It was the year of extremes for Hindi cinema in 2016. Triumphant underdog tales — such as Taapsee Pannu’s Pink (4.5 stars out of 5) and Aamir Khan’s biopic Dangal (4 out of 5) — struck a chord among viewers, and mammoth productions such as Mohenjodaro and Fitoor were rejected for its underwhelming stories.
2016 also saw women-centric films soar. Think Neerja, featuring Sonam Kapoor and Vidya Balan’s searing thriller Kahaani 2. Alia Bhatt stood out with her spectacular performances. Whether it was a drug addict in Udta Punjab or the troubled millenial in Dear Zindagi. The audiences also did not have an appetite for syrupy romances such as Baaghi and horror films such as 1920 London. Strong stories trumped star-driven extravaganzas.
Gulf News tabloid! gives you a round-up of the films that were reviewed by this journalist every Thursday. Find out who smashed it out of the park and who sank without a trace…
Film: Wazir; January 7
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Wazir isn’t a terrible thriller about an avenging chess champion. It may even mildly entertain you, but when you have accomplished talents such as Bachchan, Akhtar and director Bejoy Nambiar, you expect fireworks.”
Film: Chalk N Duster; January 14
Cast: Shabana Azmi and Juhi Chawla
Rating: 2 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “A drama about the plight of overworked Indian teachers is a crash course on being noble. If you had been in a classroom, you may have found yourself looking for the nearest exit since the subject isn’t riveting. But fortunately, the scenario isn’t so bad for a viewer, because this movie improves significantly in the second half. The first half is a bore.”
Film: Airlift; January 21
Cast: Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “War is never pretty, with civilians being the biggest casualty, and director Raja Krishna Menon puts it across engagingly in Airlift. A tale of 170,000 Indian expatriates caught in the Iraq-Kuwait conflict in 1990, this thriller raw and real.”
Film: Ghayal Once Again; February 4
Cast: Sunny Deol and Soha Ali Khan.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “It took Deol over two decades to roll out the sequel of his 1990 action hit Ghayal. Now that it’s here after 26 years, we wish he hadn’t bothered.
Ghayal Once Again is a shoddy attempt at reviving the classic revenge drama about avenging loose canon. What worked in the ’90s is not likely to fly now.”
Cast: Tabu, Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Fitoor, which means obsession, made a great case of presenting Kashmir — often labelled as India’s ‘paradise on earth’ — in a heavenly manner. It looked dazzling with its chinar leaves and its stunning valleys, but it made you wonder whether our emotions and awe should have been reserved for the troubled couple — Noor and Firdaus. Watch this if you want to see a visual spectacle, but if you are on the hunt for an intense love story, you are barking up the wrong chinar tree.”
Film: Neerja; February 18
Cast: Sonam Kapoor
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Watch this if you are looking for an engaging film about love, extraordinary bravery and honour. But keep the tissues nearby.”
Film: Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive; February 25
Cast: Manish Paul and Pradyuman Singh
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “What sets the biting satire apart is that it doesn’t try too hard and manages to make you laugh out loud without going down the crude, toilet-humour route. But, chaos comes in the form of multiple characters that are inserted randomly along the way.”
Film: Jai Gangaajal; March 3
Cast: Priyanka Chopra and Prakash Jha
Rating: 2 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Jai Gangaajal is crammed with issues such as corporate greed, debt-ridden farms, lawless cities and frustrated civilians, but there’s no particular direction to all that chaos.”
Film: Kapoor & Sons; March 17
Cast: Alia Bhatt, Fawad Khan and Sidarth Malhotra
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Watching Kapoor & Sons is a revelatory experience. Producer Karan Johar doesn’t always need designer-goods-laden actors, souped-up cars and palatial mansions to pull off an engaging family drama. Sometimes, real people, less glycerin and even less melodrama can do the trick.”
Film: Rocky Handsome; March 24
Cast: John Abraham
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “How long can you watch a handsome face with all the expressiveness of a rock?
That question will haunt you as you sit through John Abraham’s new action thriller, Rocky Handsome.”
