From NH10 to Roy: Bollywood's hits and misses in the first term of 2015

The first three months of the year have whooshed past, which means it’s a good time to look at what Bollywood’s class of 2015 is looking like. Thanks to the cricket World Cup, we haven’t seen any big releases in the past few weeks because no producer wants to take the risk. The wannabe blockbuster of January, Tevar, was a spectacular dud.

Curiously, the short supply of star-studded releases ended up to be something of a boon for smaller films. While cricket fever has raged through the country, films made on modest budgets have released without too much fanfare but still found both audiences and success. Just in case you were getting hopeful, however, the lows in the first quarter of 2015 have been epic fails and most of the releases of the last three months have belonged to this category.

Here’s Bollywood’s report card for the first term of 2015.

First in class: Dum Laga ke Haisha A charming little film about some XL loving in ’90s’ Haridwar. Director Sharat Katariya offered a romance that was heartwarming and refreshing for its expert blend of filmi-ness and realism. The film also marked the debut of Bhumi Pednekar, who could be one of Bollywood’s most talented leading ladies if the industry would just wake up and hire her.

See reviews here and here.

Pass: Baby Akshay Kumar played a desi Jason Bourne-esque character in this film, which basically means he killed loads of people and leaped around foreign cities; all the while looking stony-faced.

See reviews here and here.

Rahasya Although the film didn’t actually mention Arushi Talwar, the plot was quite obviously inspired by the gruesome 2008 double murder that has over the years become a tangled and mysterious web. Rahasya quickly added a lot of fiction so there’s no danger of confusing the real and reel cases. Although it wasn’t entirely consistent, the film was eminently watchable.

Shamitabh

Despite good actors and Amitabh Bachchan’s fabulous baritone, this film struggled to make the idea of an actor and his ego work convincingly. Still, there are some fun moments in the film and Bachchan’s voice rumbles deliciously until Balki wraps the film up with melodrama and predictability. Here’s hoping that the next time Balki makes a film, he can come up with something other than killing off characters to conclude his stories.

See reviews here and here.

Badlapur

A man’s life is overturned without warning when his wife and child are killed at the end of a bank robbery. Varun Dhawan took on an enormous challenge when he took on the role of Raghu, the man who goes from a carefree 20-something to a bitter, vindictive 40-something. Interesting as the plot was, the film lacked tension and Dhawan struggled with his role. Still, for all its flaws, Badlapur brought noir to Bollywood and that, in the candy floss reel world, is a refreshing change.

See reviews here and here.

Qissa

From gender bender to ghost story, this critically-acclaimed film about a Punjabi girl who is brought up as a boy was full of twists and turns. Tilottama Shome, Irrfan Khan and Rasika Duggal delivered powerhouse performances in Qissa. Eventually, the film stretched both credibility and patience, but for much of its running time, Qissa is an intriguing watch.

See review here.

NH10

With this film, Anushka Sharma proved that there’s a whole lot more to her than pouty lips and effervescence. Not only did she produce the film, she also acted in the lead role and was magnificent as a young woman who struggles to survive a night in Haryana’s badlands. It’s not a perfect film and has many loopholes in its logic, but NH10 holds your attention.

See reviews here and here.

Hunterrr

This film just about scraped into the Pass list because the jury’s divided on it. Some found Hunterrr a humorous coming-of-age story of an Indian sex addict. Others found the hormone-addled hero and the way he treats women obnoxious. Almost everyone agreed that the film hurtles downhill in the second half, when a random character is killed because apparently nothing else can force an Indian man to grow up. The other thing that everyone agreed on is that the acting performances in the film are superb.

See reviews here and here.

Fail: Tevar Those who have watched and survived this love story starring Sonakshi Sinha and Arjun Kapoor are no doubt scarred for life and should be given many cupcakes and/or stiff drinks. Rehashing the tropes of ’80s’ Bollywood, Tevar is guaranteed to cure you of any nostalgia you might feel for times past.

See reviews here and here.

Alone

If only critics had the freedom to leave this film alone the way audiences did. Bipasha Basu had a double role and played both human and a ghostly twin. There was some gasping and writhing between Basu and her beefy co-star Karan Grover, but not even the hero of Hunterrr would be desperate enough to consider that redemption for the hilariously bad horror that is Alone.

See review here.

Dolly ki Doli

There’s a fun story of a cheerful con woman buried deep under the bad acting and contrived scenarios that made up Dolly ki Doli. Unfortunately, most of the film just made you roll your eyes. The good part: Rajkummar Rao can dance as well as he can act and actually manages to steal the limelight during Malaika Arora Khan’s item number.

See review here.

Hawaaizada This film didn’t just not fly, it crashed, burnt and left the few people who watched it with scorched imaginations. Theatrical, melodramatic and utterly devoid of logic, Hawaaizada was a mess.

See reviews here.

Khamoshiyan The climax involved a man chasing a butterfly. Which would eventually turn into a wolf, then a zombie…let’s not go on. There’s a reason this film was called “silences”. The less said about this supernatural murder mystery the better.

See review here.

MSG: The Messenger

As monstrosities go, however, this is bound to be the worst that Indian cinema has seen in a long time. Many went to see this film hoping wearing armours of irony and snark, but nothing could obscure the fact that this is a publicity campaign for Ram Rahim Singhji Insan disguised as a really bad film. Adding insult to injury, this obscene propaganda campaign for a religious cult had a fantastic run at the box office.

See reviews here and here.

Roy You’d think Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor in one movie would be enough eye candy to make a film at least pass, but Roy achieved the impossible. Kapoor looks bored and exudes next to no charisma. Rampal actually looked unattractive in large chunks of the film. Also, the plot made no sense.

See review here .

Ab Tak Chhappan 2

Spare a thought for Shimit Amin, who directed the taut and crackling Ab Tak Chhappan back in 2004. The sequel is a massive waste of time that manages to destroy everything that was good about the first film.

See review here .