As 2014 begins, it is time to list out what appealed to me (and hopefully at least a few cinegoers) most and what repelled me in 2013.
Movies I absolutely loved...
Kai Po Che - Delightfully heartbreaking tale of friendship and ambitions stymied by fate!
Raanjhanaa - Wonderfully realistic and irrational love story that ends as tragically as it begins
Raam Leela - A brash, colorful take on the bard's eternal love story accentuated by spirited performances
Madras Cafe - A hard-hitting docu-drama that takes sides but reveals enough while doing so
Lootera - A slow, yet impactful retelling of O. Henry's Last Leaf with melodious music and beautiful frames
Movies that were flawed but watchable...
Special 26 - A trying-to-be-smart film, which has its monents but which goes a tad too far in trying to swindle the viewers, not to mention the damage done by unnecessary songs and a tame romantic angle
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag - An at-times gripping biographical with unnecessary songs and bravado scenes to live out the fantasy of Milkha Singh
B. A. Pass - Faithful translation of Railway Aunty that focuses more on the lurid and less on the emotions
Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns - Interesting story brought down by the hammy Mahie Gill and the underwhelming climax
Aurangzeb - Interesting take on Don and The Devil's Double that is a little stretched and often underwhelming
Bombay Talkies - A couple of fantastic stories (Star, Murabba) marred by a couple of cheesy ones (Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh, Sheila Ki Jawaani)
Movies I thought were overrated...
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani - A coming of age film that focuses too much on long legs and pretty visuals and delves very little into the subject matter
The Lunchbox - A pretentious and boring film with some good moments
Shuddh Desi Romance - Unrelatable yawn-fest, where you lose track of who wants what as quickly as the characters in the film
Ghanchakkar - Too underwhelming for its own good
Movies I hated...
Grand Masti - Unfunny, boring and lame
Zanjeer - Ghastly!
Chennai Express - Squanders some interesting ideas to deliver a stereotypical unfunny comedy with a hammy SRK in every frame
The Attacks of 26/11 - Terrible attempt at homage to the dastardly acts, punctuated with irritating background music, pathetic camera angles and deliberately bad acting
Chashme Baddoor - Bad remake of a really funny film, even Dibyendu Sharma couldnt save this one
Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara - Yawn-inducing soporific film about clowns who happen to be gangsters
And now for the awards....
Best Actor
Sushant Singh Rajput - Kai Po Che
Akshay Kumar - Special 26
Dhanush - Raanjhanaa
Farhan Akhtar - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Ranveer Singh - Lootera
Ranveer Singh - Raam Leela
Best Actress
Deepika Padukone - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Sonam Kapoor - Raanjhanaa
Sonakshi Sinha - Lootera
Deepika Padukone - Raam Leela
Shilpa Shukla - B. A. Pass
Best Film
Kai Po Che
Raanjhanaa
Lootera
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Raam Leela
Madras Cafe
Best Director
Abhishek Kapoor - Kai Po Che
Subhash Kapoor - Jolly LLB
Anand L Rai - Raanjhanaa
Vikrmaditya Motwane - Lootera
Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Raam Leela
Shoojit Sircar - Madras Cafe
Best Supporting Actor
Rajkumar Yadav - Kai Po Che
Amit Sadh - Kai Po Che
Saurabh Shukla - Jolly LLB
Boman Irani - Jolly LLB
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub - Raanjhanaa
Paresh Rawal - Table No. 21
Rishi Kapoor - Aurangzeb
Nawaazuddin Siddiqui - Bombay Talkies
Best Supporting Actress
Kalki Koechlin - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Swara Bhaskar - Raanjhanaa
Konkona Sen Sharma - Ek Thi Daayan
Supriya Pathak - Raam Leela
Best Music Director
Amit Trivedi - Kai Po Che
Mithoon, Jeet - Aashiqui 2
Pritam - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Amit Trivedi - Lootera
A R Rehman - Raanjhanaa
Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Raam Leela
Best Song
Maanjha - Kai Po Che
Tum Hi Ho - Aashiqui 2
Sunn Raha Hain Na Tu - Aashiqui 2
Badtameez Dil - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Manmarziyaan - Lootera
Raanjhanaa - Raanjhanaa
Lahu Munh Lag Gaya - Raam Leela
Ambarsariya - Fukrey
Zinda - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Best Male Playback Singer
Amit Trivedi - Manjha, Kai Po Che
Arijit Singh - Tum Hi Ho, Aashiqui 2
Ankit Tiwari - Sunn Raha Hain Na Tu, Aashiqui 2
Amit Trivedi - Ghanchakkar Babu, Ghanchakkar
Benny Dayal - Badtameez Dil, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Sukhvinder Singh - Piya Milenge, Raanjhanaa
Shiraz Uppal, Jaswinder Singh - Raanjhanaa, Raanjhanaa
Javed Ali - Tum Tak, Raanjhanaa
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Ankahee, Lootera
