Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Court, Dum Laga Ke Haisha: Indian Express’ Shubhra Gupta’s Top 12 films of 2015 - See more at: Here are Indian Express film critic Shubhra Gupta’s top 12 films of 2015, in no particular order. Qissa. About a ‘lonely’ ghost, the birth of a nation, and the corrosive power of love, superbly directed by Anup Singh. Top-notch peformances by Irrfan, Rasika Duggal and Tillotama Shome. Dum Laga Ke Haisha : A girl with weight issues. A ‘boy’ taking surly steps towards manhood. Director Sharat Katariya nails it. And both Ayushmann Khurrana as the reluctant groom, and Bhumi Pednekar as the ‘fat’ girl’, make this thing sing. Court. First timer Chaitanya Tamhane’s searing exposition of what happens in our courts, and in our public spaces, is a state-of-the-nation film which may not have made it to the final leg at the Oscars. But it’s already got our prize. Margarita With A Sraw. That people with disabilities are also people—with needs and wants—just like the rest of us, is a fact that stays shamefully unacknowledged. Under Shonali Bose’s astute baton, Kalki Koechlin does a great job of her wheel-chair bound protagonist who wants everything—bed bits and all– and leaves us smiling. Bahubali. SS Rajamouli is a director who thinks not just big, but humungous. ‘Bahubali’ is an epic adventure, of the sort of scale and ambition Indian cinema has never witnessed. Can’t wait for part 2. Killa: a beautifully-acted tale of growing pains, captivatingly shot by first time director Avinash Arun, Killa takes us back to the time when being a child was both pleasure and pain, and the first glimpses of what life on the other side could be. Kaaka Muttai: Another heartwarming story of a couple of slum-dwelling urchins, desperately trying to keep their spirits up in the face of grinding poverty. Director M Manikandan’s first feature brings up liberalistion and the huge economic disparity people have to live with, but with a light, thought-provoking touch. Masaan: Banaras is a pulsating character in Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut feature, which touches upon such weighty matters as life and death, society and repression, caste and class, grieving and healing. Deftly directed, from a sharp, mapping-the-terrain script by Varun Grover. And Vicky Kaushal is a find. Titli. Not all families love and live happily ever after. Another powerful debut, written and directed by Kanu Behl, it transports us to a grungy part of a new, new Delhi coming up on its outskirts. It is needy, brutal and wants in. Great ensemble acting, and Ranvir Shorey is a stand-out. Bajrangi Bhaijaan: Kabir Khan cobbles together an adorable little girl, Salman Khan as Being Hanuman, Nawazuddin as a bumbling TV reporter across the border, and rousing Indo-Pak bhaichara, and the subversive frisson created by a Muslim superstar playing a Ram bhakt in our time of ‘intolerance’. Mainstream cinema with smarts. Piku. Shoojit Sircar presents a completely new situation in Hindi cinema—an irascible old man, played by Amitabh Bachchan, with twin obsessions : his bowel movements, and his unmarried daughter. Time for ‘filmi romance’ (between the lissome Deepika Padukone and Irrfan) to turn unconventional. And feel right. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/en...lms-of-2015/?SocialMedia#sthash.qiFPfG3Q.dpuf
Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, Kangana Ranaut: 2015 belonged to women in cinema Posted on: 09:00 AM IST Dec 29, 2015 | Updated on: 9:29 am,Dec 29,2015 IST Shomini Sen IBNLIVE.COM here. Anushka Sharma: How many 27 year olds do you know who happen to start their own production company and back films which most would reject? How many actresses do you know who do not have the qualms of acting in a film with ensemble cast? How many actresses do you know who speak out openly about the gender disparity that exists in Bollywood- especially when she is at the peak of her career? That’s Anushka Sharma for you and we have to thank her for turning producer for a film like ‘NH10’ which most people would shy away from taking up, considering it has a heroine playing the main lead and fighting patriarchy in her own bada** way. Priyanka Chopra: Our latest import to the west, Priyanka Chopra is making heads turn with her super series ‘Quantico’ where she plays an FBI agent suspected for carrying out a terrorist attack. A powerful actress, Chopra by now has established herself well in Bollywood and now setting an all new trend by saying ‘no’ to play any caricature character that most Indian actors succumb to playing in the west. While the west was going ga-ga over her peroformance, she nicely stole the limelight from the lead cast in ‘Bajirao Mastani’ where she played Bajirao’s first wife ‘Kashibai’. She may have got less of screen time, but the actress managed to overpower Padukone in their scenes together with her superb acting. Zoya Akhtar: Thank god someone made a film on brother-sister relationship in Bollywood minus all the melodrama. With dry humour running throughout the narrative, Zoya Akhtar for ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ was such a fun ride! A film on a dysfunctional family, the film struck a chord with everyone for its characters and the problems that they had seemed all too real to the audience. Akhtar also managed to drive home a relevant point, that if the story is good, one can manage to cast a gamut of stars in an ensemble film without any of them complaining of screen time. Kangana Ranaut: The wonder woman of Bollywood may not have had that great a year as she had in 2014, but Kangana’s performace as Kusum Sangwan in Anand L Rai’s ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ will stay in the minds of Indian audience for a long time. From getting the right diction to having a different body language for the two distinct characters she played, Kangana outshined everyone in the film. Such a delight to watch her play the Haryanvi athlete in the film! Kalki Koechlin: Filmmaker Shonali Bose should be given credit for making a film like 'Margarita, With A Straw' which had the most unconventional central character. Laila, suffered from cerebral palsy and was bisexual and wanted to live her life, in her own terms. How often do you a see a heroine playing such a role in hindi cinema? Kalki Koechlin owned Laila and made it her own. The path breaking film also tried to show that even people with special needs have certain sexual desires, just like any of us. The actresses of ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’: India needed female buddy film. And Pan Nalin gave us fun, spunky ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’ which people loved, despite all the horrendous cuts imposed by the censor board. Seven girls re discover themselves as they bond on a bachelor trip to Goa. Featuring Sandhya Mridul, Anushka Manchanda, Sarah Jane Dias, Tannishtha Chatterjee and others, the film struck a chord mainly because of the unassuming, real camaraderie that the actresses shared, making the film a real, relatable and enjoyable. Meghna Gulzar for ‘Talvar’: Arushi Talwar murder case was perhaps one of the most talked about case in recent times. It was a story that everyone knew and almost everyone had their own theory about it. Making a film on something so controversial surely wasn’t an easy task for Meghna Gulzar but the filmmaker delivered a gripping tale. With a stellar star cast comprising of Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma and Neeraj Kabi, the film made us sit up and take notice of other possibilities of the case. The film’s climax scene where two opposing teams of CBI are sitting and dismissing each other’s theories is perhaps one of the best scenes that we have seen in any film in recent times. Honourable mentions: The two new comers Bhumi Pednekar and Shweta Tripathi for taking up films like ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ and ‘Masaan’ as their debut films. And Richa Chadda for ‘Masaan’ because she is always awesome in any role that you give her.
