It has been one positive year in Bollywood industry when biopics and period movies vied for attention with the genre of films popularised by B-town’s newest sensation Ayushmann Khurrana. From Manikarnika to Bala, there were movies of different tastes to entertain cinegoers this year. IBNS-TWF correspondent Supriyo Hazra looks back how the year was for every tinsel town A-lister.
Ayushmann Khurrana: If you argue that 2018 was his best then think again as Ayushmann Khurrana, Bollywood’s present poster boy, delivered it even bigger this year with three consecutive hits. The Ayushmann mania has been sweeping the Bollywood shores for the past couple of years and this time it started with the thriller Article 15. Then came Dream Girl, with its hidden soft message against the trouble of loneliness faced by people today. With his last release Bala, Ayushmann remained the hit maker of the year, creating probably a new formula for upcoming stars to follow in the coming days. Now, 2020 promises to be another Ayushmann year when he will be seen in two major releases — Gulabo Sitabo and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui: Away from Bollywood, Nawazuddin Siddiqui earned accolades in the international arena playing Dilly Mahmood in British crime drama TV series McMafia. It won the best drama series award at the 47th International Emmy Awards. In Bollywood, he appeared in movies like Thackeray, Photograph and Housefull 4. In this age of content-driven Bollywood movies, Nawaz also appeared in a lead role in comedy movie Motichoor Chaknachoor.
Akshay Kumar: There is a certain formula to make movies successful and Akshay Kumar surely knows it. He ended the year by pairing up with Kareena Kapoor Khan for Good Newwz. He has already unveiled his looks from upcoming release Sooryavanshi and Laxmmi Bomb. Both of them promise to be two major bombs to be dropped by Khiladi Kumar next year.
Aamir Khan: After a poor show in 2018 with his Thugs of Hindostan, Aamir Khan did not appear on the big screen this year. He will be seen in 2020 with the movie Laal Singh Chaddha in Sikh-man avatar. He has already unveiled his first look from the film.
Anushka Sharma: A controversy following a Farokh Engineer’s remarks against her might have ended the months on a sour note but Anushka and her heart-warming images with husband Virat Kohli from their various trips surely kept netizens busy across the months. However, away from her personal life, she was not seen in any Bollywood releases in the past 12 months.
Ajay Devgn: Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn was seen romancing actress young Rakul Preet in the romantic comedy De De Pyar De early in the year. He will soon be seen in historical film Tanhaji-The Unsung next year.
Deepika Padukone: Deepika and Ranveer completed a year of togetherness in 2019 as they marked their first marriage anniversary. She might be away from the big screen in 2019 but in 2020 Deepika will come back with films like Chhapaak and 83. Both the films are crucial. In 83, Deepika is pairing up with Ranveer to play sports icon Kapil Dev’s wife Romi Bhatia. Ranveer, of course, will play the character of Kapil. Away from the world of sports, Deepika will be seen playing the role of an acid attack victim in Chhapaak. The Meghna Gulzar directed movie is based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal.
Jacqueline Fernandez: From her vlog to working in Bollywood movies, Jacqueline, the Sri Lankan diva of Bollywood, spent a busy 2019. She appeared in an item number in this year’s major release Saaho. Jacqueline and Sushant Singh Rajput’s Drive released online on Netflix but went mostly unnoticed.
Kareena Kapoor Khan: The gorgeous Indian celebrity ‘Bahu’ Kareena Kapoor Khan was back onscreen with comedy flick Good Newwz. Kareena will surely have a much busy 2020 with movies like Angrezi Medium and Laal Singh Chaddha on the line.
Katrina Kaif: Her 2018 movie Zero, which also featured Jab Tak Hai Jaan co-stars Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, might not have performed dominantly as was expected, but 2019 saw Cikni Chameli Katrina Kaif pair up with hit machine Salman Khan in Bharat.
Kangana Ranaut: The gutsy Bollywood lady continued to make controversial remarks in between attending the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi or attending his function on the Gandhi project. Her releases were two films. Judgementall Hai Kya got critical acclaim.
Priyanka Chopra: Finally, India’s international star Priyanka Chopra made her Bollywood comeback with the movie The Sky Is Pink. In Hollywood, her film Isn’t It Romantic released amid mixed response from moviegoers. She had earlier appeared in Hollywood movie Baywatch in 2017.
Ranbir Kapoor: After delivering a major hit like Sanju in 2018, Ranbir Kapoor may not have appeared in any Bollywood movie this year but he was busy shooting for his 2020 releases like Shamshera and Brahmastra. In Brahmastra, he will seen sharing the screen space with Amitabh Bachchan and his lady love Alia Bhatt.
Ranveer Singh: Ranveer Singh only gets bigger and bigger. This year, he was seen giving life to the character of a Mumbai rapper Murad Ahmed in the movie Gully Boy. In 2020, he will be seen playing onscreen Kapil Dev in 83. He will also be seen in a movie named Jayeshbhai Jordaar where he will play the character of a Gujarati man. The first look of the movie is already out.
Salman Khan: Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif have always united to create an onscreen magic and Bharat did not fail to deliver at the Box Office. For Salman Khan, the promise to keep one hit every year remains unbreakable.
Shah Rukh Khan: Shah Rukh Khan did not appear on the Big Screen this year. He was last seen in 2018 movie Zero. The film had featured actors Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma.
Sunny Leone: Apart from appearing in several item numbers and music videos, Sunny once again made her comeback in Bollywood movies with the movie Arjun Patiala. However, the movie and Sunny grabbed headlines for a strange reason this time. In one of the scenes of the movie, Sunny gives her contact number to lead actor Diljit Dosanjh and it so happened that the number is an active one, in service, and belongs to one Puneet Agarwal of Delhi.
Sushant Singh Rajput: Sushant appeared thrice this year in movies like Sonchiriya, Chhichhore and Drive. However, his most successful movie remained Chhichhore.
Shahid Kapoor: From his chocolate lover boy image in 2007 release Jab We Met, Shahid has walked a long journey in Bollywood and this time Kabir Singh did the magic for the star. In fact, Kabir Singh, the character, has emerged as one of the most controversial characters in the Hindi film industry in recent times.
Mr Bollywood of the Year
One movie, patriotism and Box Office glory, Vicky Kaushal, and his iconic dialogue from the movie “How is The Josh” had emerged as the next big thing Bollywood generated in this nation at the beginning of the year. The film won hearts across the country. Uri surely gave Bollywood one strong start to the year and the momentum was eventually maintained as several hit films released and shined at the Box office in 2019.
Modi and Bollywood
for Gandhi
In an unprecedented event, a chunk of Bollywood fraternity gathered at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in October to promote Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologies on the occasion of the Father of the Nation’s 150th birth anniversary (which falls on October 2). In a two-minute video posted by Modi on Twitter, film personalities Aamir Khan, Alia Bhatt, Salman Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Vicky Kaushal and Shah Rukh Khan were seen reciting the quotable quotes of Mahatma Gandhi. Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, whose films were known for reintroducing Gandhi’s ideals as Gandhigiri in modern times, made the video. With hashtag #ChangeWithin, the Prime Minister said on Twitter, “The film fraternity comes together to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi! #ChangeWithin is an excellent effort, which will add momentum towards ensuring Gandhi Ji’s message reverberates far and wide. It will also inspire citizens to take up causes dear to Bapu.”
Photo courtesy: TWF, Google Images