Hits and misses

PRIYANKA RAO delves into the annals of Bollywood to find the most significant events of the past year success with the film grossing about Rs 60 crore, Salman Khan’s Wanted offered it tough competition. But the box office verdict pronounced it a ‘hit film’. Love Aaj Kal is a modern and playful love story with Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone in the lead. Pritam Chakraborty’s funky tracks earned mass appeal, and now every other film has Pritam’s music... naturally!

2009 marks the end of a glorious and eventful decade, but in particular, India has made an incredible global impact in the field of entertainment. Heads have been turning towards India as the spotlight is on its music, art and films. Bollywood is being looked at closely, not just for talent hitherto unexplored, but also as a launching pad for attractive international talent. Let’s have a look at the events that put Indian cultural into the limelight, for the right and wrong reasons.

Phenomenon of the Year

The man, the music, the magic! Not everyone inspires a tagline like that. This year, Time magazine placed A.R Rahman in the Time 100 list of ‘World’s Most Influential People’. His musical score in Slumdog Millionaire won him the Critics Choice Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 2009 Oscars. Who knows what the creative genius has in store for us fans? Watch out for his Sydney concert in February 2010.

‘Hit’ Actor of the Year

Since his first film Saawariya in 2007, Ranbir Kapoor has carved a niche for himself in the Bollywood film circuit, and he can now balance a whole film only on the strength of his innocent and flirty smile. His chocolate boy looks and cool dude temperament lead to a massive fan following, especially after Bachna Ae Haseeno. His recent films Wake up Sid and Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani have put him on a pedestal as a star to look out for in years to come.

Most Stylish Film of the Year

Vishal Bhardwaj directed the film Kaminey, starring Shahid Kapoor in a double role and it received scintillating reviews. Shahid has been praised for his toned body and long haired look, sported by the character ‘Charlie’ in the film. The music, also directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, is being touted as different and true to the very genre of the film. Some cool tracks including Dhan te nan sung by Sukhwinder Singh topped the charts for quite a while.

Make Up Magic 2009

The recently released Paa had confused expectations, because the film has Abhishek Bachchan playing his own father’s dad, with Vidya Balan as his mom. All this would have been impossible without the benefit of excellent make up, which made the 60-something superstar look like the 13-year-old character Auro in the film. R Balakrishnan’s direction too, made a huge difference. Hollywood make-up artists Christien Tinsley and Dominie Till deserve applause for their work.

Break-ups of the Year

Preity Zinta’s longterm relationship with industrialist Ness Wadia fell apart this year. At least Priety has proved that she has the spirit to call her own shots, instead of slotting into the role of a pretty Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone have called it quits, for whatever reason. Apparently, Ranbir always thought of Deepika as a girlfriend, nothing more. His basic aim is to grow as an actor and earn a name in Bollywood. Nothing matters to him more than that. Yeah, right!

Hottest Couple of the Year

Shahid-Priyanka caused quite a stir, sure, but the hottest pair of the year continue to be Saifeena, Bollywood’s version of Brangelina.

Wedding of the Year

Shilpa Shetty married London-based businessman Raj Kundra in an elaborate and glittering ceremony. Her highly-publicised win on the UK Big Brother made this hot damsel an international face. Guests at the reception included the crème de la crème of Indian films, politics and the social scene. Shilpa, stunning as usual, was certainly not the blushing bride, and Raj…well, he looked like the cat who’s got the cream.

Trend of the Year

Box Office Bomb of the Year

Well actually, there have been quite a number of box office debacles this year. All thanks to the producers’ versus multiplexes rift, the IPL matches and the swine flu scare. Ram Gopal Verma’s horror flick Agyaat introduced two new stars, Priyanka Kothari and Nitin Reddy, but flopped big time. Some love stories just don’t click. Kambakht Ishq starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor was another big budget bomb, and one wonders what the stars saw in the script! Hotch potch seems to be the order of the day in new age Bollywood flicks. Which is why Delhi 6 passed off as a mediocre film. Nagesh Kukunoor tried hard at 8x10 Tasveer, his first commercial film starring Akshay Kumar, which also fell flat for a thriller. Other non-starters were Short Kut - The con is on, Life Partner and Paying Guest

Top Ten Tunes from 2009

1. Emosanal attyachaar: Bony Chakravarthy (Dev D)

2. Masakalli: Mohit Chauhan (Delhi-6)

3. Hai junoon: KK New York)

4. Aahun aahun: Neeraj Shridhar (Love Aaj Kal)

5. Dhan te nan: Sukhwinder Singh and Vishal Dadlani (Kaminey)

6. Hadippa: Mika Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan (Hadippa)

7. Chiggy Wiggy: Kylie Minogue and Sonu Niigaam (Blue)

Star Wars of the Year

Biggest Grosser of the Year

The Khans are back in business! While Saif Ali Khan’s Love Aaj Kal is a roaring

Once again, the ‘Khans’ fought out their rivalry in style this year. Shah Rukh Khan decided to walk the ramp with wife Gauri Khan for Karan Johar (recently turned designer) during the Couture Week. In competition, Salman Khan persuaded Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif to walk the ramp for his charity campaign Being Human. Who made it to the final week? SRK fans are sure to have an answer for this.

Yashraj Films and Dharma Productions have made them quite the rage, but many smaller firms are also giving them a go. We’re talking about the new breed of directors in Bollywood, the likes of Vishal Bhardwaj, Reema Katgi, Kabir Khan Abhishek Kapoor, Shimit Amin, Rohan Sippy, Anurag Kashyap, Sujoy Ghosh, Manish Acharya, Dibakar Banerjee, Madhur Bhandarkar, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, Imtiaz Ali, Rajat Kapoor, Sudhir Mishra, Navdip Singh and Abbas Tyrewala. They’re all making films with fresh perspectives, the kind India hasn’t seen before.

8. Tera hone laga hoon: Atif Aslam (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani)

9. Paisa Paisa: RDB, Manak and Salena Javed Ali (De Dana Dan)

10. Aal Izz Well: Sonu Niigaam, Swanand Kirkire and Shaan (3 Idiots)

Ruchika Kher, IANS