Film: Ki & Ka; March 31
Cast: Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “It was a romantic comedy that claimed to explore gender roles in a marriage. But sadly, the interesting premise was reduced to a banal Bollywood romance whose messages on gender equality are lost in translation.”
Film: Fan; April 14
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “When you play a Bollywood matinee idol in a film, there’s a danger of it being an exercise in self-indulgence, but the thriller Fan doesn’t fall into that trap. But the thriller can turn predictable.”
Film: Laal Rang; April 21
Cast: Randeep Hooda and Akshay Oberoi
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Hooda is perfectly cast as the Swashbuckling Shankar, who’s a blood tout and runs an illegal blood bank in Haryana. It explores the murky side of blood donation in India — a sobering subject. But its director Syed Ahmad Afzal injects verve into this dark drama by creating characters that are endearing.”
Film: Baaghi; April 28
Cast: Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “It may hurt, but there’s no easy way to say this: Tiger Shroff can break bones with his bare hands, but he doesn’t have the power to emotionally sway viewers … If you are looking for an all brawn and no brains feature, then watch Baaghi.”
Film: 1920 London; May 5
Cast: Sharman Joshi
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “The witch in the Bollywood horror film 1920 London would kill for a soul. She wants it so bad that this demon, with tar-filled eye sockets and a perennial bad hair day, will destroy anyone that comes in her way. It was exhausting.”
Film: Azhar; May 12
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Prachi Desai and Nargis Fakhri
Rating: 2 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Inspired by former Indian cricket team captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s checkered life, Hashmi is on an unsure footing here. It ends up as a salacious potboiler that glossed over the real issues that plagued Azharuddin’s cricketing career.”
Film: Sarbjit; May 19
Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Randeep Hooda
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Rai Bachchan plays Dalbir Kaur in this drama about her two decade struggle to liberate her brother Sarabjit Singh who was wrongfully detained in a Pakistani prison. She’s making a plea for all to be humane, but some of her voice is drowned as the makers are desperate to make it an edible film for the Bollywood movie fans who like a bit of dance and drama.
Film: Housefull 3; June 2
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “If you are easily offended, Housefull 3 is not for you. But for all else, this comedy is a romp, an ode to harebrained antics.”
Film: Dhanak; June 8
Cast: Hetal Gadda and Krrish Chabbria
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Children’s films in Bollywood are strictly for young ones. Appealing to adults isn’t a priority. But Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dhanak goes against the grain; it’s a drama that is endearing to children and their parents/guardians alike. Plus, the children don’t speak in a gratingly saccharine manner.
Film: Te3n; June 8
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Te3N is no Kahaani and is not as gripping. The climax leaves you feeling underwhelmed. It doesn’t, however, hurt to be invested in the film.”
Film: Udta Punjab; June 16
Cast: Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapur
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Credit is due to director Abhishek Chaubey for taking a grim subject such as drug abuse in Punjab and making it interesting. The way in which the worlds of a cop, a heroin addict, a rock star and a doctor intersect is cleverly shown.”
Film: Raman Raghav 2.0; June 23
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vicky Kaushal
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Raman Raghav 2.0 may be Anurag Kashyap’s baby (he’s both director and co-writer) but the film belongs to Siddiqui who steps into the shoes of the deranged character that he is playing,” said Manjari Saxena in her review.
Film: Madaari; July 21
Cast: Irrfan Khan and Jimmy Shergill
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Irrfan Khan brings out the anguish of a parent losing his boy to a freak accident marvelously in this kidnapping drama, by director Nishikant Kamath. But the second half is a let-down.”
Film: Dishoom; July 28
Cast: John Abraham and Varun Dhawan
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “How long will John Abraham, arguably one of Bollywood’s most good looking men, wing it by just looking brooding? His looks and his surly attitude form the spine of his role police officer Kabir in Dishoom. The first half is engaging, but the second half is clichéd.”
Film: Mohenjodaro; August 12
Cast: Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Before you watch Mohenjo Daro, you need to cast aside the belief that you will learn something substantial about the ancient civilisation set in 2016BC. You aren’t going to be any smarter following this film.”
