Arjun Rampal (
The Last Lear, Rock On!!, EMI)
Following the stupendous success of last year's
Om Shanti Om, Arjun Rampal has officially proven why he's in this industry. His sincere and layered performance in
Rock On!! easily won audiences over. Though he was less appreciated in EMI, his work in
Rock On!! is enough to land him a place on this list. Along with the rest of the cast, Arjun Rampal also left an impression in
The Last Lear despite the film's failure at the box office. He was appreciated for portraying a complex character very effectively. After three successful performances, now is a perfect time for Arjun to further his career by carefully choosing the right scripts and roles. Perhaps it's time his career reaches that A-league status it has been reaching for all these years!
Genelia D'Souza (
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Mere Baap Pehle Aap)
After a miniscule yet worthy role in
Masti four years ago, Genelia suddenly disappeared from the Hindi scene and worked wonders down South. This year she came back with a bang in the youthful and breezy
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na where she was paired opposite Imran Khan. With an exuberant role, Genelia crawled into our hearts quickly and made sure that you remembered her great performance walking out of the theatre. For now, it looks like Genelia is back to calling Bollywood her home. She is currently working on the remake of her Telugu film
Bommarillu (for which she won a Filmfare Best Actress award) with Harman Baweja.
Sonu Sood (
Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi, Jodhaa Akbar)
Just like Eesha, Sonu Sood was in great need of an image makeover, with none of his earlier films making much of an impression with the critics or at the box office. Earlier this year, he starred as Jodhaa's brother in
Jodhaa Akbar and came across confident and strong. The role won him several accolades and is likely to garner at least a few nominations this awards season. Later on, he followed it up with a lead role in
Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi where he proved that he too could pull a 'Prem', just like Shahid Kapur and Salman Khan. Let's hope he keeps the diversity up because that's most certainly the greatest strength of any actor.
Preity Zinta (
The Last Lear, Heroes and Heaven on Earth)
Unlike her contemporary Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta looks like she's saved her career at just the right time. Approximately two years ago, Preity was slowly fading into history with several average roles that didn't require much from her. She quickly turned around and signed Rituparno Ghosh's
The Last Lear which eventually traveled the globe at several film festivals and landed this year in India to fairly average reviews. Still, Preity was noticed for attempting something different was praised for her performance.
Heroes has been her only mainstream release this year, but critics and audiences alike were unanimous that Preity's performance is fantastic and amongst the best in the film. But it has been Deepa Mehta's
Heaven on Earth that has given Preity maximum exposure this year, garnering her a Best Actress award from the Chicago International Film Festival. Though the film has not yet released in India (it has only released in some countries), I urge all audiences to watch the film to witness Preity's best-ever performance.
Priyanka Chopra (
Drona, Fashion, Dostana, Chamku, God Tussi Great Ho, Love Story 2050)
What a year! Six releases—two hits and four flops. Though several of her films have been inconsequential this year,
Dostana and
Fashion have catapulted Priyanka back to the spot she once held a few years ago. It seems Priyanka has finally risen from her hat-trick of flops which began early last year and continued all the way until
Drona. But Madhur Bhandarkar's
Fashion has done the trick—Priyanka's mind blowing performance has proven that she has finally emerged a winner. On the other hand, her effortless performance in
Dostana has gotten her great commercial acclaim. So despite the horrendous flops, Priyanka's two rock-solid performances have shown that she's easily the most improved celebrity of the year. Let's hope this continues into 2009!
Like every year, some celebrities fall and others shoot up. Though we sometimes grimace at those that have fallen into a slump, it's always nice to look back at celebrities that have emerged with renewed energy. For now, let's hope it lasts.
Here are the link for the "Most improved celebrities of 2007"
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=829961 
5