The year was choc-a-bloc with events that attracted a lot of reader attention.
While Bollywood royalty -- the Bachchans -- welcomed a new member in the family, popular reality show Bigg Boss opened its doors to Indo-Canadian po*n star Sunny Leone in its fifth season.
Both events, among many more, were closely followed by the media and fans.
In the first part of this special five-part series, we bring the top 50 Rediff Movies stories of 2011. Take a look.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan gives birth
The Bachchan bahu gave birth to a healthy baby girl on November 16 at Seven Hills hospital in suburban Mumbai and almost the entire country rejoiced with the filmi family.
2. Bigg Boss 5 Contestants
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The makers of reality show Bigg Boss made sure that its viewership grew in leaps and bounds.
Picture a young wife of an aging (and convicted) serial killer, a former model and veejay who turns out to be a closet maniac, a starlet who was accused of breaking up the marriage of two former Bigg Boss inmates... you get the drift.
And to top it, Salman Khan was joined by good friend Sanjay Dutt as a co-host.
There's little wonder then, that readers grew curious to know more about the colourful characters, who were scheduled to enter the Big Boss 5 house.
Image: Hosts Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt on Bigg Boss 5
3. Daring Cover Girls
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There were a lot of bare backs, lingerie-flaunting and suggestive poses as we captured several showbiz hotties seducing readers and fans with unabashed dare-to-bare attitude on several magazine covers over the years.
It turned out to be a huge hit.
Image: Bipasha Basu on Maxim cover
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Swimsuits grabbed eyeballs as Bollywood belles flaunting their washboard abs in colourful beachwear captured readers' imagination.
Image: Bipasha Basu in Dhoom 2
5. Foul Play
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It was nothing short of a scandal to see Vidya Balan's morphed photo in a tiny bikini on a magazine cover.
And the actress wasn't alone. Many of her contemporaries, the most unlikely of people to go down that path were also featured in this one.
It piqued the readers' curiosity too.
Image: Vidya Balan's morphed photograph
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British actress Sofia Hayat, who grabbed eyeballs with her weird outfit to cheer the Indian cricket team during the World Cup, did a sizzling bikini photoshoot.
The actress was promoting her new film -- Udita Goswami-starrer Diary Of A Butterfly.
Image: Sofia Hayat
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Shah Rukh Khan's Ra.One generated a lot of scathing reviews.
But this one invited more bouquets and brickbats than the others.
Image: Movie poster of Ra.One
8. When Bollywood Puckered Up
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The last decade's hottest lip locks -- John-Bipasha in Jism, Emraan Hashmi-Mallika Sherawat in Murder and many others were remembered as we entered in 2011.
Image: John Abraham and Bipasha Basu in Jism
9. Making Room For New Arrival
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The nation waited in anticipation as Aishwarya paid her last visits to the hospital before she was finally brought in for delivery, accompanied by hubby Abhishek Bachchan and the extended family.
Image: Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Photographs: Pradeep Bandekar
10. The Hottest Bigg Boss Inmate
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Porn star Sunny Leone set many hearts aflutter in India as she made an entrance into the Bigg Boss house.
Sexy and relatively unknown, Sunny Leone hogged all the attention and Bigg Boss fans grew curious to know more about her.
Image: Sunny Leone
Source: Rediff.com
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