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.

Film Review: Toofan (2021)

Toofan is a fictional sports drama of a local extortionist Aziz Ali (Farhan Akhtar) in Dongri who begins to take boxing seriously and face challenges while trying to make his name.

Okay, first of all, this is Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra‘s film who has the distinction to have directed some critically acclaimed Dilli-themed pictures like Rang De Basanti, Delhi-6, and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. So you expect him to deliver another masterpiece remembering how excellent those films were. Unfortunately, that is not the case this time. Something is wrong with Toofan. Not something, a lot of things.

The Rakeysh-Farhan magical combo from Bhaag Milkha Bhaag had too much at stake to surpass the hype of presenting another sports drama on the same line of sublime artistry. But perhaps Rakeysh overthought about the consequences and lost in execution.

One thing about Toofan being a sports drama is that in the first hour, you as a viewer ask yourself do you actually need to watch just another boxing story with stereotypical content. Why am I watching? The first half an hour makes you think how is it any different from any other boxing dramas you have watched. It is sooo sooo predictable.

And then the love angle, where you get the obviousness of the sub-plot connections for the next 30 minutes in rolling. The best friend of the leading character being the most best friend thing ever. The strictest coach rejecting the boxer in the beginning and getting impressed later enough to take him to the competition. The dialogues are less-inspiring.

The score is okayish and the tracks (besides ‘Ananya’ track) sound like some old unused tracks from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy‘s warehouse finally getting played. The reason I say this is because Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to Excel Entertainment is what A.R.Rahman is to Madras Talkies, mostly giving top-class music and tracks throughout their career.

Even Rakeysh’s direction lost grip on many scenes where he could have made an impact. He badly missed using Farhan and Paresh‘s talents to use in the tragedy scenes when Farhan sees the body at the platform and Paresh throws the ashes in the sea. They could have done wonders there. And Supriya Pathak is terribly wasted in such a short character.

After an hour when the coach realizes who Toofan loves is exactly when the film gets interesting. Out of 160 screen minutes, it is the middle part that is the heart of the film that has nothing to do with boxing. A Muslim boxer marrying a Hindu doctor and breaking stereotypes is something I wanted to see in the film and has been depicted so well. The rising conflicts of an interfaith marriage is a subject less challenged in writing.

Farhan’s body transformation and those exercises are also the best portions of the film. In acting, Farhan didn’t come up to the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara levels. It was Paresh Rawal who played an excellent supporting role.

For the sake of the middle portion of the plotting, Toofan deserved better writing, a potential screenplay to run on the sensitive blades of the content which the film terribly missed.

Ratings: 3/10

My Bollywood’s Best of 2016

The thing is that I am indulged in presenting the very best of Hindi-language cinema every year and I enjoy investing my precious time for the sensible readers and filmgoers who would like to know what honestly have been the best films under different categories. It is a common understanding that the film awards in India have lost its credibility by handing the awards mostly to the wrong hands from a very list of nominations. It exasperates me when the deserving individual or a film is not recognized on the stage in any given function.

For the past two years, I am making such a specific blog to recognize the contributions from the Indian films released in India in that specific calendar year. You may read my previous selections here in 2014 and 2015.

This blog will focus on the year 2016. Like before, I will segregate the categories in 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 2016: Chauranga, Wazir, Chalk N Duster, Airlift, Saala Khadoos, Neerja, The Blueberry Hunt, Fan, Nil Battey Sannata, Traffic, Buddha in a Traffic Jam, Sarbjit, Veerappan, Waiting, Dhanak, Te3n, Raman Raghav 2.0, Madaari, M Cream, Pink, Parched, Dear Zindagi, Dangal, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Baar Baar Dekho, Udta Punjab, Kapoor & Sons, Fitoor, Mirzya, and Aligarh.

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 clear that the films are not ranked in ‘Other Notable Works’.

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MUSICAL SECTION

BEST BACKGROUND SCORE

TAPAS RELIA (DHANAK)

Other Notable Works:

1. Mikey McCleary (Waiting)
2. Studio Fuzz (M Cream)

BEST PLAYBACK SINGERS

There wasn’t a decent vocal competition in the year 2016. I have listened to a lot of tracks from the 4-5 successful music albums of the films and I found only a couple of male tracks from the same film and a few good female singing in the other films but still not good enough.

