Part 1 - Bollywood movies in 2012 that made me think

2012 was the year of remakes. You make a movie with some nominal story and lots of 'dishum-dishum' down south and it gets adapted in Bollywood. Why? There's an audience eager to leapfrog the movie into the 100 crore club. Now-a-days, even 100 crore is not big enough, it seems. It's hardcore action for hardcore cash. No take-aways, just pure entertainment. The Khans, Kumars, Kapoors and Devgns have all joined the bandwagon with some notable omissions - Aamir Khan, for example.

Since this is a post about Bollywood movies, I thought I can also do a remake of sorts! On 1st of Jan 2012, I had published a blog (Part I and Part II) on the top Bollywood movies in 2011 that made me think. It had a list of some wonderful movies that were thought-provoking and worth watching. The concept in this post remains the same but the movies are different.

1. Paan Singh Tomar -

I cannot even begin to convey how much I like this movie. I am a fan of Irrfan Khan and this movie is a testimony of this fact! Tigmanshu Dhuli (also director of Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster) has pulled the rabbit out of the hat! I have a special corner for sports-oriented movies though - be it Hollywood or Bollywood, I watch them. This was already in my list before its release and I have no regrets whatsoever. In my opinion, this movie deserved to be India's entry at the Oscars and would've won rave reviews at the global stage.

2. Kahaani -

A typical Vidya Balan film - power-packed! After a bold performance in TDP, she performed a 180 deg shift by selecting this movie. Its a story of a pregnant woman in search of her husband - or that's what we are made to think till the climax. If there were people who thought Vidya Balan succeeded only because of ample skin show, she proved them wrong once and for all with Kahaani.

3. Vicky Donor -

Who can even think of making such a movie? And who in the world would want to produce it? It was a huge risk, in my opinion - and it paid off! John Abraham deserved the inflow of cash after the movie released and why not? It had humor and class written all over it. And a strong message too. Annu Kapoor, for me, stole the show. I loved every scene when he was around. The dialogues was the icing on the cake.

4. Arjun: The Warrior Prince -

Now, I know most of you might have skipped this movie. I would've too. I know the story of Arjun and the Mahabharatha. And it was marketed as the movie for children. But it was actually much more than that. There's a suspense in the movie that is revealed right at the end, which makes the experience worthwhile. The story of the Mahabharatha is not tampered with, but the narration.. Oops, did I just spill the beans?

There are four more movies I felt deserved a lot better than what they got. Those four movies made me feel that Bollywood can be meaningful too.

Do check Part II of the series here.