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A round-up of Bollywood in 2016

Bollywood is coming of age and producing serious films that are inspired by life

Biopics and films inspired by true events have been the flavour of the season thus far. The Hindi cinema has cautiously picked up tales from the real world and recreated them for the 70mm screen to take the message to the larger audiences. Most of the stories and characters brought forth have entertained, inspired and connected well with the hearts of movie lovers.
The first big launch in this category was Airlift. The film is loosely based on the world's largest civilian evacuation conducted by the Indian government in 1990. Directed by Raja Krishna Menon, the story relives the shock and horror of more of 110,000 Indians who were left stranded in Kuwait following an invasion by Iraq. For most part, Airlift is focused, offering a no-nonsense narrative and powerful performances by Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur.
The second wonder in this space was Neerja, a biopic on Neerja Bhanot, purser of the New York-bound Pan Am flight that was hijacked in Karachi. Sonam Kapoor, who has matured over the years as an actor and given some amazing performances in Dolly ki Shaadi and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, superbly brought Neerja's character to life. The powerful rendition of the role won critical acclaim.
Aligarh, biographical drama film directed by Hansal Mehta, brought together actors known for their theatrical abilities. Starring Manoj Bajpai, Ashish Vidyarathi and RajKumar Rao, the film is based on the true life events of Professor Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras who taught Marathi at Aligarh Muslim University. Bajpai's sensitive portrayal of the professor and powerpacked performance by others was widely lauded.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Randeep Hooda, on the other hand, gave stellar performances in the biopic Sarabjit. Hooda's role as Sarabjit, in particular, is praiseworthy.
Veerapan, a biopic on the notorious brigand and a dacoit, didn't live up to expectations. Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the movie was a remake of the superhit Tamil and Telgu movie Veerapan. But in making it for the hindi-speaking audience, Ram Gopal Verma bollywoodised it too much to be seen as a serious work of art. However, Sandeep Bharadwaj's powerful rendition of the role was much acclaimed.
Azhar, the biopic ex-cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, too had lackadaisical performance at the box office. Imran Hashmi in the lead role could not stir the crowd, but the understated Prachi Desai, who played the role of his first wife, was lovely with her remarkable acting.
Another release in this category was Raman Raghav 2.0, played by brilliant Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who has made the audience and critics sit up and take notice of his versatile and impeccable acting skills time and again. The actor of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Manjhi: The Mountain Man, Badlapur, this year featured in Te3n, a thriller, and Raman Raghav 2.0. Directed by Anurag Kashyap, the film brings to life the chilling life story of a serial killer, who operated in Mumbai during the mid-1960s.
Dealing with dark subject of drugs plaguing lives of youth in Punjab, Udta Punjab took to the screens in June this year. Directed and co-written by Abhishek Chaubey, known for movies like Ishqiya, the film is a move away from typical cinema. It didn't shy away from using expletive content and painting intriguing characters to picture a society. The film had created a stir with the censor board of India, which added to its popularity. Nevertheless, Alia Bhatt had played career-defining lead role, while Punjabi actor and singer Daljit Singh and Kareena Kapoor too were exceptional in essaying their characters.  
Shorgul, a political thriller drama, starring Jimmy Shergill, is another worth watch. Loosely based on 2013 Muzzafar Nagar riots in India, it did not rake in huge collections at the box office but was much appreciated for the mature acting by Shergill. Irrfan Khan shined bright in Madaari, a social-thriller.
Moving on, there were a lot of light-hearted and fun movies at the box office so far this year. Ki and Ka starring affable
Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor portrayed a reversal of roles and forced audiences to stop stereotyping. It was novel concept that packed in brilliant acting and direction.
Fan, a much-awaited Shahrukh Khan film, was superbly received by the audiences and critics. Directed by Maneesh Sharma, SRK gave an award-winning performance playing double role since Ra. One in 2011.
