2008: The year that was

Money-wise 2008 may be a miserable year for our movies. But, qualitatively the year gave us much to sing and dance.
And, I don���t mean just Rock On!! which was one of the best films of the year. But, I am jumping the gun. My top nine favourite films of the year:
1. Fashion: Madhur Bhandarkar���s searing, sensuous, sexy and soul-searching look at the beau monde with Priyanka Chopra in a stunning performance.And yes, Mugdha Godse was quite a discovery.
2. Jodhaa Akbar: Ashutosh Gowariker���s labour of love was a work of art. Every frame spoke of history. Every shot oozed romance vigour and passion. And, when Hrithik took to the floor for the trance dance to the sound of Khwaja mere khwaja time stood still. Aishwarya looked every inch the Rajput queen.
3. Mumbai Meri Jaan: Nishikant Kamat���s stunning achievement, recording the after-shocks of the Mumbai train blasts was a film with jaan, imaan and soul. The episodic narration moved through a labyrinth of wonderfully-sketched chararcters coping with a tragedy whose enormity defeated them. Paresh Rawal was outstanding.
4. Mama Mia!: A departure from the Hindi films because the music of the Swedish 1970s band ABBA is as desi to me as Priyanka Chopra was singing Desi girl in Dostana. Hearing Meryl Streep relive all those imperishable ABBA melodies from my growing-up years made me wonder why the music had gone out of our own movies.
5. Rock On!!: Ah, at last a musical! Farhan Akhtar���s debut as a leading man showcased some of the most endearing rock-music tracks on this side of Jethro Tull and Parikrama. Wisely the film was not a pretext for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy���s tracks. The story of four guys who drift from music to melancholy and back, had a lot of chutzpah and emotional velocity. Director Abhishek Kapoor proved to be the most talented individual of Ekta Kapoor���s clan.
6. Jaane Tu ...Ya Jaane Na: Debutant director Abbas Tyrewalla moved from Munna Bhai MBBS to a film about a guy who dreams about horses, a girl who mourns for her pet cat, a dead dad who talks from a portrait and a mom who doesn���t spend all her time cooking. Quite a cool brew, bubbled and baked at the right temperature. Take a bow, Imran Khan.
7. Khuda Kay Liye: A Pakistani film that cut across borders creating sharp edges and contoured narrative devices that left us gasping for breath. And, Naseeruddin Shah���s climactic tirade against fundamentalism made our hairs stand on-edge-of-the-seat.
8.Heroes: Samir Karnik���s journey across the Indian heartland was inspiring, engaging, heartwarming and brilliantly scripted. It also had some of our commercial stars stripping off their vanity to show us that they care. For country and cinema.
9. Mukhbiir: Mani Shankar���s rough but tough path-breaking look at the grey world of government informers who change their identity so often they know not who they are. Mukhbiir could���ve done with some technical polish. But, what the hell! Nothing is perfect.
And, the honorable: Rajkumar Gupta���s Aamir, Neeraj Pandey���s A Wednesday, Shashant Shah���s Dasvidaniya, Kunal Deshmukh���s Jannat, Subhash Ghai���s Yuvvraaj, Rohit Jugraj���s Superstar, Subhash Ghai���s Black & White, Raj Kumar Santoshi���s Halla Bol and Aziz Mirza���s Kismat Konnection.