AMIT MISHRA (BULLEYA – AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL)

Other Notable Work: Arijit Singh (Channa Mereya – Ae Dil Hai Mushkil)

NEETI MOHAN (SAU AASMAAN – BAAR BAAR DEKHO)

Other Notable Works:

1. Qurat-Ul-Balouch (Kaari Kaari – Pink)
2. Kanika Kapoor (Da Da Dasse – Udta Punjab)

BEST SONG & LYRICS

CHANNA MEREYA (ARIJIT SINGH/AMITABH BHATTACHARYA/PRITAM – AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL)

Other Notable Works:

1. Tere Bin (Sonu Nigam-Shreya Ghoshal/Vidhu Vinod Chopra/Shantanu Moitra – Wazir)
2. Pashmina (Amit Trivedi/Swanand Kirkire – Fitoor)
3. Gehra Ishq (Shekhar Ravjiani/Prasoon Joshi/Vishal Khurana – Neerja)

BEST MUSIC

AMIT TRIVEDI (UDTA PUNJAB)

Other Notable Works:

1. Tapas Relia (Dhanak)
2. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Mirzya)

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TECHNICAL SECTION

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

ASHIMA BELAPURKAR (PARCHED)

Other Notable Work: Theia Tekchandaney & Shruti Wadetiwar (Neerja)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

ANNA IPE & APARNA SUD (NEERJA)

Other Notable Work: Amardeep Behl (Parched)

BEST SOUND DESIGN

SUBHASH SAHU (NEERJA)

Other Notable Works:

1. Boby John (Dhanak)
2. Vinit D’Souza (Raman Raghav 2.0)

BEST SCENE

MADAARI

There have been few scenes in my mind which were quite outstanding. Like Aliya’s expressions of misery to Shahid in Udta Punjab, or Nawazuddin killing a family in Raman Raghav 2.0, or the hijacking scene in Neerja, or the final court scenes in Pink. But I decided to choose the winner between two of the best scenes of the year 2016. Shakun Batra’s marvelous direction bemused me about the selection of the best scene of the film. The plumber scene, Annu aunty in party scene, and the truths-revelation scene before the family photo all carried equal weight of remarkable sketch of a highly intense family drama. So undecided that I prefer to conclude the winning scene with Irrfan’s showstopper and a heart-melting scene from Madaari when he asks for whereabouts of his son in the hospital. Perhaps no one would bring the efforts what Irrfan did here and hence proved again why is he the most inspiring actor holding more demand in the global cinema than any other Indian. This scene really beats the others.

BEST EDITING

GAIRIK SARKAR (TE3N)

Other Notable Works:

1. Aarti Bajaj (Raman Raghav 2.0)
2. Monisha R Baldawa (Neerja)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

MINGJUE HU (M CREAM)

Other Notable Work:

1. Chirantan Das (Dhanak)
2. Priya Seth (Airlift)
3. Jay Oza (Raman Raghav 2.0)
4. Satyajit Pande (Dangal)

BEST ACTION

Parvez Singh (Raman Raghav 2.0)

The action is not about larger-than-life supernatural fights. My science of understanding here says to me that the action is when the reality is bound to bring intensity in the screenplay. Violence is the key, torture is a form and dismantling the brain and eyes towards the seriousness of the buildup is where the finest of action qualifies. Neerja and Raman Raghav 2.0 were the only films in my mind. Neerja’s technical aspects helped to build the intensity from hijacking till the last attempt of escaping. Whereas Raman Raghav 2.0 was a silent screamer and a gritty writing making the viewers hopeless and disconsolate of any likelihood of survival, the bloodbath is a sine qua non.  

BEST SCREENPLAY

RITESH SHAH (PINK)

Other Notable Works:

1. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Neeraj Singh, Pranjal Choudary, and Nitesh Tiwari (Nil Battey Sannata)
2. Gauri Shinde (Dear Zindagi)

BEST DIALOGUES

SHAKUN BATRA & AYESHA DEVITRE DHILLON (KAPOOR & SONS)

Other Notable Works:

1. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Neeraj Singh, Pranjal Choudary, and Nitesh Tiwari (Nil Battey Sannata)
2. Atika Chohan (Waiting)
3. Agneya Singh (M Cream)
4. Ritesh Shah (Pink)

BEST STORY

NITESH TIWARI (NIL BATTEY SANNATA)

Other Notable Works:

1. Bikas Ranjan Mishra (Chauranga)
2. Anu Menon, James Ruzicka, and Atika Chohan (Waiting)
3. Agneya Singh (M Cream)
4. Gauri Shinde (Dear Zindagi)

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MAJOR SECTION

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

RATNA PATHAK (KAPOOR & SONS)

 

Parched acting trio of Tannishtha, Radhika and Surveen was highly expected to surpass the expectations but the trio of Pink was a massive surprise to me. Alia Bhatt gave her remarkable presence in Kapoor & Sons.

