2011 has been a rather disappointing year for the movie buff in me.  It has been a year with more lows than highs. I was waiting for Don 2 to release before I could pen down this post as I was secretly hoping that it would restore my faith in Bollywood. However, that was not the case. This post is dedicated to all the films that left behind an impact and helped me get over the fact that India cinema is probably facing an all new low.

No One Killed Jessica – The year started off with a great film! Rani Mukherjee regained the status of ‘one of Meenakshi Karanth’s fav’ after a long time.  Amit Trivedi’s music is something that deserves more than just a mention. I cannot recollect how many times Sunny & me would have played the songs of NOKJ on loop.  Awesome, awesome stuff!

Saath Khoon Maaf – Though I wouldn’t rate the film as one of the best films of the year, it surely was not a setback. Fairly nice with good performances and yes, the amazing Darrling track, the film finds its spot in my list of highs.

After almost a gap of 3 months of mediocre films, came Shaitan. Yes, anything to do with Anurag Kashyap has to be good! Newbie Bejoy Nambiar got his due as a director (However, I couldn’t stop thinking of AK all through) and yes, it had a beautiful rendition of Khoya Khoya Chand. A big thumbs up for that. A big thumbs up to the cast and to the entire team.

Backing this was Abhinay Deo’s Delhi Belly. Ram Sampath’s music, Imran and team’s performances, some hysterically funny moments & Huzeifa’s editing added a lot of value to the film! Yes, I really thought Bollywood was evolving and was moving away from the usual drama.

Keeping this faith of mine intact was Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara & Zoya Akhtar. The movie appealed to almost everyone and still didn’t get branded as a typical Bollywood film. I personally enjoyed the film and watched it repeatedly. Yes, I loved Abhay Deol and Farhan Akhtar in the film. I would choose to ignore Hrithik!!

 

Then there was Singham. It would have surely appealed to the masses. It brought back Ajay Devgan on the radar. For me, the best part lied in 2 facts – It gave Prakash Rai a platform to showcase his talent to a larger audience (I’m sure he didn’t need it) & Hindi audience got to hear some Tulu!! Am I not a super proud Mangalorean? However, I will vouch by the fact that I loved the Tamil version and I absolutely thought that Surya was way better than Ajay Devgan. I still am not complaining. I remember I was the only one who was hooting every time Prakash Rai was on screen. Initially people must have thought that I was one crazy south Indian. By the end of the movie, I know for a fact that everybody agreed with me. I remember over hearing a group of Hindi speaking audience discussing during the interval, ‘Arre, yeh villain kaun hai? Mast hai..’.. While another explained, ‘Yeh wahi hai, Wanted wala’. I wanted to just give them a dope on Prakash Rai, but I just smiled from within and waited for the film to progress!!

 

Not a Love Story was a decent flick, thought not a very memorable one. I must say, RGV seemed impressive again. With a star cast like Deepal Dobriyal & Mahie Gill, the movie was shot in such a way that it created the required mystery. There was no better person to make the film, other than RGV. For all of us who thought RGV was out of the market, this was like a subtle reminder.

 

Finally, September gave me That Girl In Yellow Boots. I wouldn’t regard it as Anurag Kashyap’s best but yes, I loved the film. There were so many Ooo Wooo moments for me with various references to Kannada movies, actors and songs. Never ever in the past did anyone make ‘Tick Tick Tick Tick’ sound so amazing while trying to ape Dr. Rajkumar. Hats off to AK & yes, to Gulshan Devaiah. I absolutely loved his character and him!!

October had Mujhse Fraandship Karoge!! Fresh, young and lively!! And the best part of the film was Raghu Dixit’s music!! Yes, I loved every track and I loved Raghu Dixit all the more after the film!

 

In between all of this was Pyaar Ka Punchnama!! Yes, being a girl, I would obviously say it was a little biased towards men. But then, it was a film that would connect to one and all!! Quite true to reality, it would any day mirror all our lives. Ban gaya kutta, was something I remember humming after watching the film very unconsciously.

Rockstar is probably one of the best films of 2011 for me. I loved Ranbir Kapoor’s performance. Super loved A R Rahman’s music!! Admired Imitiaz Ali’s treatment despite all the flaws. And when, I got a chance to listen to A.R Rahman sing 2 lines of Nadaan Parindey right in front of me (yes , he was just a feet apart) I had this super high moment!!!

 

Finally, the year gave us one female centric film with a great performance by Vidya Balan. No points for guessing that I am referring to The Dirty Picture. This was one film that lived up to its expectations. Bold, Brash and yet so bloody appealing, I doubt if any other leading ladies of our times would have done justice to the film!!

For me, this was the year of Vidya Balan – kick started by No One Killed Jessica and wrapped by The Dirty Picture! Do leave a comment if you agree with me.