B`wood comedies ruled the roost in 2005

It was a successful year for Bollywood as films with offbeat themes and those with a huge dose of comedy succeeded in drawing the audience to the theatres once again.

The Hindi film industry fared better in 2005 as compared to the last couple of years with films on a variety of themes and genres released during the period gaining critical and mass acclaim even as the industry had its share of controversies, many of them involving prominent Bollywood personalities.

Of the approximately 240 films that hit the theatres this year, there were a number of big banner releases many of which like No Entry , Salaam Namaste , Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya , Garam Masala (in picture), Bunty Aur Babli , Dhoom , Sarkar and Dus were box office hits.

The ratio of flops, too, shot up as the industry lost over Rs 400 crore in 2005 as compared to last year's loss of Rs 300 crore.

The scene this year was dominated by mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek Bachchan .

That the 63-year-old mega star is still going great guns was evident from the fact that he was the most successful actor this year in terms of several box office successes with Black , Waqt – A Race Against Time , 'Sarkar' and 'Bunty Aur Babli'.

No wonder, Big B's illness towards the end of year, with about Rs 270 crore riding on him, had Bollywood gasping for breath.

His son Abhishek, written off as a failure, hit back with a vengeance with hits like 'Dhoom', Yuva , 'Bunty Aur Babli', Sarkar and 'Dus'. In 'Bunty Aur Babli' and 'Sarkar' he featured with his illustrious father.

2005 can be described as Abhishek's year of reckoning. Trade pundits feel the Refugee star has finally found his footing in Bollywood and would be the actor to look out for in the coming years.

The fag end of the year saw Bachchan again in the news after he had to be hospitalised at Mumbai's Lilawati hospital where he later underwent operation for an intestinal disorder.

The ''life threatening illness'' of Big B had the entire India praying for his recovery, reviving the painful memories of the 'Coolie' days.

Apart from the Big B and Abhishek, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar were the other actors who have had a reasonably good year.

Salman's 'Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya', 'No Entry' were successes while Lucky – No Time For Love was a semi-hit.

Akshay gave hits like 'Waqt' and 'Garam Masala'.

Akshay, whose growth as an actor was phenomenal with Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Khakee last year, consistent in his performances this year too.

Kajol , one of the most successful actors of 1990s, came out of her self-imposed exile and started work with Aamir Khan for 'Fanaah'.

Incidentally, Aamir returned to the screen this year after a hiatus of four years with 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising .

Actor-turned-MP Govinda returned to acting with 'Partner', starring himself and Salman.

It was a largely uneventful year for Shah Rukh Khan , barring the fact that his film Paheli was nominated as the Indian entry for this year's Oscars.

The King Khan, who featured in three films in 2004 - Main Hoon Na , Swades and Veer Zaara , took a break this year, seen in only 'Paheli' directed by Amol Palekar and produced by the superstar.