resul musical duo has proved the winner most of the time and also has an unforgettable achievement of bagging Academy Awards for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Although A.R.Rahman was off-color with average tracks but the sound designer was in full form.

Other Notable Works: Sanjay/Allwin (Queen) & Anilkumar/Prabal (Mardaani)

BEST SCENE

BEST EDITING

AARTI BAJAJ (UGLY)

Aarti Bajaj was the first spouse of Anurag Kashyap and is a regular movie editor for Anurag Kashyap and Imtiaz Ali movies. She is very responsible for their successful movies. The beauty of moviemaking lies in editing and my pick is Ugly. Ugly has a lot of turns, the script will fold you and different characters will puzzle you. Body smashing in a traffic accident in the same frame was pretty unnatural but the next scene of interrogation in the police station is very realistic. For me that was one of the best scenes of 2014, the reason is it was almost a 7-minute interrogation scene. Normally such scenes bore you but the editing is so marvelous that the scene grows and boils in your nerves. The way the Indian police take the case so light is fantastically shot and well-acted. Besides, scenes of driving, phone calls, searching and beatings, and many more brings a true color of translating fiction into reality. Wonderful editing!

Other Notable Works: Aarti Bajaj (Highway) & Sanjib Datta (Mardaani)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

PANKAJ KUMAR (HAIDER)

Photography! Brilliant work by Pankaj on Haider. I cannot go with details about this but among many movies, I found the cinematography of Haider the best one.

Other Notable Works: Anil Mehta (Finding Fanny & Highway)

BEST ACTION

SHAM KAUSHAL (UGLY)

Sorry if anyone feels this pick is offensive. I don’t have that level of enthusiasm for supernatural, unrealistic, and larger-than-life action movies of the Indian movie industry.  A lot of rage and fury, tortures and scorcher, gunshots and beatings. Ugly gives you a powerful display of action.

Other Notable Works: Manohar Verma (Mardaani)

BEST SCREENPLAY

RAJKUMAR HIRANI & ABHIJAT JOSHI (PK)

It was tough for me to pick the movie with the most outstanding screenplay. Yes PK deserves this credit. This pair Hirani/Joshi is enjoying the booming period of scripting one of the best movies viewers have witnessed since the last decade. Under Vinod Chopra Films, they have scripted the Munnabhai series, then 3 Idiots, and now PK. Every aforementioned movie has a message, a rising voice towards the system transforming to roar over changing the system. Being comical in nature, their scripts marvelously have touched almost every viewer’s heart to fully accept the nature of the movie. Every time their movies successfully inspire us with their trend-setting catchy dialogues. PK is no less than a revolution.

Both writers introduce an alien in the country of religions, hundreds of languages, and cultures. He misses a gadget and in quest loses his edge and adapts to the local language. Meanwhile, he suffers a colossal hindrance towards different religious ways of breathing life. With the flow of the script pulling the strings, the screenplay brilliantly develops characters to assist the alien to meet an end. Just another golden egg in their basket! Take a bow, guys!

Other Notable Works: Rajat Kapoor (Ankhon Dekhi) & Homi/Kersi (Finding Fanny)

BEST DIALOGUES

ANURAG KASHYAP (UGLY)

Natural!!!! very very lively and natural. No matter if that is a sick Shalini, tortured Chaitanya, opportunist Siddhant, or furious Shoumik; dialogues are not on paper but well expressed on lips. The viewer/listener will never feel an inch of unoriginality of conversation. As more there is intense, the more the dialogues burn you. The best examples are the 7-minute interrogation scene as mentioned before and where Shoumik sends Rahul to the prison where Chaitaniya is imprisoned and eating food. Wonderful job Keshyup sir!

Other Notable Works: Vishal Bharadwaj (Dedh Ishqiya) & Rajat Kapoor (Ankhon Dekhi)

 

BEST STORY

JANAKI VISHWANATHAN (YEH HAI BAKRAPUR)

Ok, the readers perhaps or surely will raise their eyebrows over this selection hehe but I am free to pick what I find more deserving. Many of you haven’t seen this movie and I promise you that the movie itself is below-average. But what attracts me the most is its story which is quite thought-provoking

Yeh Hai Bakrapur is a low-budget social satire based on the rural parts of India who blindly follow their faith. One small kid loves his goat and he doesn’t want it to get sold but his poor family has no solution to repay the debt. One young man who loves the kid’s sister comes with a brilliant plan with the goat by painting the name ‘Allah’ on the goat’s skin which makes the entire gaoonwalay fell in ultimate impression and belief that the goat is an angel and will be a sin to sell or sacrifice it. This rural blind faith following sketch is the bitter truth and a daring dilemma that speaks a lot of depth about the deception and extreme trust over something. Unfortunately, the direction was painful which bombed a very scintillating subject.