Kapoor and Sons entertained its audience with the family drama of a dysfunctional family. The film brought together an amazing cast of actors including the theatrical veterans, including Rajat Kapoor, Ratna Pathak, and Rishi Kapoor who played their role wonderfully and connected straight with the audience. Siddharth Malhotra and Fawad Khan too were praiseworthy. Alia Bhatt merits a special mention with her light-hearted college-goer part, which is in sharp contrast with the role she played of a Bihar-immigrant in Udta Punjab. The actress is coming of age and throws a surprise with every movie.
Jungle Book is by far the biggest hit of the year. The Hindi version did better than the English one in India, and was much appreciated for its better diction and character voices.
Wazir, a thriller starring Amitabh Bachachan and Farhan Akhtar in the lead roles, with Neil Nitin Mukesh as the villain, was the first hit of the year. The power-packed performance, tight editing and direction kept many on the edge of their seats throughout the movie.
Tere bin Laden: Dead or Alive did not live up to expectations and failed to tickle the funny bone of its audience. Fitoor, based on Charles Dickens' The Great Expectations, starred Aditya Roy Kapur and Katrina Kaif in lead roles, also didn't create a stir. However, Tabu's performance as Begum Sahiba was much lauded and was the music and background score by Amit Trivedi and Hitesh Sonik. Chalk n Duster starring brilliant assemblage Shabana Azmi, Juhi Chawla, Divya Dutta, Arya Babbar, Zarina Wahab, Jackie Shroff, and Rishi Kapoor was a huge flop.
Te3n, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Vidya Balan, is a remake of a South Korean film, and was a good watch this year.
There were some more light-hearted movies like Dishoom,  Junnoniyat, Sanam Teri Kasam, that got a lukewarm response. Ghayal once again, sequel of 1990-blockbuster Ghayal, didn't break its previous records but was appreciated by its fan club. Another action movie, Rocky Handsome, with John Abraham in the main role didn't create any ripples. Jai Gangajal, sequel of 2003 Gangajal, had a power-packed performance by Priyanka Chopra, who charmed her critics and fans in Bollywood as well as Hollywood.
Do Lafzo ki Kahani had a clichéd story but was a wonderful platform for Randeep Hooda who yet another proved his immaculate acting skills.
Traffic, remake of Malayalam smash hit of the same name, was a gripping thriller with power-packed perfomances by an ensemble of stars including Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Divya Dutta, and Kitu Gidwani.
Sultan is referred to as Rocky Balboa of India. A through and through action film it had put Salman Khan in the action genre after a long time. This film has been the most challenging films physically for Salman Khan at 50. Anushka Sharma too featured well in the movie and gathered huge acclaim. It jolted the box offices worldwide with its release on Eid and has become a member of super-exclusive Rs300-crore club.
The second half of the year too looks packed with exciting projects. Aditya Chopra is donning the director's hat for Befikre, which will see his wife Rani Mukherjee and daughter Adira making cameo appearance. Ranveer Singh and Vaani Kapoor are coming together in a romantic drama.
A much-awaited movie is Amir Khan-starrer Dangal. Dangal, which means wrestling competition, is a biographical drama based on the Indian sports industry. Amir is playing the role of Mahavir Singh Phogat, who taught wrestling to his daughters Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat. Geeta Phogat was India's first female wrestler at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where she won the gold medal (55kg), while her sister Babita Kumari won a silver medal in the 51kg category. The sisters have represented India in other events as well. It is an inspiring tale, to say the least.
Ashutosh Gowariker is bringing an ancient civilisation to life with Mohenjo Daro, starring Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde. Kahar Johar will be releasing Ae Dil hai Mushkil this year starring Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma and Fawad Khan.  
MS Dhoni: The Untold Story starring Sushant Singh Rajput is also being eagerly waited for. Shivaay starring Ajay Devgan will be the big Diwali release this year. Harshvardhan Kapoor, Anil Kapoor's son, will be making a debut alongside Saiyami Kher, a model, in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Mirzya.  
Baar Baar Dekho, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif, is another one to look out for. It is a directorial debut by Nitya Mehra, who has worked as an Assistant Director on films such as Life of Pi, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
Rock on! 2 will be out in November with Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Prachi Desai, Purab Kohli, and Shraddha Kapoor.
With these the next half of the year looks exciting.

-suneeti@khaleejtimes.com