The Best Of Bollywood- 2014

Ah, 2014!

A year when, even as atrociously bad films (‘Happy New Year’ and the like) notched up box office collections by hundreds of crores, the truly sparkling films shone like everlasting gems, like stars studded in an opaque and obscure galaxy of stardom and the truly smashing thing was every one of the great ones was not about stardom or big bucks but just brilliant, knockout filmmaking.

Often, in the past, I have included films, which might have not been perfect, but still deserved mention because they had some potential. But with five films this year proving how subversive, intelligent, profound and path-breaking Hindi cinema can really be, given in the right hands, I think the fight for the top prizes is done and dusted.

To sum it up, let me hint at the greats of the year in a few lines.

‘English tragedy in Indian chaos, a caper in which the ladies wield the guns, a whodunit that turns into a what-the-f*** character drama without warning, a stranger preaching us about the futility of religion and finally, a Delhi girl who grows up in twisted Europe’.

Try to figure out this while I list down the films that almost made to the Famous Five.

10- Main Tera Hero- David Dhawan’s unashamedly nonsensical yet amazingly hilarious comedy proved that Varun Dhawan has loads of solid, spontaneous comic timing up his colorful sleeves, which unfolds in generous doses with a crew of stellar comic artists- from Anupam Kher to Saurabh Shukla- giving ample support.

9- Gunday- A harmless, if pretty amateurish, action drama in the style of 80s, ‘Gunday’ did raise some unnecessary hackles over its slight suggestion of a historical fact. But history be damned anyway, this is outrageously, unashamedly masala fun- with its colorful, exaggerated Calcutta setting- more of a retro-fitted lalaland than Lapierre’s City Of Joy-, Irrfan Khan as a tough and yet tricky cop and of course Ranveer Singh’s dashingly courageous hero making up for Arjun Kapoor.

8- Daawat-E-Ishq- A surprisingly warm and witty film in which Habib Faisal directs an unusual yet cleverly cliché-free romance brimming with clever and subtle insights on a nationwide affliction of dowry and, in Parineeti Chopra and a charmingly cocky Aditya Roy Kapoor, a sparky couple who question the status quo with their effortless chemistry. It’s also about delicious platters and a lot of cultural clashes captured with effortless ease.

7- Finding Fanny- Homi Adajania’s stunningly sheepish road movie, set in a sun-baked, idyllic and languid Goan village, had a loopy plot taking unnecessary detours but at 90 minutes, it’s also crisp and chaotic, brimming with authentic flavor and a crew of fascinating performances- with Deepika Padukone as the shimmering Angie and Pankaj Kapur as the lascivious painter scoring top marks.

6- Highway- Imtiaz Ali’s lavishly mounted and heartbreakingly intimate take on a Delhi girl who falls prey to a Stockholm Syndrome as falling for her kidnapper and then experiences a new lease of life takes a bit of time to get cracking but aided by Anil Mehta’s mesmerizing visuals, A.R Rahman’s elegiac yet symphonic score and above all, Alia Bhatt (she had me stunned with her naturalistic, passionate act) in the lead role, it emerges as a sustained work of extraordinary philosophical brilliance.

And now, we kick off the Fab Five films in the list.

5- Dedh Ishqiya

Director- Abhishek Chaubey

Abhishek Chaubey’s lavish, crafted and extraordinarily written sequel to his 2010 smash-hit caper ‘Ishqiya’ does the near impossible- root the exciting caper premise in a small town dominated by poetry-gushing mushairas in honor of a decadent Begum with superficial rule and replacing the cocky guns and hair-trigger humor of the original with the kind of smart, meticulous writing in which the players wield punchlines as well as pistols.

And yet, despite the stately elegance and the lavish indulgence of the film’s authentically old-world milieu, this is also a film that delights in gushing amounts of cheek, of cinematic intrigue and true, true cinematic fun.

We follow Khalu and Babban (Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi, brilliant in their endless repartee) in the garb of the twinkle-eyed Nawab and his lascivious Khadim as they saunter into an old world, seduced by the leisurely drawl of Urdu poetry and two women who might be not what they are.