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Shikayatein, Lootera
Siddharth Mahadevan - Zinda, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Arijit Singh - Laal Ishq, Raam Leela
Shail Hada - Lahu Munh Lag Gaya, Raam Leela
Best Female Playback Singer
Shreya Ghoshal - Sunn Raha Hain Na Tu, Aashiqui 2
Shruti Pathak - Shubharambh, Kai Po Che
Sona Mohapatra - Ambarsariya, Fukrey
Rekha Bharadwaj - Kabira, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Shalmali Kholghade - Balam Pichkari, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Shreya Ghoshal - Banarasiya, Raanjhanaa
Monali Thakur - Sawaar Loon, Lootera
Shilpa Rao - Manmarziyan, Lootera
Shreya Ghoshal - Nagada Sang Dhol, Raam Leela
Best Lyrics
Mithoon - Tum Hi Ho, Aashiqui 2
Irshad Kamil - Milne Hai Mujhse Aayi, Aashiqui 2
Swanand Kirkire - Manjha, Kai Po Che
Swanand Kirkire - Shubharambh, Kai Po Che
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Khoon Choos Le, Go Goa Gone
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Badtameez Dil, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Irshad Kamil - Tum Tak, Raanjhanaa
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Shikayatein, Lootera
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Manmarziyan, Lootera
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Sawaar Loon, Lootera
Prasoon Joshi - Zinda, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Siddhartha-Garima - Lahu Munh Lag Gaya
Worst Actor Imran Khan - Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara
Shah Rukh Khan - Chennai Express
Ram Charan - Zanjeer
Vivek Oberoi - Grand Masti
Ranbeer Kapoor - Besharam
Worst Actress
Sonakshi Sinha - Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara
Sonakshi Sinha - R... Rajkumar
Amisha Patel - Race 2
Priyanka Chopra - Zanjeer
Pallavi Sharda - Besharam
Worst Film
Himmatwala
Race 2
Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara
Zanjeer
Besharam
Boss
Gori Tere Pyaar Mein
Worst Director
Sudhir Mishra - Inkaar
Abbas Mustaan - Race 2
Ram Gopal Verma - The Attacks of 26/11
Abhinav Kashyap - Besharam
Apoorva Lakhia - Zanjeer
Milan Luthria - Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara
Previous years : 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 (best and worst), 2008 (best and worst)
Movies I absolutely loved...
Kai Po Che - Delightfully heartbreaking tale of friendship and ambitions stymied by fate!
Raanjhanaa - Wonderfully realistic and irrational love story that ends as tragically as it begins
Raam Leela - A brash, colorful take on the bard's eternal love story accentuated by spirited performances
Madras Cafe - A hard-hitting docu-drama that takes sides but reveals enough while doing so
Lootera - A slow, yet impactful retelling of O. Henry's Last Leaf with melodious music and beautiful frames
Movies that were flawed but watchable...
Special 26 - A trying-to-be-smart film, which has its monents but which goes a tad too far in trying to swindle the viewers, not to mention the damage done by unnecessary songs and a tame romantic angle
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag - An at-times gripping biographical with unnecessary songs and bravado scenes to live out the fantasy of Milkha Singh
B. A. Pass - Faithful translation of Railway Aunty that focuses more on the lurid and less on the emotions
Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns - Interesting story brought down by the hammy Mahie Gill and the underwhelming climax
Aurangzeb - Interesting take on Don and The Devil's Double that is a little stretched and often underwhelming
Bombay Talkies - A couple of fantastic stories (Star, Murabba) marred by a couple of cheesy ones (Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh, Sheila Ki Jawaani)
Movies I thought were overrated...
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani - A coming of age film that focuses too much on long legs and pretty visuals and delves very little into the subject matter
The Lunchbox - A pretentious and boring film with some good moments
Shuddh Desi Romance - Unrelatable yawn-fest, where you lose track of who wants what as quickly as the characters in the film
Ghanchakkar - Too underwhelming for its own good
Movies I hated...
Grand Masti - Unfunny, boring and lame
Zanjeer - Ghastly!
Chennai Express - Squanders some interesting ideas to deliver a stereotypical unfunny comedy with a hammy SRK in every frame
The Attacks of 26/11 - Terrible attempt at homage to the dastardly acts, punctuated with irritating background music, pathetic camera angles and deliberately bad acting
Chashme Baddoor - Bad remake of a really funny film, even Dibyendu Sharma couldnt save this one
Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara - Yawn-inducing soporific film about clowns who happen to be gangsters
And now for the awards....