 Other Notable Works: Amole Gupte (Hawaa Hawaai) & Hirani/Joshi (PK)

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MAJOR SECTION

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

DIMPLE KAPADIA (FINDING FANNY)

She is my automatic pick. One of the finest actresses in Hindi cinema always adapts the skin of the character. She has played many different roles and in Finding Fanny, she maintains her rhythm. Dimple is Mrs. Rosalina “Rosie” Eucharistica, the self-appointed ‘Lady’ of Pocolim and mother-in-law of Deepika’s character Angie. She is over-proud for nothing and her nose touches the clouds. Some terrific screenplays ease acting gurus to add another highlight in their CV. A brilliant display of acting.

Other Notable Works: Amrita Singh (2 States) & Lillete Dubey (One by Two)

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

VIJAY RAAZ (DEDH ISHQIYA)

Tough one but this one is the best. It is not surprising for me that this man is one of the most underrated actors in Hindi cinema. His quality is that he makes the viewers observe him. He made his name from Rajat Kapoor’s Raghu Romeo. If small B’s not well-known movie ‘Run’ was a 50-50, then this ‘Kawwa Biryani’ actor was highly praised for his comedy. Amir Khan’s Delhi Belly was centered on three partners in crime but Vijay was again a specific name in talks. Now in Dedh Ishqiya, he plays another villainous role of Jaan Mohammad who is MLA-gangster of Mahmudabad. He doubles his poetry skills word-to-word copying from another poet to win Begum Paara’s heart, marry her and become the Nawab of Mahmudabad. The fury is hidden in his role as the greediness of the character gashes with the wait for approval from Begum Para. This Vijay Raaz deserves one prestigious award in his lifetime before the lifetime achievement award.

Other Notable Works: Tahir Raj Bhasin (Mardaani), Manav Kaul (Citylights), Pankaj Kapur (Finding Fanny), Rajat Kapoor (Ankhon Dekhi) & Vineet Kumar Singh (Ugly)

 

BEST ACTRESS

KANGANA RANAUT (QUEEN)

Although there have been many ladies in 2014 with majestic performances but none reach the clouds where Kangana was heavily raining. Kangana’s role of Rani Mehra in Queen is unanimous. She plays the role of a middle-class girl who wishes to spend her honeymoon with her soon-to-be husband in Paris. At the last moment, the man unties the knot and with all soreness of life knocking at the wrong time with tickets in hand, she decides to visit Paris by herself and breathe the life. There begins east-meet-west and sweet simple Delhi girl experience an unforgettable journey and befriends with people from different nationalities.

The flow of the story looks unnatural most of the time but let’s focus on Kangana. Since her debut, she looked promising, and finally, a feast is served as she displays her best performance ever. Her facial expressions are soooo natural and her normal behavior towards the unexpected Parisian lifestyle is fantastic. She will make you feel when her fiancé will inform her breakup in the beginning. She will make you stare when she will struggle to dance in the bar. You can’t ask for more than that. Queen is very Kangana-show.

Other Notable Works: Monali Thakur (Lakshmi), Seema Pahwa (Ankhon Dekhi), Alia Bhatt (Highway) & Tabu (Haider)

 

BEST ACTOR

SANJAY MISHRA (ANKHON DEKHI)

Yeah, it was a healthy competition between the three. Two were the most popular and the one was ignored at many functions (most probably because he doesn’t carry the personality which may give him stardom). I pick the latter because I believe Sanjay Mishra ran the character in fact the whole script on his strings with a perfect note.  As compared to the competitors, the movie wasn’t popular to the house of commons like PK and Haider but he was solely responsible to bring the movie to fame.

Sanjay plays Bauji from Dilli’s gharib-khana who has compromised with his ego to accept only those things as reality in life which he has witnessed by himself. Impact? He loses his job, his brother & family separate from home, his philosophical thoughts bring many close neighbors to his devotees. It is not only about the definition of his character but the aura he brought into it. Sanjay is a thespian and Bauji is melodramatic.

The character of Bauji will make you realize how comfortable how meaningful and how relief is the life you choose in the loud noisy world in your surrounding. People will laugh at you, make fun of you, of your wit and philosophy but you will remain calm. As the movie grows on you, you begin to judge him more, you begin to find him realistic more, you see yourself in him. As a father and a brother, you see the same Bauji in two different dimensions. He is an ass, a clown without makeup, and a simple man who has everything to lose. Story of a terrible man with irreparable fate. Truly the best performance of the year!!