Nothing is indeed what it seems- for Chaubey crams the film with a lively cast of terrific performances- Madhuri Dixit as the Begum, shackled to solitude, Huma Qureshi as her Girl Friday, plotting something on her own and Vijay Raaz- a regretfully underutilized actor- steals the show with a showboating performance as a grand villain of the piece, vying for the grand dowager’s hand by stealing many a great piece of poetry.

More than the fun-filled original, this is a film that feels crafted and rooted in an authentic world full of lies and intrigue and deception and decay and even as it might feel lavishly created, what lies beneath is skeletons in the cupboard and ‘Dedh Ishqiya’ brings them all out to make for one of the finest, most thrilling films of the year as well as of all time.

And in between it all, Chaubey, armed with fellow writer Vishal Bhardwaj and lyricist Gulzar, with Basharat Peer’s poems narrated by fantastic actors, wraps up it all into a languid caper that blends hilarity with tension in the most subtle, intuitive ways while bringing into the foray a superb, startlingly effective twist towards the end that just tells us of the true, intoxicating power of giddy filmmaking.

It evokes the old world of poetry and languid ways, it never shies away from the old gangster tropes, it blends music in the most impeccable and impactful ways (a ‘qawwali’ is tightly, almost thrillingly blended into the narrative ‘s big twist), it has some of the finest humor ever written for a film (punchlines of IPhones, foreign cities, of cheekily incorrect political references are masterfully written and enacted) and yes, for many of us comic book fans, it gave us the ultimate truth of the Batman and Joker myth in the film’s finest line:

‘Agar Joker Mar Gaya to Batman Kya Karega? Ghar Mein Baithke Atta Gundhega’.

4- Queen

Director- Vikas Bahl

Indeed, who knew that it would happen?

Who really knew that Rani Mehra, who is so visibly happy with her marriage proceedings (albeit also anxious over her first night), would get a reality check when her suitor- a fascinatingly nasty Rajkummar Rao- would reject her for the frustratingly simple reason that she does not match up to him?

Who knew that, a few reels later, the same Rani, initially a weeping mess of a Delhi girl, goes out on her solo honeymoon in Paris and learns to rough it out- tackling wayside thieves, the incessant traffic, endless views of the Eiffel Tower and shaking a leg in a French discotheque playing a Bollywood number?

And who knew that by the end of the fascinatingly flippant, fervently entertaining film, we all root for this unlikely heroine who has by now earned the eponymous title that her name suggests?

Vikas Bahl’s fantastically directed, written and effectively cast self-searching ride hinges on the sheer unpredictability of its seemingly plain premise- this is about a girl who comes of age, okay, but it evolves into something deeper, something far more resonant, thanks largely to Bahl’s sheer mastery over the details, both big and small.

So, we instantly connect to the film- from its modest beginnings as a sneaky Delhi tour ala Dibakar Banerjee and his peers to the whirlwind culture shock of Paris and the hilariously hedonistic adventure in Amsterdam and on the way, Bahl’s assured direction turns every cliché on its head, as he crams the film with unforgettably real characters and rich, scathing and lightning sharp mirth.

Detail and nuance overflows at the seams, distractingly so but always entertaining in the most unexpected ways- (watch out how a whole troupe of Delhi housewives can’t really figure out what does ‘hing’ mean in English while a NRI aunt fusses over the euros for a gift and a Frenchman denies that ‘French toast’ is not French toast) and at the same time, it fearlessly brings on the raunchy and burlesque comedy in cheekiest ways possible- all adding a frolic of off-color yet colorful fun.

And most of all, it is ruled by the true Queen of the film- Kangana Ranaut playing Rani in a performance that would really rank as this year’s best- it is a sneaky, indulgent surprise- a tad overplayed for hilarious effect but the wonder also lies in the smaller nuances of it- the look of confusion on her face with a foamy toothbrush in her mouth, the way she smells a sandwich before chomping on it, her gobbling up a laddoo out of sheer hunger of not having eaten anything in grief- and it soon evolves into something self-assured, confident and strident towards the film’s rousing climax when this girl finally grows up.

It’s a class act and Ranaut nails it, firmly, determinedly, making the most of the juicy material in her hands and establishes ‘Queen’ as a movie for ages.