Film: Rustom; August 12
Cast: Akshay Kumar and Illeana D’Cruz
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: A marriage in shambles, a cheating partner and a husband who clinically pumps bullets into his wife’s lover makes for riveting cinema. But director Tinu Suresh Desai decides that such explosive material is insufficient. So he adds a confusing conspiracy theory to make sense of the woman’s (a weepy Ileana D’Cruz) infidelity.”
Film: Happy Bhaag Jayegi; August 18
Cast: Abhay Deol and Diana Penty
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “This is no laugh riot, but Happy Bhaag Jayegi has its glorious moments.”
Film: A Flying Jatt
When: August 24
Cast: Tiger Shroff and Jacqueline Fernandez
Rating: 2 out of 5
Review in a nutshell:” While he doesn’t look ridiculous in his snug unitard (yes, that’s a herculean task), Shroff lacks charisma and might I guiltily add, star power. His youthful face doesn’t propel us to suspend belief in this good vs evil fantasy adventure.”
Film: Akira; September 1
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha and Anurag Kashyap
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “She slays it as Akira, the fierce college student from a dysfunctional family, who reluctantly takes on corrupt police officers. Anurag Kashyap, who plays a high-ranking police officer, is pure evil.”
Film: Baar Baar Dekho; September 8
Cast: Katrina Kaif and Sidarth Malhotra
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Sometimes it helps to have two divine-looking people in a frame. They look fetching and it sometimes glosses over some glaring over-the-top twists.”
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Arbaaz Khan
Rating: 2 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “It’s not worth your money to watch Freaky Ali in the cinemas. Watch it if you are a big fan of Siddiqui,” said Saxena in her review.
Film: Pink; September 15
Cast: Tapasee Pannu and Amitabh Bachchan
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “A must-watch, Pink brought out the cheerleader in me. I wanted to high-five Minal Arora, the feisty woman played by Pannu, when she won a round in the courtroom. It’s a gripping thriller that explores sexism, patriarchy and gender inequality.”
Film: Banjo; September 22
Cast: Riteish Deshmukh
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “While Banjo should ideally have been a showcase for Deshmukh to flex his acting muscles in a solo hero project, this film struck all the wrong notes.”
Film: MS Dhoni: The Untold Story; September 29
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Rajput knocks it out of the park as the former Indian captain M.S. Dhoni in this eponymous biopic.”
Film: Mirzya; October 6
Cast: Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell:” It is visually spectacular, but it’s also spectacularly stupid when it comes to dealing with star-crossed lovers.”
Film: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil; October 27
Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Fawad Khan
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell:” Led by a supremely good-looking quartet, this romance is the lovechild that would result if two films — Johar’s own friendship-meets-love saga Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and the Hollywood tearjerker A Fault In Our Stars — ¬were to indulge in a torrid affair.”
Film: Rock on 2; November 10
Cast: Farhan Akhtar and Shraddha Kapoor
Rating: 2 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Rock On 2 strengthens my belief that it’s never a good idea to make a sequel unless there’s some unfinished business that the world needs to know about.”
Film: Force 2; November 17
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Tahir Raj Bhasin and John Abraham
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “There’s something incredibly satisfying about a villain, who’s one step ahead of the heroes in a film. Tahir Raj Bhasin is a cheeky and conniving antagonist who has some of the best lines.”
Film: Dear Zindagi; November 24
Cast: Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “The tale of a twenty-something cinematographer, Kiara who’s undergoing a crippling quarter-life-crisis, is joyously entertaining.”
Film: Kahaani 2; December 1
Cast: Vidya Balan and Arjun Rampal
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “It’s one of the rare Bollywood thrillers which tackle the subject of sexual abuse with grace and gumption.”
Film: Befikre; December 8
Cast: Vaani Kapoor and Ranveer Singh
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “Watch this if you are a fan of syrupy romances or Singh’s groupie. All others, take this plunge at your own risk.”
Film: Dangal; December 22
Cast: Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra and Aamir Khan
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review in a nutshell: “A must-watch, Khan strikes gold as wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat who trains his daughters relentlessly to chase sporting dreams.”
