Recap 2016 : Performances

Here's a look at all the performances of last year in varous categories, who took the top honors and who missed out.

Neerja and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil snatching wins in 7 categories each. With Ae Dil almost sweeping Music section with exception of Female playback singer. While Kapoor & Sons and Ms Dhoni The Untold Story with 4 and 3 wins respectively.

Presenting the winners along with the list of nominees in each category. Just a reminder, its entirely my personal opinion based list.



Best Actor Male : Sushant Singh Rajput (Ms Dhoni The Untold Story)

• Aamir Khan (Dangal)
• Manoj Bajpai (Aligarh)
• Randeep Hooda (Sarbjit)
• Ranbir Kapoor (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil)

Not just for the brilliant mannerisms that totally resembled Dhoni, its the way Sushant handles the 1st half that deals with initial struggle of Dhoni while trying to get selected for Indian team that made me love his performance. Plus, I have loved Sushant's performance in every film he has done till date. Aamir Khan sadly comes 2nd, despite a strong performance in Dangal. While Manoj and Randeep are almost equal 3rd for me, and its a surprise that Randeep performance was hardly given due at any award shows which it deserved and I say that having not loved Sarbjit. Best actor nominee list is always incomplete without Ranbir, too good a actor to leave out. While Akshay Kumar just missed out for his good performance in Airlift (not Rustom, dear National awards). And Amitabh Bachchan has been highly over-rated at award shows for his performance in Pink, not worthy of top5 at all, I would instead prefer his Te3n act.


Best Actor Female : Anushka Sharma (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil)

• Radhika Apte (Phobia)
• Alia Bhatt (Dear Zindagi)
• Vidya Balan (Kahaani 2)
• Sonam Kapoor (Neerja)

Will come as a surprise for many, but I totally loved Anushka in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and I had tweeted too that its her 3rd best career performance since Band Baaja Baraat and NH10. There's just too much in her 'Alizeh' character, the kind of filminess, romantic, emotional, friendly, sarcastic, rude but still a lovable girl. And Minus the bald look though, only not likeable aspect of her in film. Radhika Apte was easy choice at 2nd, she was wonderfully awesome in Phobia portraying the terror she goes through as if trapped inside a room. I didn't love the character of Alia in Dear Zindagi but her performance was too good to ignore. And Sonam had to be there in list, afterall its rare when you see Sonam act, which she did in Neerja. Unfortunately, Swara Bhaskar misses out, she was awesome in Nil Battey Sannata.


Best Director : Ram Madhvani (Neerja)

• Shakun Batra (Kapoor & Sons)
• Hansal Mehta (Aligarh)
• Nitish Tiwari (Dangal) 
• Karan Johar (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) 

It has to be some excellent direction if you get to see Sonam perform so well in acting department, Ram Madhvani uses drama and emotions very well along with the bravery act of character Neerja. Shakun Batra gave glimpse of how subtle he can be in the rom-com 'Ek main aur ekk tu', and with Kapoor & Sons, he lives upto the expectations, a film that shows a dysfunctional family, that finds it tough to be happy together. Any other director would had made it very over the top melodrama, but Shakun keeps it so subtle that at times you feel he should had kept atleast one complete breakdown scene in movie, but I am still happy without it. Nitish Tiwari got named as new Raju Hirani for a commercial entertainer movie that gives a message, would be interesting to see his work in next movie now. Meanwhile, Karan Johar gave his career's best and most matured movie, beating his last best 'Kabhi Alvida na Kehna'.


Best Film : Kapoor & Sons 

• Dangal
• Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
• Neerja 
• Pink 

Already written on them, here


Best Supporting Actor Male : Fawad Khan (Kapoor & Sons)

• Rajat Kapoor (Kapoor & Sons)
• Rajkumar Rao (Aligarh)
• Shahrukh Khan (Dear Zindagi) 
• Kumud Mishra (Airlift)

I won't go into the debate of whether Fawad should be in supporting or lead category, I loved his act in the film and thereby he wins in this category. Sadly, the political angle of our country means, we will miss him in future a lot. Rajat Kapoor was equally convincing in his performance, always been a great actor. To see Shahrukh in supporting category is in a way pleasant surprise, that means he is trying something different and it is working in terms of his performances atleast even if the films are not upto the mark. Kumud had a big role to play in Airlift even if with less screen time, think of it how the mission would had failed miserably if he didn't try to convince people at his side to help the Indians in Kuwait. Rajesh Sharma and Pankaj Tripathi were so lovable in MS Dhoni The Untold Story and Nil Battey Sannata respectively, unfortunately couldn't make to my top5.


