Best Bollywood Movie Of The Year 2008 Is...

As the year ends ... and the one which wont be remembered a good one for Bollywood.. I would take an opportunity to analyze the movies released this year ,that I have seen.



If this particular movie would have been released In India... or by any chance would have been produced by an Indian ..... there was no doubt that I would have CROWNED this one as the best movie of the year. And I am talking about "Slumdog Millionaire" .

"What a player !!!" . Chuckles Anil Kapoor in the movie. I would say 'What A Movie" . Simply Great !!.
I loved the way Movie was conceived. A game show. A Rs 20 Million Prize. 15 Questions. And he had the answer to most of them. Not by Genius. By Destiny. It was just that his life leading to that Hotseat had answered him even before he knew the questions. Answer to each Each Question, a part his life. That's Destiny. Superb.

And here In US , Oscar talks are on. And its a Clear Leader. I just hope it wins.


Coming back to Bollywood.

Even though I have started writing this blog, I haven't yet decided my Top Ten List of Bollywood Movies for this Year. Shall I go for Top Ten? I guess not. It would be tough job. And I don't want an entry just for the sake of it. Best Five looks good.So chance are that I may miss something in my list. But as they say..'If you cant remember, don't try for the sake of it'.

The movies that I will be listing would be the one that made Impact. I wont go just for Great Direction, Great Story, Great Acting.....and all other Technicalities. My listing are based just On Impact of the movie, when you are watching and/or thereafter.

Well the one movie that comes to my mind when I write the word "Best" as prefix is "A Wednesday". Anupam Kher. Great Acting, with Simplicity. Great Narration too. Naseeruddin Shah. The Common Man. Great Job. Great Dialogues. My Favorite "Koi ******* Button Daba ke ye Decide Nahi Karega....... ". You don't hear the F word been used so effectively In Bollywood.
Even Jimmy Shergill delivered his best .There were loopholes . Some Illogical subplots (Actor being threat, A common man smarter than Police Hacker). But as Naseer says in film ,"Maine Tareeke Nahi Nateeje Ki Baare Me Soch Raha Hoon". The film relies on this. And it makes an Impact.
Great Movie. Good Job.






I hated this movie. I was let Down by SRK when I was watching this movie. I expected a lot ?? Or I didn't expect him to be different?? Cant say. But when I think about this movie I feel, It was good. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Good to be loved. Good to be different. And SRK. I love him. Film had my Idealogical Differences. But It had beauty to make me believe that I was wrong. In all Surender Sahani was common man. He behaved the way a simple man with self honour would behave. It was one of the movie when you should not expect Raj or Rahul to sing and dance.The film had Cliches. Irrelevant scenes (Bike Chase, Sumo fight, too much use of word 'Rab'). Which film doesn't have those flaws ""Taani Partner"" !!!. But it succeeded in capturing the simple , beautiful moments of life. A Husband hesitating to leave a Rose for his wife on table even though he dances with the Tiffin Box served by her. Well do watch it. Its worth.



Farhan Akhtar. He shares his last name with me. But that has nothing to do with my listing his movie in my best ones. Good work Farhan. Great Director. Good Actor. And Inspiring Singer. Rock On!!! There have been times when an Inspirational Movie in Bollywood meant, Hero winning Heroine, Hero Overcoming Villain. Well."Aur bhi Gham hai zamane me Mohabbat n Unke Dushmano ke siva". Rock On !!! succeeded where others have failed.It Inspired. It Inspired to be friends. Friends Forever. It Inspired to believe In yourself.
And the songs. Totally new to Bollywood, but they Rocked. Yes there were a few subplots inspired from another Milestone movie "Dil Chahata Hai", but they were used for good.
In the end movie said "Rock On !!! no matter what Song Is On.". And we did.


Well I started with List Of Ten. Then came to listing Five. And now I wonder , did i like any other movie as I loved these? I guess not.

So the final in my list::
A Wednesday, Rock On and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

But on any day I will go for "Slumdog Millionaire" .

Rab ne Bana Di Jodi

Since the Release dates for this much anticipated movie were announced and since I saw the Promo for the first time . I was sure that I have to watch this before I receive any review. From any Nikhat Kazmi, Khalid Mohammad or even Taran Adarsh or any XYZ. But I had to move to New York and .... I couldn't resist myself reading their review as there were timing difference in Release over here .

Nikhat Kazmi was usual Herself. I donno why Her Ratings dont match her Reviews. Then there we have Khaild Mohammad. He is good. At least he knows what he writes. According to him this was one of the most Accomplished performance by SRK. I agree. He wasn't hamming .. he didn't Overact. Even wen he did .. he had rights to do so.. as his character demanded.. SRK rarely had this luxury in the past.

Then there was Taran Adarsh. I guess he wasnt is good mood when reviewed the movie. I even Had a chance to watch his review on TV. What he said about the movie, you at time can agree with it , if you are in mood of argument. But he was totally wrong in Declaring . Yes Declaring , is was in such a command wen he said that " business in India will totter, tremble and fumble after the initial weekend'.

How can you do that? You cant challenge a SRK-Yashraj Combibation on Boxoffice no matter wat the content of Movie is.

I always knew , whatever Contents movie had ... its gonna succeed. If SRK can carry Main Hoon Naa. He can carry anything. And he has proved more often than not.

So here I was set to watch . The Most anticipated Movie of the Year. The problem that I had was... Where? I was new to Jersey Cuty. It has been hardly 3 days I have been In here. Earlier I was in New York. And New York has that Special Charm where She allows herself to get more close n familiar to anybody without asking much. The Subways, The Maps. The People. They all Conspire to get what You want from the City. So watchinh the Movie In New York wasnt a thing that reqired ay effort. You just Go and Watch.

But I was in Jersey City. And Going to NY wasnt the rite Option with the kind of Travel Option s I had. No Subways you Know.

You know the famous Cliche. "Where there is Will There Is A Way". Cliche . But it works. And it worked for me too. A Longtime Friend Came to my Resue. Guess Who . Google. Yes, if u are travelling outside India, Google is not marely a search site. Its a part of Life and necessity.

You get answers to almost everything. All you should know what to ask for.

So here I was with the Address stating : Phoenix Theater, Columbia Park, Jersey City . And 3:30 PM show. I was excited. Excited like a Teenager falling in Love for the first time.I do that everytime I go for a SRK movie.
It wasnt very cold , like its today. Instead it was all Sun Shining making up like a perfect day. Inviting me to raise my Hopes for the Movie. The bus ride was fine. Ans within 15 mins , I was there . Not exacltly to the theatre . But to the Columbia Park. Now finding the theatre In that Park was another Fun. I could see with the help of Sign Boards, how to go there by cars. But what abt the bare footers. I had to walkinh around all over the park and then go the basement Parking to the Sign og Box Office.

Tickets were cheap. $6.5. Almost half of what it would have cost me in NY. Even though the movie was running in Screen Two, I was amazed to see the number of Screens in that multiplex. 12 to be exact. We hardy see 7-8 Screen back there in Indian Multiplexes.

Anyway.
Although I used to read alot about the overseas Business of Bollywood Films, I was surprised to see only around 40% attendence for the SRK film. An irony for the Biggest Bollywood Overseas Star I guess. I donno may be that was an Off Day for him.


Well I will continue with my experience .. wen i write next.