THE BEST OF BOLLYWOOD 2011

Even though the heading on top says ‘Best’, this is more like a favourites list. Films that I would rate as the most watchable amongst all Bollywood releases in 2011. First, I’ll get the honorable mentions out of the way. Sudhir Mishra’s racy Yeh Saali Zindagi and Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D K’s Shor in the City would be on the fringes of my Top 10 list. Those that make the final cut are these:

# 10 Dum Maaro Dum
What I liked most about Rohan Sippy’s DMD was that there was no main protagonist in the film. Abhishek Bachchan could easily have been the hero around which the film revolves, but here the story in central. Everyone is just playing a character. An interesting take on the drug trade in Goa. I have also memorized a few of the dialogues from the film.

# 9 Chillar Party
There used to be a time when a child actor used to be the weakest link in a film. Annoying and screechy, directors never gave them their due. But here’s a film that has a cast comprising of only school kids. And whaddya know, they are awesome actors too. Directors Nitesh Tiwari and Vikas Bahl lose it in the last segment, but otherwise, this is a very entertaining film.

# 8 Pyaar Ka Punchnama
Some may call this film sexist. I call it shot purely from the male point of view. Three friends in three different kinds of relationships with their girlfriends. Some introspection, a lot of hilarity. Kartik Tiwari, Rayo Bakhirta and Divyendu Sharma are memorable in the lead roles. On similar lines, Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji released earlier in the same year did not have the same spunk.

# 7 Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande



Chances are you haven’t seen this film. Then make good your loss, immediately. A quartet live off petty crimes in a small town somewhere in North India. Then one day the government comes in on a land acquisition spree. Their conscience is awakened and they support the rebels, albeit, silently. Pravin Dabas is a better director than actor. The film has a certain rustic charm that’s rubs onto you. Good music too.

# 6 Stanley Ka Dabba
Amol Gupte kicked this off as a workshop for kids which has snowballed into this innocent film which is as light as a snowflake. A simple storyline with a nice ensemble cast. The end borders on preachy-ness, but that can be forgiven. In the lead role, Partho (Gupte’s son) is a gem.

# 5 Mujhse Fraandship Karoge
Hollywood churns out plenty of such films each year. Fast and witty and about the trials and tribulations of college life. The story can be ‘whatever’, the finished product looks the same. YashRaj ventures into this zone and comes out trumps. There’s never a dull moment in this film. And if you don’t the joke, you probably belong to the previous generation.

# 4 I Am Kalam
The third film in this list starring child actors. A kid from an aristocratic family befriends another kid who works at a roadside dhaba. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship for both of them a rewarding experience for the viewer. Uniformly good performances and a good directorial debut by Nila Madhab Panda.

# 3 Delhi Belly
Delhi Belly is a watershed event in Indian cinema. Too profound a statement but consider this - no film before this has been as irreverent AND managed to capture a mass audience. Curses flow about freely, scatological humour is commonplace and no joke is too cheap to crack. Most of it is funny too. This I believe is the shape of things to come.

# 2 That Girl in Yellow Boots
Trust Anurag Kashyap to break new ground with every film. He eschews something vaguely described as “Indian sensibilities” and gives us a film that may make you recoil in disgust. What a lovely feeling that is. A film has generated an emotion in you. A girl comes to India looking for her absentee father and takes up work with a seedy massage parlour to fund her search. The end is not much of a revelation, yet it’s beautifully plotted.

# 1 Zindagi Na Mile Dobara



Call me crazy for naming this as the best film of the year. But I could not find anything much wrong with it. Why even Hrithik and Katrina don’t get on your nerves. Three friends (the others being Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol) are off to a holiday in Spain with excess baggage. The leave rejuvenated as different people. Solid performances, measured direction by Zoya Akhtar and peppy music. What else do you need?

ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2011, DAY 8: RANG PHUSKIYA

Had missed Siddiq Barmak’s Osama on the first day so was in no mood to miss Opium War on the last. The former may have been critically acclaimed but this one was a turkey. A film with two stranded American soldiers and a harem living out of a tank. The booklet mentioned that the cast comprised of non-professional actors. Well it showed.



Fortunately, the second film, My Marlon and Brando was much better. Directed by Husseiyin Karabey, it traced the journey of a Turkish actress who wishes to meet her love in Iraq who sends her ‘video love letters’. War is setting in in Iraq and crossing the border becomes as arduous task. What was exemplary was that the actress was played by an overweight, not conventionally good looking actress; someone you would never imagine in a lead role. It could have been an even better film had it not been concluded abruptly.

Yasujiro Ozu time with Drifting Weeds. His themes keep repeating film after film, yet they are always a delight to watch.

And now for the most infuriating part of the entire festival. The closing film was to be Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya. Perhaps the most talked about film of the festival after A Seperation. A notice on the door announced that it would be replaced by Kikuo Kawasaki’s David and Kamal. Substitutions are pretty common at film fests but how can you replace the closing film? Kiran Shantaram later mentioned that bureaucracy was to blame. If that be the reason, it’s a real disgrace.

The closing ceremony itself started an hour late. So what’s new you may ask. Some minister Deosthale’s ultra-boring speech was greeted with catcalls and out-of-turn clapping throughout. Serves him right for playing the mike-obsessed minister who reads out his speech without even looking up. Don’t have the entire roster of awards with me but Cairo 678 won the grand prize. This I was expecting. The NETPAC recognition went to Gangor. This I wasn’t.

The closing film was a film in English set in Jerusalem and directed by a Japanese. About a friendship between two young boys, one a have and the other a have-not. Sort of like I Am Kalam. It was a crowd-pleaser and short in running length. A lukewarm end to an OK fest.

ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2011, DAY 6: THE COMPETITION HEATS UP

On any other day, I would have been curious to see a film in competition but after A Seperation, I had decided to hound down all Asghar Farhadi films. So I gave up Diago for Dancing in the Dust. Two men as different as chalk and cheese are brought together in a vast, empty landscape. Their back-story no longer matters, its their interaction that becomes the crux of the film. It’s a scenario that has been experimented with by several filmmakers. This one wasn’t the greatest of efforts. Maybe A Seperation had raised my expectations.

From the first day itself, I had felt that the schedule was packed like a can of sardines. In the mini-theatre, you could watch as many as six films in a day! You barely have time to relieve yourself between films. This became evident when I missed the first half hour of Gajendra Ahire’s Nav Savanav Chi Vel Hoti. Ultimately, it didn’t matter because it wasn’t a very good film. A family becomes involved in a kidnapping when the event takes place in their apartment. It had Bharat Jadhav in a serious role for a change.

Cairo 678, which was replaced by Kathapurusham earlier finally put up an appearance. Another hyperlinked film but this time on the central theme of sexual harassment in Egypt. I have a feeling this one will be in the jury’s shortlist.

The Yasujiro Ozu fix for the day was The Munekata Sisters. Standard Ozu stuff with a dash of humour.



Once again, thanks to the schedule, was late for The Other Bank, my first film from Georgia. A 12 year old boy crosses over from Georgia to Abkhazia, a dangerous move considering the war has led to deep-rooted prejudices amongst people. Director George Ovashvili has extracted a superb performance from the kid, Tedo Bekhauri.

Each country has its war which serves as the fountainhead for inspiring works of art. Bangladesh has the 1971 war of independence. The film Guerilla is based on it. There are great war films and there are heart-felt ones. This belongs to the second category. You can easily make out director Nasiruddin Yousuff has experienced most of what transpires in the film. It may not hold up as a cinematic gem but it’s the most genuine film I have seen in this festival. The jury will be pleased.