Apaharan: Prakash Jha returned to the black hole of Bihar to bring out another powerful gem—flawed but shining all the same. Actor Ajay Devgan seems to be Jha’s muse and perfect alter ego.
Anandabhadram: This limited release Santosh Sivan film, based on a Sunil Parameswaran novel, has magic, romance, folklore and Sivan’s camera making Kerala look like paradise.
Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Mara: If originality and simplicity have any value left in Hindi cinema, then Jahnu Barua’s tribute to the Gandhian ideal has to be on the list.
Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi: Mishra got the language and attitudes of the ’70s generation just right and made a film that is socially and politically relevant.
Dombivli Fast: Anyone who has commuted in Mumbai’s local trains understands the murderous rage of the common man. Nishikant Kamat’s Marathi film is a moving and angry film, taking an idea from Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down, but making it uniquely Mumbai.
maine gandhi ko nahi mara is made beautifully. anu kher is rocking! urmila as usual delivers a great performance but i expected a more original (different) plot from the movie. the cause was only too predictable.
This year at the movies I felt like a child at a toy shop. So much to choose from. So many colours of life, so many vibrant styles of cinema.
From wacky satires that didn't work (Kamal Haasan's 'Mumbai Express') and historicals that were hysterical (Ketan Mehta's 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising') to period films that were noble failures (Subhash Ghai's 'Kisna', Akbar Khan's 'Taj Mahal'); from sleazy cornballs (Ashu Y. Trikha's 'Sheesha', Jai Prakash's 'Chaahat Ek Nasha') and unclassifiable oddballs (Chandan Arora's 'Main Meri Patni Aur Woh, Ruchi Narain's 'Kal', Kannika Verma's 'Dansh', Ashwini Chowdhary's 'Siskiyan') to ragas of finesse (Onirban's 'My Brother Nikhil', Pradeep Sarkar's 'Parineeta', Jahnu Barua's 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara') and slick eye-candy (Siddharth Anand's 'Salaam Namaste', Shaad Ali's 'Bunty Aur Babli'), and finally an outright classic (Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Black')... Good Marathi films were Uttarayan, Dombivali Fast, Devrai
Here's looking back at my favourite films in 2005:
'Black': Sanjay Leela Bhansali's passionate interpretation of Helen Keller's brave struggle to overcome her handicap is truly the most inspired and inspiring film of the year. While telling an inspirational tale, the director never loses track of his main aim as a filmmaker: he grips, entertains and rivets viewers as the teacher (Amitabh Bachchan) and the taught (Ayesha Kapoor/Rani Mukerji) blend into an enraptured embrace. Seamless as it is flawless, 'Black' is a truly universal film with the Bachchan giving what history might well judge as the single finest male performance in Indian cinema. Yup, the real miracle worker is Bhansali.
'Page 3': A miracle of another order. How did director Madhur Bhandarkar do it? After laying two turnips ('Satta', 'Aan'), he bounced back to his 'Chandni Bar' calibre of raw real and pain-lashed cinema. Filmed as a pastiche of scenes from Page 3 parties, 'Page 3' is replete with characters who jump out and clasp you by your throat.
'My Brother Nikhil': An elegiac tale of a swimmer coming to terms with his sexuality, 'Nikhil' was a path-breaker that didn't take the untried path just to be different. Director Onirban had a gut-wrenching tale to tell. Hats off to Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli who had the guts to play Hindi cinema's first gay couple. The relationship was dealt with maturity and lack of fuss. The film was as mellow and aqueous as the Goan seas, which overlooked this cool crossover film non-judgementally.
'Sarkar': Ram Gopal Varma's finest work since 'Company'. 'Sarkar' proved an astonishing showcase for the father-son Bachchan duo. It tapped an entirely new dimension in the personalities of both Amitabh and Abhishek, casting them as a father and son in ways that made then look compatible yet excitingly different from the way the public perceives them. The tinge of real-life (Bal Thackeray) provided the material with the luminous layering of a film-noire. Months after release, the dark images of gangsterism continue to haunt and nag. Moral Of The Amoral Tale: Ramu should just focus on films that he directs. Forget 'James', 'My Wife's Murder', 'Mr Ya Miss'... whatever.
'Antarmahal': Bengali brilliance included in this list for the long shadows it casts over the ambit represented by the man-woman relationship. Rituparno Ghosh's economy of space and expression was evident in the sparse use of his star attraction. Abhishek Bachchan as the Bihari idol-maker gave a deeper performance than 'Bunty Aur Babli', 'Sarkar' or 'Bluffmaster'. The narrative was erotic. And the claustrophobic ambience of 19th century feudal Bengal came across effectively.
'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara': Is picture ko kisne mara (Who killed this movie?)? On the one hand, Yash Raj Films faced flurried flak for the de-robed excesses of 'Neal 'N' Nikki'. On the other, they marketed their proudest product to date. Writer-director Jahnu Baruah's film about a daughter's struggle to cope with her father's illness was more a study of resilience than Gandhism. A riveting chamber piece with unforgettable performances by Anupam Kher and Urmila Matondkar.
'Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi': A Gandhian tale with a difference. Director Sudhir Mishra's sly and sharp look-see at a lost generation during Indira's Gandhi's regime placed a love triangle at the helm, and then went at a defunct and corrupt political system with hammers and tongs.
The stunning finale had Shiny Ahuja's character almost being bludgeoned to death by a couple of cops like a stubborn rat. Hollywood filmmaker Martin Scorsese met Govind Nihalani in Sudhir Mishra's very original and thought-provoking political parable. Different needn't be meritorious. This film was both.
'Iqbal': Nagesh Kukunoor's ramrod-straight unsentimental tale about a deaf and mute boy (Shreyas Talpade) and his struggle to become a national-level cricketer was remarkable for its absence of sentimentality. There were occasions galore for soppy tears.
Kukunoor looked at the world of the brave and the unvanquished with dry-eyed normalcy. Hold on to that outstanding performance by Naseeruddin Shah as a burnt-out alcoholic coach. All resemblances to a certain Mr. Bachchan's character in 'Black' were purely coincidental.
'Bose: The Forgotten Hero': 'Bose'... the forgotten film! Inept marketing and the audiences' utter lack of interest in history (remember what happened to the Bhagat Singh films?) killed the impact of this meticulously mounted story celebrating one of Indian history's most unassailable heroes. Sachin Khedeker in the title role worked hard to get the nuances right. A labour of love born to blush unseen.
11.'Parineeta':
'Staying Alive': Ananth Mahadevan's deeply moving chamber piece about two unlikely patients facing a death threat in the ICU is yet to be released commercially. It should and it must. Mahadevan's understated exposition on mortality exudes the scent of life and lyricism.
Hindi movies are such rubbish, it's embarrassing just looking at the posters. Why oh why do people in the Indian movie industry want to be JUST like Americans, and then they do such a poor job at it. They think that if their women are half naked, they're JUST like Americans, and other nonsense like that. ugh, they're embarrassing themselves.
