| What was hot & not in 2006 |
Now it's been a year of ups and downs, successes and failures, and of course, lots of lessons for everyone. Hopefully the mistakes made in 2006 won't be repeated in 2007. We're all going home with something valuable. Let's take a look at 10 things we learnt this year:
< src="http://202.87.40.52/promos/sponsor_news.js">Hrithik Roshan is a superhero.
I mean think about it. He turned two just about average films into moneyspinning blockbusters. Don't forget, both "Krrish" and "Dhoom 2" were watchable only for Hrithik's fantastic performances. Take Hrithik out of these films and what you're left with are two extremely amateurish films which have little to offer in terms of either plot or entertainment.
Ranvir Sheorey is a comic genius.
Nobody's made us laugh this hard since Paresh Rawal in "Hera Pheri". Ranvir Sheorey delivered a double whammy in "Khosla Ka Ghosla" and "Pyaar Ke Side Effects", practically stealing the show from his co-stars in both films. He brings an endearing goofiness to such everyday characters that you want to see more and more of him in every film.
Vivek Oberoi needs some serious career guidance.
First "Pyaare Mohan", then "Naksha". And we're just talking about this year. Come on Mr Oberoi, pick yourself up from the floor, dust your pants, stop sobbing about your break-up with Aishwarya and show us that spark we saw in "Company".
Himesh Reshammiya knows how to make a noise.
Love him or loathe him but you can't ignore him. He had a whole bunch of chartbusters this year including "Jhalak dikhlaja" from "Aksar", "Zara Jhoom Jhoom" from "Tom Dick & Harry" and "A-a-ashiqui mein teri" from "36 China Town". Sure the best soundtracks may have belonged to AR Rahman and Pritam, but nobody grabbed headlines the way Himesh did this year. His nasal voice, his beard, the hat on his head, everything was discussed. In terms of attention, no one got as much as Himesh did. However, the signature clothing line and a film starring him might be a bit much.
Ash and Abhishek have zero chemistry on screen.
It's official guys, on screen Aishwarya and Abhishek are as bland as frozen yoghurt. I mean just go watch "Umrao Jaan", they share the intensity of a light bulb. Their romantic scenes lack any spark and their bedroom banter that's meant to be passionate is actually quite hilarious. After "Dhai Akshar Prem Ke" and "Kuch Na Kaho", their non-chemistry in "Umrao Jaan" is strike three, game over. For real chemistry refer to Ash and Salman in "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" or Abhishek and Rani in "Yuva". As for "Guru" in which they're starring together, perhaps Mani knows best.
The hype for Don was more fun that the movie itself.
Will he match upto the Big B? Can he do justice to Khaike paan banaraswala? What will Bachchan think of the remake? I mean, admit it, all the hype and all the excitement leading upto the film's release was way more exciting than the film itself. Today's biggest superstar stepping into the shoes of the country's favourite actor. It was headline news from the moment they announced the film to the time you stepped into the cinema. As far as I'm concerned, the film itself did very little to justify the hype.
These people should be bigger stars: Arshad Warsi, Sanjay Suri, Konkona Sensharma.
It was the year of Arshad Warsi. Many felt his timing was better than Sanju's in "Lage Raho Munnabhai" and nobody can deny the fact that he practically chewed up John Abraham in "Kabul Express." He even rocked in "Golmaal" and "Anthony Kaun Hai". It's high time they stop casting him as the sidekick and use him as a lead now.
Sanjay Suri was perhaps the only saving grace in "Bas Ek Pal", he pumped life into that film and has been consistently delivering admirable performances. Can someone please pull him out of low-budget indies and cast him in a movie worthy of his talent!
As for Konkona Sensharma, she dazzled in Aparna Sen's "15 Park Avenue" and Naseeruddin Shah's "Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota", and in "Omkara" she just stood out because she performed so naturally amidst a bunch of made-up beauties. Sure it's a compliment when you call her today's Smita Patil, but let that not be an excuse to resign her to arty films only. She deserves to be up there with the Ranis and the Aishwaryas.
Mallika Sherawat can act.
Let's pretend "Shaadi Se Pehle" didn't happen, and let's consider only "Darna Zaroori Hai" and "Pyaar Ke Side Effects". I have to say, Mallika was a revelation. In that teeny-weeny role in "Darna Zaroori Hai" she practically overshadows Anil Kapoor. And in "Pyaar Ke Side Effects", she's so damn good that the film is considerably enhanced by the quality of her performance. In all fairness with that performance in "Murder" she'd proved already that there's more to her than those quotable quotes. But this year she's convinced us that she's got acting chops to match that big mouth of hers.
Making fun of the handicapped is sick!
Comedies about dumb and deaf protagonists are just not funny. And the box office performance of "Pyaare Mohan", "Tom Dick & Harry" and "Chup Chup Ke" have proved that insensitive jokes about the handicapped don't go down too well. These films were tasteless, they were hurtful, and to top it all they really weren't even funny. The lines weren't clever, the jokes were childish and quite frankly, actors like Dino Morea, Anuj Sawhney and Jimmy Shergill don't exactly deliver sterling performances with all their senses intact - can you imagine how bad they were pretending to be dumb, deaf and blind?
Ramgopal Varma has officially lost it.
He produced three colossal duds this year - "Darna Zaroori Hai", "Darwaza Bandh Rakho" and "Shiva". As if that wasn't bad enough, Ramu spent the most part of 2006 forging ahead with his ambitious but arrogant dream project "Ramgopal Varma Ke Sholay" in which he's cast Ajay Devgan as Veeru and some random fellow called Prakash Raj as Jai.
A legal notice from the producers of the original "Sholay" notwithstanding, Ramu insists his version will be an audacious remake of the first. With Amitabh Bachchan stepping in to play Gabbar, Ramu says his casting's just perfect, but the industry says Ramgopal Varma has lost it.
Rajeev Masand
Udne Ki Aasha
Kumkum Bhagya
Arjun