Well, a pause in the clause is that the Indian theater actresses will eat your skull if they outplayed the emotional character. Shabana Azmi for Neerja and Ratna Pathak for Kapoor & Sons were the most standout performances from this category. It wasn’t easy to pick and ignore the other nor do I want any joint winners. But as per the capacity of acting and appeal on the screentime, Ratna had more space to suffer Mr. Kapoor and Sons than the mother of Neerja waiting for the updates after the hijacking incidence. Ratna had more time to fight and argue with more than an individual at a time than Shabana’s emotional resistance. 

Other Notable Works:

1. Shabana Azmi (Neerja)
2. Kirti Kulhari (Pink)
3. Tannishtha Chatterjee (Parched)
4. Alia Bhatt (Kapoor & Sons)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

RISHI KAPOOR (KAPOOR & SONS)

The mad terrorist in Neerja was phenomenal as well as a highly potential debut of the singer Diljit Dosanjh in Udta Punjab. Rajkummar was decent in assisting Manoj Bajpayee in Aligarh and Vicky Kaushal is rapidly making his name with Masaan and 2.0. But the real focus was on the dadaji of the dysfunctional family in Kapoor & Sons.

Yes, the makeup has a prominent role in the building of the character which doubles the charm in the performance like how Amitabh brought the momentum in his Auro character in Paa after an extraordinary change in his stature and looks. But Rishi as a nonagenarian fittingly classified as the best dadaji whose role grew on the viewers with the growing heat in the disturbed family. Chintuji and Amitji are the only boys of the 70s badge who are regularly performing in the selective roles being recognized with the positive responses in today’s cinema. And this role again defines Rishi’s versatility in acting. The film would be incomplete if Rishi would not have been picked for this role. 

Other Notable Works:

1. Jim Sarbh (Neerja)
2. Vicky Kaushal (Raman Raghav 2.0)
3. Diljit Dosanjh (Udta Punjab)
4. Rajkummar Rao (Aligarh)

BEST ACTRESS

ALIA BHATT (UDTA PUNJAB)

If there is any category which was the most impressive, that was the performances of the leading actresses in the films released in the year 2016. There is Swara Bhaskar who is rapidly becoming of the noticeable actresses who brought a spectacular performance to her credit in Nil Battey Sannata. The body language and the emotional details of her character-play were striking. Kalki’s strong CV continues to fill more golden pages with Waiting. Ash in Sarbjit was a surprise package. Throughout her acting career, this is easily her first and best acting performance. That is the other thing that Ash doesn’t resemble or remind us Dalbir Kaur but the director has really worked with Ash on her character. People were informing me that Taapsee has done a wonderful job in Pink and I was not coming out of my visual understanding after watching her in Chashme Baddoor. Taapsee Pannu displayed a powerful role and I hope she is not a one-role wonder lady.

As far as Alia is in the wacky race, she is my girl for this category. She is at the peak of her career and easily one of the fastest growing actresses in the Indian cinema. Alia does have a lot of help at home from her mother Soni Razdan who has pulled the strings of acting and playing mentally complicated characters in many of her husband’s films in the 80s and 90s, and papa Mahesh Bhatt who has been critical in making top-notch films in the parallel cinema. But then, it is the baby who has to face the camera and has every potential to make her name with acting greats like Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Tabu, or Nandita Das in very near future.

She began performing from Highway and sought attention from the sensible viewers including me. But 2016 is her best year ever with high-class performances in not one but three films (Kapoor & Sons, Dear Zindagi, and this). As far as the mental or physical challenge is the condition, it definitely is her role of Mary Jane in Udta Punjab which beats the other competitors in the wacky race. She has shown the misery of a girl stuck in the series of unfortunate events. You feel sorry for the character but when you feel apologetic, there is Alia’s success to justify the role she plays. Highway’s Veera Tripathi and Udta Punjab’s Mary Jane have suffered but their character-destruction from Alia’s visual presentation is different. Well done Alia. 

