Hrithik beat them all in 2006

Trade pundits haven't stopped counting the moolah that Hindi films made this year. The champagne is still flowing...

WINNERS ALL The movies that made it this year. "Dhoom 2"

The year 2006 was unlike any other for the Hindi film industry. Gandhigiri, superheroes, new age patriotism, broken marriages, comedies... almost everything worked. Subhanallah (Fanaa) and Masti ki Paatshala (Rang De Basanti) topped the charts as did Beedi (Omkara) and Rock 'n' Roll (Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna). Here's a deconstruction of the year that whizzed by.

Clean sweep: Sequels (Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Krrish and Dhoom 2) and a remake (Don) were the highest grossers. Despite the remake fever, there was scope for original screenplays too. "Jaadu Ki Jappi touched a lot of lives after Munnabhai MBBS. With Gandhigiri, though, we took a huge risk. We wanted thought-provoking humour and not sound preachy.

The success has been humbling," says Rajkumar Hirani. Not being preachy also worked for new-age patriotism, Rang De Basanti and Fanaa being cases in point. RDB became a reference point to a number of protests across the nation and Fanaa benefited largely due to Aamir Khan and Kajol.

Exotic locations (Korea in Gangster and Namibia/Brazil in Dhoom 2) not withstanding, biggies drew attention through overseas previews (Krrish in Singapore, Don in Malaysia and Kabul Express in Dubai). Clever and aggressive marketing helped a number of films get the cash in both domestic and overseas markets.

Small is beautiful:

A few small films braved the tide and had their share of fun. A middle class family's fight for its house (Khosla Ka Ghosla), bags of money and troubles (Malamaal Weekly), a tale of two women and their tryst with destiny (Dor), the 24-hour taxi ride (Taxi no.9211), a gangster and his moll (Gangster) and a few comedies (Golmaal, Apna Sapna Money Money) brought in more moolah. Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara, meanwhile, became a case study for the adaptation of Othello and Saif Ali Khan walked away with the honours for his portrayal of Langda Tyagi.

The damp squibs

The lacklustre response to J.P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan came as an anticlimax to all the Rekha-Ash.

Even the speculations surrounding the Ash-Abshishek romance couldn't sustain the film.

Where's the Varma magic? Shiva, Darna Zaroori Hai, Darwaza Bandh Rakho... Ram Gopal Varma's films failed to create any stir at the BO.

Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate too didn't get people talking on the movers and shakers of the business world as they did on Page 3.

And Baabul wasn't a Baghban. The weepy saga didn't make viewers buy more tissue packs and head to cinema halls.

It's a deal: Sharp business acumen is an integral part of success stories. Brand tie-ups apart, production houses are mulling over contacts with actors. Reports of Hrithik Roshan and Akshay Kumar being approached by Adlabs for a handful of films has fuelled talks on the emergence of a studio system similar to Hollywood.

Unspooling 2007:

"There are some promising films lined up. But matching up to the success rate of 2006 won't be easy," says film trade analyst Komal Nahata. He enlists a few films that are already shouldering expectations.

A story that's reportedly based on the life of Dhirubai Ambani, A.R. Rahman's magical tunes and an ensemble star cast has done the publicity for Mani Ratnam's Guru, scheduled to release in January.

Meanwhile, Mira Nair's The Namesake has been drawing attention at international film festivals. The film will release in India in Feb-March. The other biggies are Nikhil Advani's Salaam-e-Ishq, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Eklavya and the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak de India.

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