Best Supporting Actor Female : Shabana Azmi (Neerja)

• Kirti Kulhari (Pink)
• Ratna Pathak Shah (Kapoor & Sons)
• Sakshi Tanwar (Dangal)
• Aishwarya Rai (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) 

Fairly easy choice, and not surprised to see Shabana Azmi win at every award show (atleast our awards are right in some category). That climax speech by Shabana where she is trying to balance her emotions at feeling proud of her daughter and missing her at same time, was alone enough to make Shabana top this category. I didn't see Kirti Kulhari to be the one I would talk of more from Pink, with Tapsee Pannu as main lead, but she was so good in almost all her dialogue scenes, specially those 2 scenes, one where she on phone changes from soft compromising tone to angry go to hell tone with Rajveer, and the courtroom scene where she ends up getting frustrated and accepting they took money. Sakshi Tanwar despite having very few dialogues in movie, you could just see her emote through her eyes all the time, and to be able to be so noticeable in a Aamir Khan movie, just tells about her performance. Aishwarya Rai, looked damn gorgerous and for a change didn't ham like her last 2 movies, for me this is her comeback movie. The scene where she tells Ayan, that its in our own hands when to end or go away from love, was her best moment from film. Yashaswini Dayama misses out in my list, she was very sweet in her friendly act of Phobia, that included a scene where her tshirt said 'bhoot raja bahar aaja'.


Best Actor in a Comic Role : Rishi Kapoor (Kapoor & Sons)

• Varun Dhawan (Dishoom)
• Akshay Kumar (Housefull 3)
• Lisa Haydon (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil)
• Piyush Mishra (Happy Bhag Jayegi) 

Rishi Kapoor was hilarious throughout the movie, but the irony is his most funny scene, the one in trailer where he asks the guy if he doesn't have a mother, that laugh out loud moment didn't make me laugh at all, and kudos to Shakun for that, tension of movie is so high that a great comedy scene makes no impact. Special mention to the opening 'marne ki acting' act he does. Varun Dhawan I feel is getting typecasted in doing non-stop comedies, but then as long as he is making you laugh during the movie, you can't really complain much. Lisa Haydon's 'vaatavaran' is already a regular used word for people now. And Piyush Mishra's imaginary world where he wants plenty of well known Indian personalities to be Pakistani made for a great laugh.


Best Actor in a Negative Role : Jim Sarbh (Neerja)

• Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Raman Raghav 2)
• Manav Vij (Udta Punjab) 
• Tahir Raj Bhasin (Force 2)
• Akshay Khanna (Dishoom) 

Playing the terrorist Khaleel, Jim Sarbh was very menacing and uncontrollable for most part in the hijacked plane. Love the scene where he feels frustrated at following orders from his head as he believes other way out. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is powerful and very creepy in his act, watch out scene where he is making chicken dish while having his sister's family trapped in their own home. Tahir Raj Bhasin was good but it was such a dejavu of Mardani act, hopefully he would not make it a hat-trick of similar roles. And good to see Akshay Khanna in a movie, he had less screen-time sadly but was very impressive in it.