Best Actor
Sushant Singh Rajput - Kai Po Che
Akshay Kumar - Special 26
Dhanush - Raanjhanaa
Farhan Akhtar - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Ranveer Singh - Lootera
Ranveer Singh - Raam Leela
Best Actress
Deepika Padukone - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Sonam Kapoor - Raanjhanaa
Sonakshi Sinha - Lootera
Deepika Padukone - Raam Leela
Shilpa Shukla - B. A. Pass
Best Film
Kai Po Che
Raanjhanaa
Lootera
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Raam Leela
Madras Cafe
Best Director
Abhishek Kapoor - Kai Po Che
Subhash Kapoor - Jolly LLB
Anand L Rai - Raanjhanaa
Vikrmaditya Motwane - Lootera
Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Raam Leela
Shoojit Sircar - Madras Cafe
Best Supporting Actor
Rajkumar Yadav - Kai Po Che
Amit Sadh - Kai Po Che
Saurabh Shukla - Jolly LLB
Boman Irani - Jolly LLB
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub - Raanjhanaa
Paresh Rawal - Table No. 21
Rishi Kapoor - Aurangzeb
Nawaazuddin Siddiqui - Bombay Talkies
Best Supporting Actress
Kalki Koechlin - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Swara Bhaskar - Raanjhanaa
Konkona Sen Sharma - Ek Thi Daayan
Supriya Pathak - Raam Leela
Best Music Director
Amit Trivedi - Kai Po Che
Mithoon, Jeet - Aashiqui 2
Pritam - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Amit Trivedi - Lootera
A R Rehman - Raanjhanaa
Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Raam Leela
Best Song
Maanjha - Kai Po Che
Tum Hi Ho - Aashiqui 2
Sunn Raha Hain Na Tu - Aashiqui 2
Badtameez Dil - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Manmarziyaan - Lootera
Raanjhanaa - Raanjhanaa
Lahu Munh Lag Gaya - Raam Leela
Ambarsariya - Fukrey
Zinda - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Best Male Playback Singer
Amit Trivedi - Manjha, Kai Po Che
Arijit Singh - Tum Hi Ho, Aashiqui 2
Ankit Tiwari - Sunn Raha Hain Na Tu, Aashiqui 2
Amit Trivedi - Ghanchakkar Babu, Ghanchakkar
Benny Dayal - Badtameez Dil, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Sukhvinder Singh - Piya Milenge, Raanjhanaa
Shiraz Uppal, Jaswinder Singh - Raanjhanaa, Raanjhanaa
Javed Ali - Tum Tak, Raanjhanaa
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Ankahee, Lootera
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Shikayatein, Lootera
Siddharth Mahadevan - Zinda, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Arijit Singh - Laal Ishq, Raam Leela
Shail Hada - Lahu Munh Lag Gaya, Raam Leela
Best Female Playback Singer
Shreya Ghoshal - Sunn Raha Hain Na Tu, Aashiqui 2
Shruti Pathak - Shubharambh, Kai Po Che
Sona Mohapatra - Ambarsariya, Fukrey
Rekha Bharadwaj - Kabira, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Shalmali Kholghade - Balam Pichkari, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Shreya Ghoshal - Banarasiya, Raanjhanaa
Monali Thakur - Sawaar Loon, Lootera
Shilpa Rao - Manmarziyan, Lootera
Shreya Ghoshal - Nagada Sang Dhol, Raam Leela
Best Lyrics
Mithoon - Tum Hi Ho, Aashiqui 2
Irshad Kamil - Milne Hai Mujhse Aayi, Aashiqui 2
Swanand Kirkire - Manjha, Kai Po Che
Swanand Kirkire - Shubharambh, Kai Po Che
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Khoon Choos Le, Go Goa Gone
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Badtameez Dil, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Irshad Kamil - Tum Tak, Raanjhanaa
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Shikayatein, Lootera
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Manmarziyan, Lootera
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Sawaar Loon, Lootera
Prasoon Joshi - Zinda, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Siddhartha-Garima - Lahu Munh Lag Gaya
Worst Actor Imran Khan - Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara
Shah Rukh Khan - Chennai Express
Ram Charan - Zanjeer
Vivek Oberoi - Grand Masti
Ranbeer Kapoor - Besharam
Worst Actress
Sonakshi Sinha - Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara
Sonakshi Sinha - R... Rajkumar
Amisha Patel - Race 2
Priyanka Chopra - Zanjeer
Pallavi Sharda - Besharam
Worst Film
Himmatwala
Race 2
Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara
Zanjeer
Besharam
Boss
Gori Tere Pyaar Mein
Worst Director
Sudhir Mishra - Inkaar
Abbas Mustaan - Race 2
Ram Gopal Verma - The Attacks of 26/11
Abhinav Kashyap - Besharam
Apoorva Lakhia - Zanjeer
Milan Luthria - Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara
Previous years : 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 (best and worst), 2008 (best and worst)