Other Notable Works: Shahid Kapoor (Haider) & Aamir Khan (PK)

 

BEST DIRECTOR

HOMI ADAJANIA (FINDING FANNY)

Is Finding Fanny an Indian movie? I doubt, I really doubt. It will take the whole duration of the movie to find out that it is an Indian movie because of its extremely rich portrayal of realistic sketching of realism and the technicality of movie-making. When you watch this, you will feel like watching a Western European movie. Homi Adajania directed Being Cyrus and Cocktail before this.

From comedy to suspense, it is an absolute entertainer. The characters are defined in the beginning, the story is developed and sprinted without any nonsense. Screenplay and editing of the movie have also played a major part to praise the director’s efforts to make such an incredible movie.

Why direction is so effective? Why this movie looks different from the others? Because of Pocolim? To some degree, I agree but Homi’s homework paid off. To make the movie look creative, natural, and very realistic, Homi spent a month in village Salvador do Mundo of Goa and researched/learned its culture and local Goan Catholics. Superb direction!!

Other Notable Works: Hansal Mehta (CityLights), Anurag Kashyap (Ugly) & Rajat Kapoor (Ankhon Dekhi)

 

BEST MOVIE

ANKHON DEKHI

The last and most important category of my picking. Mithiya Talkies produced thought-provoking Ankhon Dekhi directed by Rajat Kapoor. Some movies are clobber dimensional and some are socially inspirational. Ankhon Dekhi is Rajat Kapoor’s miss call to those who have lost the battle of survival in life, who have gone hopeless to see the change, and who have borrowed some time to ease and overcome their agony.

In old Dilli gharana lives the patriarch, Bauji. He lives in a small house with his family combined with his brother’s family. Has a job on which he just survives. Has a daughter who has an affair with a vagabond. Has a wife who is no less than a heater. After a lot of problems circulating in his head, he decides to accept only those things as a reality that he has witnessed himself. This philosophy gives Bauji some disciples, but in off state, he loses his job applying this philosophy, his brother shifts to a new home with his family sick of him. Bauji has everything to lose.

Ankhon Dekhi has everything to impress you. The impressive story, brilliant screenplay, social satire, natural dialogues, simple costumes, one of the best performances by an ensemble cast of 2014. It had tough competition in this category but I found Ankhon Dekhi reclusive. A wonderful movie!!

Other Notable Works: Ugly, Kya Dilli Kya Lahore, Citylights, PK & Finding Fanny

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Movie Review: CityLights (2014)

What happens when a poor man from a village looks for a job in a city? What happens when he takes his family and settles down in metro-crowded-noisy city? One can never expect that anything will go absolutely right under his way. There goes a tremendous change in momentum of life and your initial steps are temporary hiccups to accept the changing circumstances over noisy and mad city. Making a movie on it may appeal some positive responses as the viewer takes the movie as something-about-to-happen experience. The movie-makers often make a comedy movie over rural-turn-urban life experience. But some become a socioeconomic subject for critical awareness to make you think how some of us taste such tragic encounters of life-changing gears. Migrated people always have that luck! 

That’s what happened couple of years ago when Sean Ellis made a British movie about a Filipino couples who had a land-migrating life-changing tragic experience from one part of Philippines to the other. The movie was ‘Metro Manila‘ that was Britain’s official entry for Best Foreign-Language Film at 86th Academy Awards last year. 

Metro Manila was an inspiration movie which reached to the doors of Indian movie industry. Citylights is produced under the banners of Vishesh Films and is official Indian remake of Metro Manila. Hansal Mehta was picked for the direction and the production of movie cost only ₹7 crore. Cast includes Rajkummar Rao (Love Sex aur Dhokha, Kai Po Che, Shahid), Manav Kaul and Rajkummar’s real-life girlfriend Patralekha. Set up is a poor young family of Rajasthan who migrates to Mumbai for money, better job and better future. Traveling all over from Rajasthan relying on one of close friend who never shows his face are all alone, homeless and self-dependent struggling to settle in crazy-life of Mumbai.

Hansal-Rajkummar collaborates as director-actor for the second time after critical acclaimed movie Shahid. Director put all faith in viewers to promise yet another splendid movie with powerful performances by Rajkummar and Manav Kaul.  