3- PK

Director- Rajkumar Hirani

Calm down a bit. While ‘PK’- a loaded, full-throated satire, punctuated in jittery Bhojpuri and enacted in one of the year’s most guileless romps, on religion and communalism- might draw its own share of laughs and howls of scandal, of its bravos and brickbats, what people should really admire that it could not have come at a better time.

In a moment when India muddles between religious chaos and free speech, Rajkumar Hirani, along with reliable co-writer Abhijat Joshi, unfold a rousing comedy of all sorts- of a stranger questioning the status quo of religion and faith in an overcrowded India and translates the hearty, hilarious routine into a completely credible and totally relevant satire that delivers big laughs without sounding acidic or ironic.

Aamir Khan’s titular hero, a scruffy, wide-eyed, big-eared extraterrestrial, spouting paan-stained Bhojpuri and armed with a telepathic sense of touch (ala Michael Duncan Clark in ‘The Green Mile’) is an outcast who feels genuinely baffled at the chaos of obsessive worship of hundreds of deities and gods in India. He stumbles his way in the most endearingly comic ways and soon is logging his head with a powerful godman, filling the minds of the blindly faithful with sanctified snake oil. 

Even with the predictability of the premise, the film hinges completely on Hirani and Joshi’s unflappable, totally ingenious sense of mirth that delights in slapstick and chaos without losing verbal repartee.

The magic of the film is not merely in its red-hot topicality and resonance but rather how ‘PK’ deftly employs the more predictable tropes of storytelling and gives them a solid, superb twist in perspective. The film’s message rarely feels preachy and yet it nails the inherent quest for singularity with startling ease, even as it juggles both melodrama and mirth in equal measure.

The dialogue crackles with split-second wit, the smaller, more incisive jabs at materialism and communal tensions feel exceptionally, admirably astute and Hirani also excels at making it all feel-good without ever resorting to contrivances- this is a film bursting with cheesy but crunchy goodness and heart and has many a delightful surprise up its gaily colored sleeves.

The actors all fascinate- in particular Saurabh Shukla playing the gaudy God-aper in the most believable way possible but this film belongs to its lovably goofy leading man- Aamir Khan, in perhaps one of his finest, most unrestrained performances, sending up the viewers with his wide-eyed comical perspective and at the same time breaking hearts with his sincerity.

Hirani might have stumbled a bit in between but with ‘PK’, he has proved that he is still the master of uproarious comedy. Forget ‘3 Idiots’. This is the real threequel to the Munnabhai series.

2- Ugly

Director- Anurag Kashyap

It begins with one of the most shocking scenes of Hindi film industry- heavy metal music blares in the background while a decaying housewife, washing a plate full of crumbs with leftover alcohol, shoves a gun’s nozzle into her mouth and the audience holds its breath, expecting anytime brains to explode but what follows after that is enough to make your head explode.

Such is the scorching, visceral, ugly power of ‘Ugly’.

It also marks a new career high for Anurag Kashyap, the dynamic prodigious filmmaker who has transformed the way we think about modern, unconventional entertainment with the blood-splattered gangland myth of ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’, the snazzy, suave Devdas interpretation in ‘Dev D’ and the modern conspiracy thriller in the brilliant ‘Black Friday’. ‘Ugly’ sees him coming of age- helming and writing a crackling thriller for ages, one that starkly rejects the regular twists and turns of a police procedural and progresses into something far more unsettling- a character study of many a messed up soul.

Somewhere in the bright sunlight of the Bombay afternoon, a girl is kidnapped, instantly sparking off a fierce rivalry of sorts between her alternate fathers- a washed up actor (Rahul Bhat) and a tough, mercurial cop (Ronit Roy) but everyone is a part of the vicious game that unfolds and what emerges is a commandingly visceral film- a film lurching from past to present, from one intriguing character to another, swinging from the relentless cops to the desperate fugitive souls- that portrays baldly the ugliness of humanity.

