The Best of Bollywood- 2007

[Originally published on PASSIONFORCINEMA.COM]

Friends, iLanders, cinefanatics. Happy New Year. And so comes the time when I can't resist pretending to be important and unleashing on everyone my own (and YET another yawn) list of the films and performances that rocked the year that was.

Let the drums roll (a little pomposity never hurts!)

MY TOP 7 FILMS OF 2007:

(And YES, Taare Zameen Par is not included- read my review for more)

7.Ek Chalis Ki Last Local
Okay, it may have lacked finesse, but when you have real, hardboiled pulp, who cares? Sanjay Khanduri's film has enough originality, eccentricity and wackiness to make us excuse the occasional tackiness. (Excuse the bad poetry- or just take it as my little tribute to Mr. Khalid Mohammed)

6.Life In A Metro
Anurag Basu buries his Murderous past and proves that Gangster was no fluke with a compelling look at urban life. The plot lift from The Apartment and stupid Page 3-esque gay angle (with a ridiculous Brokeback Mountain reference as subtle as a sledgehammer) notwithstanding, Metro was a wonderfully shot (Bobby Singh, take a bow) and refreshing take on relationships, with some genuinely good ensemble acting.

5.Manorama Six Feet Under
Director Navdeep Singh's debut feature is something extremely rare in Bollywood - an intriguing, textured, moody and exceedingly well crafted suspense drama. Besides, it truly brought film noir home (Abhay Deol seems to have a keen inclination for the genre). Bravely wearing its inspirations on its sleeve; Manorama was a riveting watch with well rounded characters that immersed you into their world.

4.Chak De India
This year's biggest film event, Chak De India had an incredible impact on pop culture, gave us a rousing sports anthem and reinforced the 'can-do' spirit forcefully. A hardcore sports flick sans a love angle or song sequences, it cleverly employed clichés without being cringe-worthy and balanced multiple themes with aplomb. A triumph for director Shimit Amin, writer Jaideep Sahni and finally for King Khan- who MUST make it a point to 'act' in atleast one film a year.

3.Black Friday
Anurag Kashyap has sure had an eventful year- his work finally getting seen by audiences and in not one, but three films and all dealing with equally diverse themes and getting extreme reactions. So while the jury is still out on No Smoking (I haven't seen it yet) Black Friday undoubtedly deserves a standing applause from all and sundry. 'Absolutely heart- hitting', it even managed to eke out a four star rating from a much despised film critic. Truly fearless, Black Friday is raw, visceral filmmaking full of searing observation that needs to be seen more often on screen. For all its cinematic excellence, I would not hesitate in calling it a 'documentary'- and I mean it as a wholehearted compliment- after all, what other praise would do justice to a film that is so chillingly r-e-a-l.

2.Johnny Gaddaar
Sriram Raghavan strikes back, and HOW! Johnny Gaddaar is super-cool, uber-cool- to cut it short- the coolest Hindi film in ages. James Hadley Chase met Vijay Anand and caused fireworks on screen. Smooth as scotch, Johnny Gaddaar was stuffed with countless amazing references and yet managed to be impressively original. And more importantly, beneath all the jazz was a solid thriller, one with a spine and a soul- a thoroughly gripping tale of crime and retribution. Hats off to you Mr. Raghavan- just for those rattling dentures.

1.The Blue Umbrella
Maybe it's just my weakness for the filmmaker, who I think has emerged as the most original, consistent and brilliant director on the Indian screen. Maybe that's why Vishal Bhardwaj's spellbinding and multi-layered adaptation of Ruskin Bond's novella remains my favorite film of the year. Or maybe it's because when I saw Pankaj Kapur shiver in the biting cold and his own loneliness, I shivered too- and continued to do so atleast till twenty minutes after I watched the film. The Blue Umbrella shows how powerful even a simple story can be, when in the hands of a master craftsman.

MY TOP 7 LEAD PERFORMACES OF 2007
7.Amitabh Bachchan - Nishabd (Ironically, his holy image was also one of the major reason's for the film's down fall)
6.Kareena Kapoor- Jab We Met (A casting masterstroke, 'too many expressions' Kareena was just what Geet was meant to be)
5.Abhishek Bachchan- Guru (Career defining, solid acting job, Junior B- just don't mimic Papa B ever again- especially in the film's climax)
4.Abhay Deol- Manorama 6FU (Abhay Deol truly grows up, playing a 'man' for the first time- giving us a memorable and relatable anti-stud character)
3.Darsheel Safary- Taare Zameen Par (The best thing about Taare, he carried the film on his sturdy little shoulders)
2.Vinay Pathak- Bheja Fry (The actor who can't go wrong these days get the role he really deserves and rocks it BIG time- chewing up the scenery)
1.Pankaj Kapur- The Blue Umbrella (How more perfect can perfection get? Pankaj Kapur is God- an absolute masterclass)

MY TOP SUPPORTING PERFORMANCES OF 2007 (in no particular order)
Shefali Shah, Darshan Zariwala (Gandhi My Father)
Lara Dutta (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom)
Zakir Hussain (Johnny Gaddaar)
Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma (Life in a Metro)
Tabu (Cheeni Kum)
Sonya Jehan (Khoya Khoya Chand)
Kay Kay Menon (Black Friday, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd)
Mithun Chakraborty, Aishwarya Rai and Vidya Balan (Guru)
Pawan Malhotra, Sudanshu Pande (Black Friday)
Shreya Sharma (The Blue Umbrella)
Ranvir Sheorey, Konkona Sen Sharma (Aaja Nachle)
Shilpa Shukla (Chak De India)
Gul Panag (Manorama Six Feet Under)

and many more