Best Music : Pritam Chakraborty (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) 

• Amit Trivedi (Fitoor)
• Pritam Chakraborty (Dangal)
• Clinton Cerejo (Te3n)
• Armaan Malik (Ms Dhoni The Untold Story)

Already written on them, here

Best Lyricist : Amitabh Bhattacharya, channa mereya (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) 

• Amitabh Bhattacharya, haanikarak bapu (Dangal)
• Manoj Muntashir, besabriyaan (Ms Dhoni The Untold Story)
• Irshad Kamil, jag ghoomeya (Sultan)
• Sayeed Qadri, ji huzoori (Ki & Ka)

Was tough to choose between Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Dangal, but in both cases it was Amitabh Bhattacharya's lyrics. Channa Mereya may not be my fav song like it is for most people but I did love the lyrics. Specially like the line 'dil ke sandukoon mein, mere acche kaam rakhna'. While Haanikarak Bapu had some hilarious lyrics. Manoj's lyrics in Besabriyaan were quite motivational. Irshad Kamil delivers yet again in a romantic track, while Sayeed Qadri made Ji huzoori a lot more special with his lyrics. I love Dangal title track lyrics, but it misses out in my list.


Best Playback Singer Male : Arijit Singh, ae dil hai mushkil (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) 

• Amit Mishra, bulleya (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil)
• Armaan Malik, bol do na zara (Azhar)
• Daler Mehndi, dangal (Dangal)
• Arijit Singh, salamat (Sarbjit)

The day I heard only small portion of the song in 1st teaser of the film, I knew I would love this song and probably have Arijit as my winner in this category. Along with a great composition and good lyrics, its Arijit vocals that brings additional pain to this track. Amit Mishra really excels in Bulleya, specially the high pitch part. Even though I like the composition, but if it was any other singer I won't have loved Bol do na zara as much as I did due to Armaan Malik, his voice suits soft romantic numbers to the core. Whether he shows the consistency of Sonu nigam/Kay Kay or not, remains to be seen.


Best Playback Singer Female : Palak Muchhal, kaun tujhe (MS Dhoni The Untold Story)

• Sona Mohapatra, qatl e aam (Raman Raghav 2)
• Sunidhi Chauhan, just go to hell dil (Dear Zindagi)
• Neha Bhasin, jag ghoomeya (Sultan)
• Jonita Gandhi, gilehriyaan (Dangal)

One of the rare categories, where I feel every single nominee deserves to be a winner. Palak Mucchal I choose in the end, for her vocals in Kaun Tujhe made you feel for the deep love the girl has for the guy. Sona Mohapatra voice brings calmness to an otherwise very mad track. Neha Bhasin voice gives that freshness which male version missed. And Jonita Gandhi who was singer of the year for her numerous great songs, with Gilehriyaan being one of them. Kanika Kapoor had to miss out, despite the fact that Da Da Dasse was best song of her career.


Best Debut Male : Jim Sarbh (Neerja)

• Diljit Dosanjh (Udta Punjab)
• Aparshakti Khurrana (Dangal)
• Aditya Seal (Tum Bin 2)
• Harshvardhan Kapoor (Mirzya)

Jim Sarbh was a straightforward choice here, his villaneious act in Neerja as a debut was exceptional, look forward to see him in Raabta next. Diljit Dosanjh was one of few things that I had loved about Udta Punjab. While Aditya Seal performance was the only good aspect about Tum Bin2. And sorry Harshvardhan Kapoor, only reason I had to include you in my list was, I couldn't find any other decent debut performances I had seen in the year.


Best Debut Female : Disha Patani (MS Dhoni The Untold Story)

• Fatima Sana Sheikh (Dangal) 
• Shriya Pilgaonkar (Fan)
• Yashaswini R Dayama (Phobia & Dear Zindagi)
• Sobhita Dhulipala (Raman Raghav 2)

Disha Patani completely fitted the character of a innocent girl fallen in love with a new upcoming Indian cricketer on the rise. Hard to say if she would be able to pull off tough roles, but very much satisfied with her performance here. Fatima Sana Sheikh was able to give complete takkar to Aamir Khan in Dangal, be it her rebel act while being at the camp and then that standout akhaada scene with Mahavir. Shriya Pilgaonkar had a small role, but was able to leave a mark with her good performance, I specially love the way she silently reacts to Gaurav's mad obsession of Aryan as if telling how stupid this person is. Yashashwini  R Dayama is so cute, and both her roles had her in friendly supporting characters, would be nice to see her in a different role next. Sobhita Dhulipala was able to give a good performance despite a character that was very weakly written. Special Mention to Manini Chadha who was quite likeable in Kahaani2.