Kashyap directs the twisted tale of lies, backstabbing and illicit relations with breathless pace, reveling in gritty visual nuance, captured by ace lensman Nikos Andritsakis all throughout the gullies and seedy lanes of Bombay (from secret torture chambers with doors insulated by foam grids to seedy bars where guns are hidden) but what really fascinates this time around is the film’s unflinching, angry gaze on the more disarmingly brutal detail- a woman talking on a phone with yellow bleach above her lips, the same wearing a gaudy red dress to seduce a slightly unknown man, a malicious mask seller posing with an unnervingly horrid mask and more- all of which underscores the film’s haunting, deathly atmosphere with terrific tension.

And there is a great cast of actors as well- Tejaswini Kolhapure as the said wife, her eyes full of suicidal despair, Ronit Roy as the tough cop with a sliver of genuine fatherly concern, Rahul Bhat as the actor who is constantly living in his own self-made delusions, Vineet Singh as the genuinely slimy and sly casting director and above all, Girish Kulkarni as the alternately tough and slippery cop who does not yet know how to set a Caller ID on a phone.

It’s a film that makes ugliness look truly spectacular.

1      1-    Haider

Director- Vishal Bhardwaj

At the top of the pile lies a monster achievement, a film that goes far out on a limb ambitiously, determinedly, at the risk of alienating its audiences and yet, by the end, grabs the viewer, extricates his heart and tosses it brutally around, all the while it pounds and throbs to its seething tension, its brooding gloom and its incendiary brilliance. Yes, sir, Vishal Bhardwaj does it again- nailing Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ in intelligent, ingenious ways that deviate from the source material while sticking loyally to its iconic structure and depth and it is both the deviations and the arduous loyalty that make the film such a towering accomplishment.

He does not speak much, our Hamlet. Translated into Haider, a prodigal son returning to militancy-mauled Kashmir, the grand play’s Denmark, suitably besieged on both sides, he once used to study poetry but as of now, he only gazes helplessly, desperately at everyone else, searching for his incarcerated father. Bhardwaj and co-writer begin the doomed tale in thriller mode- the prelude, which I would hate to reveal, lingers and paces over the senseless militancy of the region before swinging into the real centrifugal force of the film- Haider, seething with anger and yearning for what has been irretrievably lost and questioning whether his uncle- the deliciously dastardly Khurram (Kay Kay Menon) is the man behind it all.

Through it all, the film rests his heavy, brooding burden on young Shahid Kapoor’s shoulders and the man, so long lost in many-a-silly film, recovers his mojo in a silently throbbing performance that emerges into fascinatingly wacky and sure-footed by turns but this is also a film about a stunning crew of performers aiding him superbly- Kay Kay Menon, most notably as the terrifyingly inscrutable yet warm and likable villain of the piece, Tabu as the stunning and simpering Ghazala who translates Gertrude’s outrage at her son’s actions and thoughts into motherly concern and gradual conviction and a slew of lesser known actors all making a mark (not to forget Irrfan Khan’s blistering cameo)

All the while, as the drama unfolds, Bhardwaj outdoes himself. The director-cum-composer had already revealed his knack for adapting Shakespeare in the past but more than ever, it is ‘Haider’s unflinching focus on the milieu that really counts- his Kashmir a state torn apart by both internal and external chaos, his villains both the gun-toting militants and the hard-nosed authorities and his tragedy ultimately the harsh fate of a region being grabbed at by both sides leaving only corpses behind. All of it translates in exceedingly clever, incisive ways into the film and it would be a crime to reveal it verbatim. It has to be seen to be believed.

Rarely also has a film devoted staggering style, post-modern quirk and pyrotechnics into its grim material and ‘Haider’ achieves it all with tremendous force- Pankaj Kumar’s gritty yet mesmerizing visuals lingers from frenetic violence to the more hard-hitting visual cues- the steely gaze of a soldier on guard, the immeasurable sadness in Haider’s eyes, the first gaze of a mother through a wispy curtain and a bearded prisoner singing a ghazal remembered from better times- all of it that hits on your face. The music, as usual by Bhardwaj and aided by master poet Gulzar, is beautifully interwoven but also elegiac while the language- while spare and pointed- is rich and extravagant (Bhardwaj even outclasses his other great work this year) and all of it comes together to craft a film that holds you with its fiery force and leaves you gasping for a breath of relief.