A Look at Bollywood’s Best Work in 2016

For those in the entertainment field putting together a ‘Best of the Year list’, it’s sometimes tough to recall some amazing films and performances of the year. ‘Dangal’ fever is at its peak and it’s truly well deserved. But it’s time to take a look back at all the films that entertained us through 2016.

The year started with a really good Akshay Kumar film called ‘Airlift’ directed by Raja Krishna Menon. It was a film on evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait, during the invasion of Saddam Hussein. Akshay played Ranjit Katyal, the businessman who takes it upon himself to lead the evacuation. Akshay did a great job here and this film managed to touch the right chord not just with those who could relate to the story but also the regular movie-goers.

In February, Ram Madhvani made ‘Neerja’, where Sonam Kapoor was seen portraying the character of Neerja Bhanot, the 22-year-old air hostess of Pan Am flight 73, which was hijacked by terrorists in September 1986. Bhanot gave her life and saved the lives of 359 passengers. It was a brilliant story that was waiting to be told.

The last week of February saw another gem – Hansal Mehta’s ‘Aligarh’. The film narrated the real-life story of Aligarh Muslim University professor Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, who was victimised because of his sexual orientation. A difficult subject to tackle, Hansal brought the struggles of the minority group to the fore with sensitivity. Manoj Bajpayee’s restrained performance in the lead role proved yet again that he is one of the most underrated actors of Bollywood.

In March, Karan Johar produced one of the best films of Dharma Productions, ‘Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921)’, directed by Shakun Batra. This was arguably the most well-written film of 2016. Writers Shakun Batra and Ayesha Devetri Dhillon’s attention to detail is what made this film so nuanced, where every character and relationship was justified. The film starred Sidharth Malhotra, Fawad Khan, Alia Bhatt and Rishi Kapoor.

In June, came the most talked about film of the year, ‘Udta Punjab’. It was a strong story dealing with Punjab’s rampant drug problem and human trafficking. Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh played their parts wonderfully. Alia specially stood out, a lot of ‘Best Actress’ trophies should be going her way as this was clearly one of the best performances of the year by a female lead.

Another good film released in the same month was Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Raman Raghav 2.0’, a psychological thriller based on the life of a notorious serial killer. Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s performance was not for the faint-hearted.

One of the most hard-hitting films came in September, ‘Pink’ starring Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang. The film got a thumbs up from critics and audiences. It reflected the harsh reality of the Indian society, showed the problems women face even in metropolitan cities and the flawed judicial system. Acting by Big B and all the three leading ladies was top notch. Even when Amitabh Bachchan just stood and stared, he commanded all the attention. Every line that he said in the courtroom drama scenes hit the nail on its head, that’s the power of Bachchan! ‘Pink’ will surely sweep a lot of awards.

Close on the heels of ‘Pink’ came Leena Yadav’s ‘Parched’, the story of four women in a desert village in India. It shows the plight of women as they tackle social evils, child marriage, dowry, marital rapes and physical and mental abuse. Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla starred in this film. ‘Parched’ was highly appreciated by critics.

September turned out to be a good month for Bollywood – after ‘Pink’ and ‘Parched’ came another notable film, ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’. Given Dhoni’s unmatched popularity in the country, the hype around the film was justified. While Neeraj Pandey showed his deft direction, it was Sushant Singh Rajput’s commendable performance that stole the show.

Karan Johar’s much talked about film ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, which released in October, has to be mentioned because of Ranbir Kapoor’s brilliant performance. He played the role of playback singer Ayan, who longs for Alizeh (Anushka Sharma) but finally comes to terms with the fact that his love will not be reciprocated. This golden performance came from Ranbir at a time when he was going through quite a rough patch at the box-office. But he managed to bounce back and proved once again that he is here for the long run.

Gauri Shinde’s ‘Dear Zindagi’ too has to be mentioned for one of Alia Bhatt’s most convincing performances. The film got mixed reactions but Alia stood out, even though she was opposite Shah Rukh Khan, who was fantastic.

Finally, the year came to a close with Aamir Khan’s much-awaited wrestling film ‘Dangal’. Nitesh Tiwari’s biographical sports drama based on the life of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters Geeta and Babita, who became successful wrestlers is quite a story! This film has taken the box-office by storm and is still running successfully. This movie got a unanimous thumbs up from critics and audiences. ‘Dangal’ is not just a strong contender for the best film of the year, but one of the best movies made in Hindi cinema.