Best Debut Director : Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari (Nil Battey Sannata) 

• Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury (Pink) 

Kind of wierd, but I could find only 2 eligible nominees. Ashwiny Iyer direction was terrific in a movie where she never went into melodrama territory and made sure the mood of film is mostly lighthearted. While Aniruddha Roy was also almost as good, only complaint I had was with 2nd half where the court-room drama could had been more serious with less of the entertaining bits even though it still worked mostly.


Best Story : Maneesh Sharma (Fan)

• Pawan Kripalani, Arun Sukumar, Pooja Ladha Surti (Phobia)
• Nitesh Tiwari (Nil Battey Sannata) 
• Krishna Hariharan, Gauri Shinde, Kausar Munir (Dear Zindagi)
• Karan Johar (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) 

The film may not have worked for me, due to that messy 2nd half. But story of fan was always exciting one, me being a firm believer of worshipping an actor is plain stupid activity, and then to see a film story based on a ardent fan who worships a particular actor and can go to any extent for him. When that obsession turns into hatred, what would such a fan do, oh wish they had explored this concept, or I hope someone else in future does it. While Phobia had an interesting concept too, a real life incident forcing this girl to have a phobia where she can't step out of her house, not even open door when bill rings. And in this case, it was executed pretty well too.


Best Scene : End part of Cutiepie song to the pre Channa Mereya song (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) 

• Geeta gets into a wrestling fight with her father Mahavir in akhaada (Dangal)
• Long conversation between Aryan and Gaurav at police station where Gaurav tells Aryan that without him, Aryan is nothing (Fan)
• Professor Siras having alcohol alone at his home at night while listening to classic 'aapki nazron ne samjha' and humming it (Aligarh)
• MS Dhoni waiting at platform and takes train back to Ranchi (MS Dhoni The Untold Story)

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil's scene is not just best of 2017, but among my all time fav scenes. To see Ayan faking happiness at Alizeh wedding, then the 'Ayan weds Alizeh' mirror scene followed by how he keeps looking at Alizeh in wedding dress, admiring her and soon the thought strikes that she is about to be someone's else and becomes heartbroken. Simply outstanding entire sequence! Dangal's scene where Geeta lets her childhood anger out while fighting with Mahavir in akhaada, where her father is angry too at her current behavior, makes for a hard tough fight viewing.


Best Jodi : Ranbir-Anushka (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil)

• Krrish-Hetal (Dhanak)
• Shahrukh-Alia (Dear Zindagi)
• Naseeruddin-Kalki (Waiting)
• Manoj-Rajkumar (Aligarh)

Was a straightforward choice for me, Ranbir-Anushka pairing may not have worked well in Bombay Velvet but in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, right from that first disco/pub scene, their chemistry was too good. I think people who didn't like the film (find those ppl wierd) would also agree as how brilliant they were, almost close to the level Ranbir-Deepika have while working together. Krrish-Hetal were hilarious, and sweet playing brother-sister where sister is shahrukh fan and brother is salman fan creating some great laughing moments. Unusual pairing but Shahrukh-Alia clicked mostly because they both played their age very well.


Best Trailer : Fitoor

• Dangal
• Raees
• Fan
• Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

Fitoor may have failed as a film, but it didn't in music and same the case here with trailer. I had loved the trailer, kept watching it on loop for many weeks. And even now when I have disliked the film, the trailer still looks so beautiful and romantic minus 'doodh maangoge' line. What a irony, best trailer isn't even available on youtube, makers of film deleted it, who knows if they intentionally did it. Dangal is close second, that created craze for Aamir's words regarding silver medal, Geeta and Babita's wrestling scenes looking good, and Daler Mehndi's inspirational title track. Gladly, the film lived upto the trailer's hype. Not the case though with Raees, the trailer was so fucking good, everyone including me felt its the best masala movie Shahrukh is doing since ages, all the dialoguebaazi, the angry avatar, laila item song of Sunny Leone and Nawazuddin as cop to counter Raees at every step, it was a trailer meant to be loved.  Raman Raghav 2 and MS Dhoni The Untold Story miss my list, and Special mention to Kapoor & Sons, whose trailer I didn't like at all when it came, but now that I love the film, its trailer is kinda of appealing.