Other Notable Works:

1. Swara Bhaskar (Nil Battey Sannata)
2. Taapsee Pannu (Pink)
3. Kalki Koechlin (Waiting)
4. Sonam Kapoor (Neerja)
5. Aishwarya Rai (Sarbjit)

BEST ACTOR

MANOJ BAJPAYEE (ALIGARH)

If you are mature enough to understand the credibility of the actor and his substance of a performance in a given screentime, you will realize that the award functions in India are commercialized which depends on revenue and care less for the individuals who deserve the award at the right time in their lives. In 2015, Filmfare omitted Sanjay Mishra for Ankhon Dekhi, who was a clear winner in the category of Best Actor. Last year, Filmfare omitted Nawazuddin for Manjhi who actually was the most deserving individual to win the category of Best Actor.  And now a hattrick of blunder is completed with Manoj Bajpayee’s turn who lost his place to get into the nominations. And most of the viewers will raise the eyebrows over the quality of decision making by the juries who repeatedly add box-office mahatmas, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan, in the category almost every year from nowhere.

This is easily Bajpayee’s best performance ever and is the toughest character of a homosexual teacher he can play. The best part of the role is his complexity towards the sexual orientation for which he is suspended and bringing his ass to the court. He has a portion of love for the lettering and listening to Lata’s songs but overall a disturbed soul. He is a departed loner but expects people to understand him. Bajpayee has given the word ‘Tragedy’ a fresh cinematic meaning. A wonderful and very underrated performance I subject to recognize here.

Besides, Shahid enjoys another successful year with another role of a maniac, this time in Udta Punjab. Shahid is like Saif Ali Khan who is reintroduced to the viewers as a promising actor not to ignore. After a series of repeated failures, Shahid is finally off the mark from Haider. Irrfan’s Madaari is another brutal omission from the same category in Filmfare and you will be surprised to know that besides Paan Singh Tomar, he has never been nominated in this category in Filmfare.

Naseer sir in Waiting is magnificent as always in almost every film which he is part of. Amitabh had three different roles in Wazir, Pink, and Te3n, and I must say that Amitji at this age has become more choosy in his roles than ever. Since 2015, he has played some very good roles in Shamitabh, Piku, and the above-mentioned films. If I have to pick between the three, it would be Te3n.

By watching his superior performances in first Badlapur and now Raman Raghav 2.0, I am fully convinced that if in any timeline the Batman franchise happens to drop in Indian cinema, the only actor who can play the role of the Joker is Nawazuddin Siddiqui. His latest role of a psychotic killer will disturb you, by watching this performance you will never wish to meet him. What Randeep did in Sarbjit was the most dedicating among all the best performances of 2016. He lost 18 kgs in 28 days to justify his role in the prison life. Randeep presents you the pain of being an unfortunate and displays an impressive emotional drop and terrific body language. He makes the viewers feel when he groans and express his pain to Aishwarya in the prison.

Other Notable Works:

1. Shahid Kapoor (Udta Punjab)
2. Irrfan Khan (Madaari)
3. Naseeruddin Shah (Waiting)
4. Randeep Hooda (Sarbjit)
5. Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Raman Raghav 2.0)
6. Amitabh Bachchan (Te3n)

BEST DIRECTOR

GAURI SHINDE (DEAR ZINDAGI)

Besides the names mentioned below, the competition for this category, in my opinion, was between Shakun Batra and Gauri Shinde. Both were the masterclass in utilizing the scripts. But I picked Gauri the winner from this category. Shakun’s impressive direction has a blend of major other aspects involved like very realistic dialogues, a lot of impressive performances within a scene etc but Gauri’s direction heavily depends on Alia’s character growth in the film especially a very important first half before Shahrukh is introduced.

Other Notable Works:

1. Shakun Batra (Kapoor & Sons)
2. Ram Madhvani (Neerja)
3. Anurag Kashyap (Raman Raghav 2.0)
4. Abhishek Chaubey (Udta Punjab)
5. Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury (Pink)

BEST FILM

KAPOOR & SONS

I mean what else? what really else can be a better film than Kapoor & Sons? A decent family drama which portrays/sketches a dysfunctional family with mix elements of humor and suspense. The film has no nonsense of silly masala, item numbers or unnecessary cameo appearances despite the fact that the film was produced under the banner of Dharma Productions. Then the film is very honest to its script and describes a shattered bond in a very distinctive way.

There are numerous amazing scenes which catch our attention swiftly because we are accustomed to our domestic life especially the plumber scene. Then the revelation of secrets and a tragic accident. The film touches your heart. The remaining plusses are left with superb performances from all the major cast. Everyone has his share and their roles carry the same depth. And that is the beauty of the film that there is no leading character. Every major character is supporting to the other.

Other Notable Works:

1. Dhanak
2. Nil Battey Sannata
3. Waiting
4. Neerja
5. Dear Zindagi
6. Udta Punjab
7. M Cream
8. Pink

(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.)

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