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Going to the movies this year has largely been a mind-numbing experience. I had just criticized Kismat Konnection a few weeks back, but compared to the fare that the next few weeks offered (Ugly Aur Pagli, Singh Is Kinng), it really feels like a criminally underrated classic now.

Till now, there have hardly been any films this year that were good or satisfying to an extent:

Mithya, I thought was excellent, even if only for Ranvir Shorey’s superbly funny and poignant performance that blew my mind totally. The film was nice and edgy, terse and full of dry wit, and yet it touched the heart. (Though some people I know happened to find it very ‘pseudo’, for some reason )

Aamir was thoroughly gripping, tense and a pleasure to watch. Kudos to everyone behind this brave little gem- especially Rajkumar Gupta, Rajeev Khandelwal and DOP Alphonse Roy- all of who did an outstanding job. The climax though, did become a bit of a downer for me, but that was probably because all I had heard about it escalated my expectations way too high.

Jodhaa Akbar was a disappointment, but still not too bad I thought- it did have its points, and Gowariker’s Amar Chitra Katha style epic more or less worked for me despite huge flaws. Hrithik was genuinely good for a change and gave a very charismatic performance, even if it lacked a lot of depth, like the movie. I confess I can’t ever be too harsh on Gowariker- after Lagaan and Swades (I am so sorry, especially to Dpac for not having completed my article yet ) even if he put shit on celluloid for the rest of his career, I would still hold him in high regard.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na was admittedly silly, but it had plenty of good moments and its share of smartness, and was excellently held together by an outstanding supporting cast- The Shahs and Khan brothers rocked it.

The only other films that didn’t give me a complete headache this year were Bhoothnath (decent kiddie flick until Baghban syndrome struck in the second half), Mission Istaanbul (pure So-Bad-It’s-Brilliant® cheesy delight, consistently and unintentionally howlarious) and (I’m ready to face the brickbats, but I have to say this) Tashan- agreed, it was bad- but hell, atleast it tried and was an unpretentious and interesting watch.

Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be too much to look forward to during the rest of the year either. Here I list some of the films releasing this year that look promising to me- do write in if I have missed anything potentially good in your opinion:

I haven’t seen Dombivli Fast, but what I have heard of it definitely heightens my expectations from Mumbai Meri Jaan. A solid and potentially gut-wrenching theme, the high voltage cast comprising Madhavan, Paresh Rawal (who’s finally being seen in the right kind of roles and films for a change), Kay Kay Menon, Irrfan Khan, Vijay Maurya and Soha Ali Khan and excellent pre-release buzz make Nishikant Kamat’s Bollywood debut worth watching.

Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye is an interesting name for Dibakar Banerjee’s second film after Khosla Ka Ghosla (which is among my all time favorite films). We don’t know the story yet, but the film starring Abhay Deol, Paresh Rawal, Archana Puran Singh does click with the title and director- though there’s no Jaideep Sahni here, and KKG was as much (if not more) his film too.

Dev D is the film that perhaps sounds the most exciting to me at this point in time, and my imagination is running wild with what Anurag Kashyap and Abhay Deol could have made of Devdas. Am keenly anticipating the first look of the film- am expecting something totally eccentric and psychedelic.

Apart from these there are Chandni Chowk To China (which looks it may be that rare ‘big ticket entertainer’ in Bollywood this year that might actually entertain), Dilli 6 (Will Rakeysh Mehra deliver again?), Har Pall (Jahnu Barua attempts a mainstream romantic film with Preity Zinta and Shiney Ahuja) Imitiaz Ali’s next and Mumbai Cutting and for some strange reason, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Beyond this year, of course then there is Vishal Bhardwaj’s tentatively titled Kaminay, Ishqiya, Sriram Raghavan’s next with John and Aishwarya plus Agent Vinod (just the name gives me an adrenalin rush) with Saif Ali Khan, Chenab Gandhi (only for you, Vidya) and many more.

Here’s hoping for the best.