Best Screenplay : Saiwyn Quadras (Neerja)

• Shakun Batra, Ayesha Devitre (Kapoor & Sons)
• Nikhil Mehrotra, Shreyas Jain, Piyush Gupta, Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal)
• Ritesh Shah (Pink) 
• Sujoy Ghosh (Kahaani 2)

Was a close one between Neerja and Kapoor & Sons. Neerja had slighty more gripping screenplay, keeps you engaged with the story directly focussing on night before the plane hack happens, all the emotional bonding Neerja has with her family and a guy who has feelings for her. And the simultaneous, planning of hijackers that is going on. Also, glad the past life of Neerja is shown in small flashbacks and serving a good purpose in taking the story forward. While Kapoor & Sons very well explored the dysfunctional punjabi family, and all the drama, fights and love they go through.


Best Dialogue : Ritesh Shah (Pink)

• Sudip Sharma (Udta Punjab)
• Nikhil Mehrotra, Shreyas Jain, Piyush Gupta, Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal) 
• Karan Johar, Niranjan Iyengar (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) 
• Pranjal Choudhary, Neeraj Singh, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Nitesh Tiwari (Nil Battey Sannata)

Loved most of the dialogues in Pink, be it regular conversations, or the ones Amitabh gets in court-room scenes which just about manages to not have a preachy feel. Udta Punjab was able to make the already good setting of a city getting addicted to drugs look more authentic with the dialogues, and as I said in one of my blogpost, despite not loving the film, in technical department it was really good.


Best Editing : Monisha R Baldawa (Neerja) 

• Shivkumar V Panicker (Kapoor & Sons)
• Namrata Rao (Kahaani 2)
• Meghna Manchanda Sen (Udta Punjab) 
• Bodhaditya Banerjee (Pink) 

Neerja had excellent editing, and wins from rest nominees very comfortably. Its not just the parallel cuts used at start with Neerja happily enjoying party at home against the terrorists going through final preparation on other hand. But the way a balloon burst is cut to bomb packing by terrorist. No idea if it was done intentionally during shooting or entirely edit table work. Monisha kept pace and rhthym of narration intact, I don't think a single scene felt unrequired or too long, some may argue if 'Maa' track was needed but it gives a nice feel to the already shown flashback and the tough situation in front. Kapoor & Sons is at no.2 alone for that special scene, where 3-4 parallel cuts are done, one is Tia telling Arjun about her parent incident, 2nd is Rahul finding truth about his dad, 3rd is Rahul's mom finding truth about her son. And once these 3 revealations end, we get 4th one involving truth about Rahul getting favour from her mom for a novel betraying Arjun. That entire parallel cutting was so on par with the way Nolan's editor usually cuts scenes in his films, like that interstellar sequence that begins with Matt Damon revealing his real identity. Or the famous Inception one where all dream levels from Limbo to present are one by one shown. Also, in those Nolan films and here in Kapoor & Sons case, another common thing is the use of great bg that enhances the drama even further.


Best Choreography : Bosco-Caesar, kaala chashma (Baar Baar Dekho)

• Vishnu Deva, tung lak (Sarbjit)
• Vaibhavi Merchant, jabra fan (Fan)
• Adil Shaikh, kar gayi chull (Kapoor & Sons)
• Farah khan, baby ko bass pasand hai (Sultan) 

To be honest, none of these 5 nominees are worth of winning but thats how last year was in this category. Choreographers need to come up with lot better work in 2017 for sure. Among these five, Bosco-Caesar was more likeable in Kaala Chashma. Tung Lak had nice punjabi steps, and Jabra fan also gave some funny fanatic steps on which Shahrukh danced.