Rajkummar Rao is one amazing Haryana-born acting talent who always mesmerizes you with any role he plays. His characters are challenging. Since 2013, he is in magnificent form and picking very selective movies to bring a lot of critical attention among the movie pundits, journalists and sensible moviegoers. Citylights is his 3rd critical acclaimed performance after Kai Po Che and Shahid. As compared to KPC and Shahid, this role is more tougher. This character is more broken and shattered, and his migration with young wife and little daughter becomes a curse. Lost in the citylights, he is compromised with the naked truth that poverty is a disease and and every honest man is to be stripped. There are many high points in the movie and truly the most powerful scene is when he is drunk and return to his wife.

Citylights is an absolute portray of betrayal and gear-shift morale-collapsing tragic life-story. It is an emotional roller-coaster and depiction of fake-expectation of something called ‘Ray of Hope’ where survival is not in your fate. You are supposed to fell down from your own roof. One of best movies of 2014. Thumbs up for Hansal-Rajkummar partnership!

RATING: 8.8/10

Movie Review: Kai Po Che (2013)

Dil Chahta Hai, Rock On and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara all buddy movies had one thing common. All were urbanized. Abhishek Kapoor, who himself directed ‘Rock On’, used Chetan Bhagat’s novel ‘The 3 Mistakes of my Life’ as center-base and produced 3 middle-class Gujrati friends to mark a highly exceptional movie with an inspiring bond of friendship with a passage of time running with a limit. UTV Motion Pictures rocks again with ‘Kai Po Che’.

First, what is ‘Kai Po Che’? This is a Gujrati phrase that ‘I have cut the kite’. There is the only kite cutting scene where a friend roars up the title name of movie otherwise the name itself doesn’t really justify with the story at all. 

The movie is set in Ahmadabad, Gujarat back in 2000. The core characters are 3 childhood friends; Govind, Omkar (Omi) and Ishaan (Ish).

1. Govind is the smartest of all, educated and well wit in accounts and plans for a business venture of sports accessories.
2. Ishaan is highly ambitious cricket lover who suffered his cricketing time due to politics but want to produce highly talented cricketers from different districts.
3. Omkar is the middleman between the two who is a source of financing their dreams into reality.

Omi is nephew of Hindu politician Bittu mama and convinces him for a loan to get a place to open the shop. They get a shop for a business and a ground behind to train cricket to young lads. Ishan finds a richly talented hitter in a Muslim boy, Ali, belonging to a father running his political party in their community’s interest and in rivalry of Bittu mama’s party.

As the business grows, they open one more shop in a commercial mall. Meanwhile, Ishaan convinces Govind to teach his sister, Vidya, maths as exams are close. The teacher-student fells in love but hide their relation.

2001 is the year of a massive tragedy of earthquake in Gujarat where they lose their newly acquired shop in commercial mall. Ishaan is so much in Ali’s family and his community that he helps them find their shelter after their heavy loss. Whereas Omi begins working in his mama’s party and dedicated fully on Hindu’s interests. Ishaan and Omi’s friendship hits on communal issues.

The Gujarat elections begin and Omi goes busy in mama’s politics. Ali’s father surprisingly wins elections over Bittu’s party. During political campaign, Bittu sends kar sevaks to Ayodhya to Ram Mandir which includes Omi’s parents. Then news of Godhra Train Massacre hits all over Gujarat with a conspiracy that large no of Muslims burnt the train with all kar sevaks alive.

This news coveys a message of bloody riots to happen in Gujarat between Hindus and Muslims. The bond of Govind, Omi and Ishaan hiccups in 2002 Gujarat riots with Vidya’s love and Ali’s cricket in the cradle of justice.

The movie is a remarkable storytelling and pacefully directed by Abhishek. Raj Yadav is one acting name with a lot of talent who got popular movies like Love Sex and Dhoka, Gangs of Wasseypur 2 and Talaash in the beginning. With role of Govind, he do justice. Amit Sadh and Sushant Singh Rajput, both marks debut as Omi and Ishan respectively and comes surprisingly from soap operas. Amrita Puri  who was Sonam’s friend in ‘Aisha’ makes a good role as Ish’s sister and Govind’s love interest.

All the cast justified their role but I will rate Sushant and Manav Kaul’s roles as Ishaan and Bittu high as both were brilliant. Stage actor is terrific with a balance of his justification with pros and cons. Songs are well picturised and background score is tuning. The novel-based movie is of no nonsense but widely realistic and acceptable e.g. Indian cricket kits used in 2000 or Ishaan’s own cricketing skills make you think if he really is a player but he got 4 months cricket training under 2 coaches to make his role perfect. All homes are real where the characters lived showing simplicity of Gujarat life.

Movie Status: One of best Hindi movies of 2013

Rating: 8.6/10