Sonia Chopra
The Year of...Big Disasters
You heard that right. Insane money was spent on films that had no business getting made. Kambakkht Ishq, Blue, Chandi Chowk to China, London Dreams...the list goes on. Reports are divided on whether KI and Blue recovered their cost or not, but the latter were definite disasters. All these films were hollow and offensive. KI was sexist, racist and honestly, never should have been made. Ditto Blue, that had people sniggering through the emotional scenes. CCTC was a big blow for Akshay Kumar whose films rarely flop. And London Dreams, well, it has middle-aged men trying to pass off as rock stars. Salman Khan, looking positively jaded, woos his ladylove by saying, 'Say yes to me now, or I'm going into that pink Cadillac with the blondes'. How romantic, really! Made one think that eternal question: who are the people that make these films and how do they get people to finance them?
The Year of...Ranbir Kapoor
Ranbir Kapoor has wowed his audience this year. And made many established leading men in the industry very insecure. Kapoor starred in three films in 2009: Wake up Sid, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year. The year was proof of this actor's versatility. Playing an over-privileged brat in WUS, who is eventually inspired by his independent-minded girlfriend, Kapoor was adorable as the pizza-chomping charmer. In APKGK, he stunned viewers with his comic prowess. And as the budding entrepreneur in Rocket Singh, the character though far-fetched, was made convincing by Kapoor's histrionics. As far as box-office success goes, a resounding two out of three isn't bad at all!
The Year of...Katrina, Kareena, Konkona
The 'K' ladies ruled Bollywood this year. Katrina Kaif appeared in four films, including Blue where she had a cameo. Her New York, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and De Dana Dan are hits. This actress has scored a 10 on 10 this year!
Kareena Kapoor was seen in four films in 2009. Mr and Mrs Khanna and Kurbaan flopped. But she is basking in the rare reviews and success of Kambakkht Ishq and 3 Idiots.
Konkona Sen Sharma had three releases this year including the indie flick, The President is Coming. She played the central protagonist in Luck By Chance that received much critical acclaim. But most importantly, Sen Sharma surprised everyone by giving one of the bigger commercial hits this year i>Wake up Sid.
The Year of...Guy Movies
No offence guys, we know you have better taste, but Kambakkht Ishq and Blue were touted as essentially guy movies with Sylvester Stallone and Kylie Minogue thrown in. After all, which woman would enjoy Akshay Kumar pawing a girl or a bike racing to blow a woman's skirt so you would see a close-up of her innerwear (Blue)? Even the nice films mostly ignored women characters this year. Wake up Sid thankfully had an interesting female character played wonderfully by Konkona Sen Sharma, but in the end, it was Sid's movie. Ditto 3 Idiots that reduced the talented Kareena Kapoor's role to a glorified cameo.
The Year of...Flop Debuts
Leaving out now international superstars Freida Pinto and Dev Patel out, 2009 was a disappointing year for newcomers. From poor Jaccky Bhagnani to Jacqueline Fernandez to Sohum Shah to Aamna Shariff to Nausheen Ali Sardar and Gayatri Patel (Let's Dance). This was the year of flop debuts.
Some talented ones were launched in faulty debut vehicles, while others were given a platform by their daddies; but overall this year was unkind to the debut leading artistes. The only ones that made a mark were in multi-actor movies. Some that did leave an impression were Mahie Gill, Kalki Koechlin, Giselle Monteiro and Chandan Roy Sanyal (Kaminey).
The Year of...Hazy Politics
Being politically correct and responsible was not on Bollywood's agenda. Kambakkht Ishq was unbelievably sexist and racist; in fact its promotional tagline was, 'women are good for only two things', that met with a lot of dissent and was finally underplayed. 99 starring Kunal Khemu and Soha Ali Khan promoted crime among the youth. Kurbaan was shocking in its irresponsible portrayal of Islamic terrorism. De Dana Dan was a 'comedy' revolving around money procured from dowry. How did the censors pass this one?
The Year Of...the Decade's Best Movies
Like we mentioned, this year saw extreme highs and lows. While most films disappointed, some broke new ground and are likely to remain etched in the viewers' minds forever. Dev.D was a breakthrough film for many reasons; it shifted Devdas's story to rustic North India. It showed desire in all its honesty and portrayed the heroine lusting after the hero as well (a sacrilege in our films)! Love Aaj Kal starts off with a break-off and then shows the parted couple going on to find new people. Luck By Chance was hugely entertaining for its behind-the-scenes portrayal of the film industry (though a bit too sanitised). Firaaq was an incredibly moving directorial debut by Nandita Das. Quick Gun Murugun made us laugh till we cried and Kaminey was an incredibly intense treat. And Paa, that made us respect Amitabh Bachchan like never before, is easily one of the best films we've seen this decade.
The Year of...Comedies
Almost all hits this year had something to do with comedy. Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, All the Best, Quick Gun Murugun, De Dana Dan were out-and-out comedies. Dramas like 3 Idiots, Love Aaj Kal, Paa (the audience loved the funny lines) and Wake up Sid too had very strong comic elements. Looks like the audience gave comedies the thumps up this year! Might we add, Kambakkht Ishq and Blue too were comedies, unintentional ones though.
The Year of... Slumdog Millionaire
This indeed was the year of Danny Boyle-directed Slumdog Millionaire. The film, a phenomenon worldwide, arrived in India a little late. Though Indian viewers liked the film, they wondered what the fuss was all about. We weren't as fascinated by the Slumdog's story because we knew it all too well. However, the film remains important because it gave our favourite composer AR Rahman international recognition. Resul Pookutty (sound) and Gulzar (lyrics) too were noticed for their extraordinary work. And Jai Ho lives on.
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