Best Background Score : Sameer Uddin (Kapoor & Sons)

• Vishal Khurana (Neerja)
• Pritam Chakraborty (Dangal) 
• Julius Packiam (Sultan) 
• Mithoon (Shivaay) 

Bg of Kapoor & Sons was very good throughout the movie, be it the humming version of Bolna (which I prefer more than the song) or the immense dramatic moments in 2nd half. Neerja's bg was great in a sense that usually suffering movies or where the people's life are in danger every second, in such movies often bg is used to manipulate emotions but not so here. One particular bg in Shivaay was really awesome, pity it was used way too often in the film thereby reducing the impact.


Best Cinematography : Aseem Bajaj (Shivaay)

• Anay Goswami (Fitoor)
• Priya Seth (Airlift)
• Pawel Dyllus (Mirzya)
• Mitesh Mirchandani (Neerja)

Shivaay had great eye-catching cinematography, wish the movie was as good too. Same applies for Fitoor and Mirzya which were really well shot. Specially loved how beautiful Kashmir looked in Fitoor, almost making it as one of character of movie, and had a song on it too 'agar jannat hai kahin toh yahin pe hai hami asto'.


Best Action : Peter Fernandes, Junaid Sheikh (Shivaay)

• Suniel Rodrigues, Kecha Kammpakdee (Rocky Handsome)
• Sham Kaushal (Dangal)
• Kecha Kammpakdee, Javed Eijaz (Baaghi)
• Franz Spilhaus, Allan Amin (Force 2) 

Totally loved action sequences in Shivaay, and the special thing was the way it was shot and cut. Be it the car chasing one or mountain one (that resembles slightly with Baahubali1).  Rocky Handsome action sequences reminded me lot of John Wick, fast and hand to hand combat mostly, alas the story and performances weren't on the same level.


Best Art Direction : Aparna Sud, Anna Ipe (Neerja)

• Gautam S Mondal (Kapoor & Sons)
• Rupam Paul (Udta Punjab)
• Subrata Barik, Kaushik Das (Kahaani 2)
• Tiya Tejpal (Raman Raghav2) 

Neerja's art direction was great for the way they constructed the entire panem aircraft making it look real as most of the movie takes place there only.


Best Costumes : Manish Malhotra, Anaita Shroff, Samidha Wangnoo (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil)

• Niharika Bhasin, Manish Malhotra, Sanam Ratansi, Anaita Shroff, Akshay Tyagi (Fitoor)
• Arjun Bhasin (Baar Baar Dekho)
• Natascha Charak, Nikita Mohanty, Archana Walavalkar (Kapoor & Sons)
• Sheetal Sharma (Airlift) 

Totally adored the costumes in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, specially the ones for Anushka, yellow costume during trip scene plan and red costume during breakup song. Katrina looked gorgeous in the red outfit in Fitoor, and Aditya Roy Kapoor also never looked as great in previous movies. Baar Baar Dekho was actually the only movie where every next scene I waited to see their costumes more than where the boring story is leading to.

Special Mention - 

Child Actors 

• Suhani Bhatnagar, Zaira Wasim, Ritvik Sahore (Dangal)
• Krrish Chhabria, Hetal Gada (Dhanak)
• Ria Shukla (Nil Battey Sannata) 
• Zeeshan (MS Dhoni The Untold Story) 

Dangal child actors actually were the best part of the film for their cuteness 'teekha thoda kam hai papa' or their hilarious anger, and the frustration they show at their dad's stubborn behavior. In terms of  akhaada wrestling scenes, Zaira Wasim looked far better though. While Krrish and Hetal shared a brilliant chemistry as bro-sister in Dhanak who rightly had unique varying celeb idols, Shahrukh and Salman, hence making a case for some funny sequences, and apart from that also, they make you love them in entire movie with their acting. Fine acting by Ria Shukla, though the way her character is, you tend to dislike her in some parts of the movie. Zeeshan very much like Sushant has ditto mannerisms like Dhoni, specially the face expression while wicketkeeping.

Recap 2016 : Top100 Songs

Fourth year in a row, when my top song belongs to the first half of the year. I did not made my list for 2015, but if I had, my song of the year would had been either 'Jeena jeena' (Badlapur) or 'Humnava' (Hamari Adhuri Kahani).

