Bollywood's New Years' Resolutions for 2009

When will she get the message? The fact that she hasn't had a hit since Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna should be enough indication that post-Black, the once-reigning queen of Bollywood has been de-throned. It seems to be clear to everyone, but Rani, that one of the foremost reasons for her recent failures is the fact that she continues to flaunt her loyalty for Yash Raj Films by continuously starring in only their productions. She should learn from actors like Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who have achieved great success without much help from the Chopra clan. Yet, considering her upcoming line-up of films, it doesn't look like Rani will be getting that crown back any time soon.
Katrina Kaif should stop riding off of the success of Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan.

Despite the fact that she is considered a huge draw at the box office, how many of her successes can actually be attributed to her? Besides Namastey London, that would be zero. As beautiful as she is, so far Katrina hasn't given us any reason to believe she has an acting bone in her body. As a star her profile has sky-rocketed thanks to her personal attachment to Salman Khan and the fact that she has been associated with Akshay's hit hat-trick. Thankfully, it seems Katrina is well-aware of this and has signed future films with actors like John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Ranbir Kapoor. It's about time Katrina moved away from the 40+ hero brigade she's always attached to.

Salman Khan should rediscover himself as an actor and re-evaluate his diminishing career.

Like Rani Mukerji, one often wonders whether Salman Khan actually cares about his career. Not a single film of his worked at the box office this year, despite Heroes being a decent flick (no thanks to Salman, though). It's a sad day when newcomers like Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan and the likes are giving far better performances than one of the foremost superstars of the country. Perhaps he should look around at contemporaries like Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. I don't think I need to elaborate. It's time Salman Khan found the actor within him'if not for himself, then at least for thousands of fans that stick by his side despite his accumulating bank of flops.

Priyanka Chopra should be more careful when choosing films.

She may have made a grand comeback with Fashion and Dostana in the last few months, but Priyanka's unbelievable six-flops-in-a-row cannot be overlooked. Beginning with Salaam-e-Ishq and ending with Drona, the last two years or so have been the darkest days of her career. Of course, very few actors can consistently pick great scripts, but for a while there we were all beginning to wonder whether Priaynka can actually read or not. In an effort to do something different, Priyanka unfortunately seemed to take any script that came her way. Here's to hoping she puts on her glasses before signing a film!

Kareena Kapoor should stop basking in the success of 2007 and do something worthwhile again.

Whether you agree or not, I think everyone has come to terms with the fact that Kareena Kapoor walked out of 2007 a winner, taking home great accolades for her tour-de-force performance in Jab We Met. But after an actress does something so exciting, you really expect them to do something great to follow it up. Unfortunately, Tashan and Roadside Romeo didn't do much for her career while Golmaal Returns will probably never be remembered in her filmography despite being a big hit. Besides 3 Idiots, none of her future films are particularly exciting either. At this stage of the game, she needs to stop living in 2007 and realize that if she wants to continue being considered one of the top actresses in the industry, she needs to work for it. One or two good performances are not enough!

Akshay Kumar should do something other than a comedy.

He's damn good at it, but Akshay Kumar's comedic routine is getting slightly monotonous now. The fact that you are forced to walk into his films pretending like you don't have a brain is slowly getting on my nerves. Even in films that aren't comedic by nature, he usually plays a comedy role (Tashan). He's a great actor so it would be nice to see him exploring other genres that might bring out something completely different in him. Though he has Nagesh Kukunoor's Eight By Ten coming up, one wonders when it will actually see the light of day. Perhaps for now we can only look forward to laughing our butts off in Chandni Chowk to China.


Minissha Lamba should stop trying so hard!

After a sincere performance in Bachna Ae Haseeno, Minissha Lamba suddenly switches lanes, donning a bikini in the unsuccessful Kidnap. The funny part is that during the film's promotion she constantly claimed that her skimpy clothes in the film were an integral part of the role. Lies! I certainly don't see all teenage girls dressing like that, unless they are looking to get picked up on the street. If this wasn't enough, her scandalous Maxim photo shoot was clearly a tool she wanted to use in order to change her image. It's sad to see someone who always seemed so grounded and secure turn into another Celina Jaitley. As if Bollywood doesn't have enough of them...really!


Bipasha Basu should take more lead roles.

A good actress can impress irrelevant of the length of their role. However, in some cases, taking lead roles is a good career move because often supporting characters aren't given as much meat in many Hindi flicks. For example, Bipasha Basu's role in Race was completely half-baked and relied more on the shape of her body than her talent. Still, she redeemed herself with Bachna Ae Haseeno, easily emerging as the scene stealer out of the three heroines. But it would certainly be nice to see Bipasha taking centre stage and carrying the film on her shoulders, because it's obvious that she can. So why not?

Kangana Ranaut should play a sane character for once

She was unanimously praised for her role in Fashion, but Kangana Ranaut really needs to make an attempt at playing a character that isn't psychologically impaired. The problem with her role in Fashion was that even though she was fantastic, we've seen her do the same role time and time again. It would be a refreshing change to see her take a more subtle role in the future. If nothing, let's hope that her role in Kites is sane. Is that too much to ask?

Aditya Chopra should wake up and face his failures.

Agreed, he's given one of the year's biggest hits with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, but that doesn't mean that one directional hit can eclipse his horrific failure as a producer over the past two years. In the past two years, Yash Raj Films has only seen two hits while the rest of it's films have been strictly average or outright flops at the box office. It's interesting to note that both these hits feature Shah Rukh Khan, so one wonders how much credit can actually go to Adi. The entire production house, headed by Aditya, needs to pause for a minute and carefully calculate their next move. Just like their princess Rani Mukerji, YRF has already been kicked out of the top seat in terms of production while UTV has taken over. I wonder how many more flops it'll take until Aditya Chopra wakes up and tries to redeem himself as a producer.