Hats off 2005!. Review on General Tips on Bollywood

May be this review can sound a little off topic. But let me tell you, it will be about Bollywood all through even if sometimes going beyond general.

Let's talk about Bollywood in 2005. In general a lot of advice can be given to a fan who has been away from the Bollywood film industry this year. For me, the best way to put it would be to name my list of top notch (top ten chronological) performers to whom the year belonged.

NUMBER 10: VIDYA BALAN (OUTSTANDING FEMALE DEBUTANT): Words aren't the best way to describe this lady. Vidya had a long way to travel to get where she is and there's no denying that. Initially reports had it that Saif Ali Khan wanted to work with Aishwarya Rai as Lolita, the female protagonist. However, Vidya was auditioned and approved, albeit on the condition that she would give about a 200 percent to the role and prepare for it for months. Vidya came back for the shoot and in what can be called an ultimate reward for a sincere effort, she stole the show in PARINEETA.

Though Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt performed very well, it was the young starlet who silently and calmly stole the show. What else, this lady did all that without creating a buzzing controversy in the media about herself or rather she also hit the nail on the head without exposing even 0.1 percent in the movie. How sad for her competitors, for instance Tanushree Dutta, who had to do so much worse to just try and get where this lady is. An enviable performer who steals 2005 at the tenth spot. A general advince: go catch PARINEETA if you haven't, Vidya would surely make your day!

NUMBER 9: COMEDY MOVIE DIRECTORS: Now this is way too general as an advice. Although I can name people like Sangeeth Sivan, Anees Bazmee, David Dhawan, and Priyadarshan for coming up with hilarious superhit comedies like KYA KOOL HAIN HUM, NO ENTRY, MAINE PYAR KYUN KIYA, and GARAM MASALA respectively, this position in the countdown is restricted to this genre. Comedy is a genre that has worked wonders this year. If you missed 2005, I am sorry to say you missed a whole lot of fun. Even movies like DEEWANE HUYE PAAGAL, SHAADI NO.1, and MR. YA MISS that didn't exactly succeed technically were good enough in their own right and their loss can only be attributed to the fact that they were way too many movies made before them in the same genre. One has to say now, if 2004 was a year for skin shows, 2005 is one for comic capers.

NUMBER 8: AMITABH BACHCHAN: It feels sad to place Amitabh Bachchan at this spot in the countdown. But really, Big B is already too accomplished for words or a countdown. So really, position is not at all the matter. The fact is that he had to be in this countdown somewhere. This guy has given his fans countless reasons to cheer as his movies succeeded time and again in the first half of the year. Giving hits like WAQT, BUNTY AUR BABLI, and SARKAR were enough to ensure that he would strike gold as an emotional father, a funny cop, as well as an under-hand controller. With all the hardwork he continued in the second half of the year, he proved that fans are his number 1 priority even if he is hospitalised. One can only say three cheers for this man and wish him a quick recovery!

NUMBER 7: SHAADIS: A lot of Bollywood stars actually got married this year. But why put Shaadis above professional aspects of Bollywood? Just to let the private part of a Bollywood star's life get some importance that it always has deserved. Female fans need to know that hunks like Fardeen Khan and Zayed Khan are no longer single while guys like myself need to come to terms that beauties like Gayatri Joshi and Namrata Sharodkar aren't single anymore either. So this year certainly did belong to the SHAADIS as even movies came out picking on marriages (NO ENTRY, SHAADI NO. 1)!

NUMBER 6: SALMAN KHAN: Salman Khan surely rocked Bollywood in 2005 the best he could. After giving a moderate success with LUCKY--NO TIME FOR LOVE, Sallu returned for some action in MAINE PYAR KYUN KIYA amidst great controversy of all the tape incident. Well Salman defied all odds when his movie worked and shortly after he became an integral factor to contribute to the success of the year's biggest blockbuster called NO ENTRY. Then, Salman moved on after the completion of a hatrick and his success was so unassailable than even if his detractors had a reason to cheer when his Diwali release KYON KI failed, they couldn't blame Sallu as he was the saving grace of the movie! Hats off to Salman. If you missed 2005, you missed a lot of Salman's comeback.

NUMBER 5: TALENT HUNTS: Bollywood has succeeded in using T.V. as a medium to gain some young talent. While INDIA's BEST generated a great deal of youngsters that can be the future of Bollywood as actors, INDIAN IDOL, FAME GURUKUL, and SA RE GA MA PA certainly did their part to produce extremely talented musical artists like Abhijeet Sawant who are certainly believed to change the face of Bollywood's music for the better in future.

NUMBER 4: MUSICAL HITS: Bollywood scored high time in 2005 from a musical point of view. Every month, literally every month came a chartbuster worth being called the song of the year. While the first half of the year was filled with amazing rock songs like WOH LAMHE (ZEHER), KAAL DHAMAAL (KAAL), and DUS BAHANE (DUS), the second half rocked to another set of rocking tunes like those in SALAAM NAMASTE and AASHIQ BANAYA AAPNE as well as the GARAM MASALAs and EK KHILADI EK HASEENAs! Add to it the crisp choreography in each case. If 2005 was a year you skipped, unfortunately you missed a lot in the case of music. The awards this year are going to be very tough in the musical categories and you can certainly mark my words on that!

NUMBER 3: HIMESH RESHAMMIYA: This is third in a row in the countdown now as a music-related category. Well but quite simply the year did belong to music in many ways. And when music is the topic of discussion, one man's contribution totally stands out. As much as many of us, including this writer, are against Himesh Reshammiya's awkward attitude (it shows in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa the most), we all are also aware of the guy's countless abilities as an artist. To give an artist his due respect, one can say Himesh rocks! Period! After giving musical successes in the past year like TERE NAAM, he came up with AASHIQ BANAYA AAPNE, an album that sold like hot cakes for not only its wonderful composition, but mainly due to the fact that it was Himesh with his world-class vocals of a rock singer as a debutant that simply set the craze. With JHALAK DIKHLAJA from the forthcoming movie AKSAR being the current craze on the musical block, Himesh's dependability is confirmed along with the fact that AASHIQ BANAYA AAPNE was no fluke. If you unfortunately missed his performance in 2005, it is a lost deal. But don't worry as this guy is poised to deliver in 2006 too. So now you know who to look for next year. So keep rocking Himesh. Happy new year all!

NUMBER 2: AKSHAY KUMAR: Short n sweet, let me put it this way, this year has witnessed Akshay succeed in a variety of different roles. After starting the year as a saving grace of BEWAFAA in his lover boy role, Akshay stood his ground against Big B as his careless yet emotional son and delivered a knockout successful performance in WAQT. From good to great to excellent is where he went next. GARAM MASALA, with him playing a comical cassanova, went on to become the winter's biggest success so far and there are no surprises attached to this. It is Akshay and his success ratio this year does the job much better than my words. So not one, not two, not three, but ten cheers to Akshay--he truly deserves this spot.

NUMERO UNO...NUMBER 1: Any GUESSES??

IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BABY!