People keep complaining about the over-dose of Arijit songs, sometimes I do too, but the fact is he keeps giving outstanding songs so you can easily ignore the songs that don't work which gonna be there. 'Ae dil hai mushkil' title track and 'Salaamat' (sarbjit) were my top picks last year. 

Amaal Malik had excellent year with melodies like  'Bol do na zara' (azhar) and 'Jab tak' (ms dhoni the untold story). Also it was nice to listen him in a song very unlike him like 'Besabriyaan (ms dhoni the untold story). 

Jubin Nautiyal sang some brilliant romantic tracks, 'Tere liye' (Fitoor), 'Kaabil hoon' and 'Kuch din' (Kaabil). Would love to listen more of him in 2017.

Not a fan of Badshah, but 2 of his songs made my top25, 'Kar gayi chull' (Kapoor & Sons) and 'Bolo har har har' (Shivaay)

Nooran sisters were terrific, be it being chorus in Dangal title track or the lead in 'Tuk tuk' (sultan) and 'Hota hai' (mirzya). 

Even though Palak Muchchal sang the best song of year (female wise) with Kaun tujhe (MS Dhoni the untold story), Jonita Gandhi was without a doubt the female singer of the year for being consistently so good and showing her versatility with 'Sau tarah ke' (Dishoom), 'Breakup song' (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) and 'Gilehriyaan' (Dangal),

It was nice to see a veteran like Sunidhi Chauhan back at her best, firstly in a duet in Tere liye (Fitoor) and then the heart-breaking solo 'Just go to hell dil' (Dear Zindagi). Meanwhile, Shreya Ghoshal had only one worth remembering track, 'Foolishq' (Ki & Ka).

Here's my list of top100 songs, as always reminding, preference is given to songs which I like to hear repeatedly, not the creative aspect of song.

TOP 100 Hindi Songs : 

1. Tere liye - fitoor

It was a track that slowly kept growing on me, and then never got tired of it. A fantastic romantic song composed by Amit Trivedi, sung by Jubin Nautiyal and Sunidhi Chauhan. Jubin has a great voice for romantic songs (if you listen Kaabil songs, you can notice it) and the kind of uplift he gives to the lyrics penned by Swanand kirkire, that already talk about a certain unconditional love is really commendable. Also, lovely to see Sunidhi in a romantic song. I obviously love the entire song, but the the final min of the song is magical when there's a silence and later Jubin's lines 'jo main kehta hoon', makes a stronger impact almost like wanting to tell the other person how much I love you despite not getting the love back. My most heartfelt romantic track of the last year!

yeh ulfat hai ya koi nasha hai, jise choona chaahe tu woh dhuan hai 

2. Ae dil hai mushkil - ae dil hai mushkil

A heart-break song that talks about one-sided mad love and loneliness. Amitabh Bhattacharya lyrics are just too good, can't remember last song that portayed the feelings of one sided love so beautifully. Easily Arijit's best track of the year, his voice always suits romantic songs that have a pain backdrop (as Khatana bhai said once, dard chahiye awaaz mein to be loved). Once again, the final stanza gets extra love from me, both for the lyrics that tries to say that it doesn't matter whether you care for me or love me because I will keep loving you, and Arijit's rendition brings that feeling very well. Another great addition to the never-ending melodies that Pritam keeps giving, this one would make to top10 of many people I guess.

maana ke teri maujoodgi se yeh zindgaani mehroom hai, jeene ka koi dooja tareeka na mere dil ko maloom hai

3. Dangal - dangal

Dangal may not have surpassed Chak de India as a film, but I certainly prefer dangal's title track anyday over chak de. Sung brilliantly by Daler Mehndi and lyrics penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, dangal is a superb motivational track that one can apply on themselves even if you don't belong to a sports field, urging you towards your dreams/goals. Daler Mehndi is perfect choice for this track that required powerful voice, and also notice good use of chorus (my guess is its nooran sisters) at some places in the song. Dangal is a very good addition to Pritam's biography that mostly consists of romantic melodies as composer, a song he can be proud of as most likely it will be played a lot in future years at many events. 

thos majboot bharosa apne sapno pe karna, jitne muh utni baatein gaur kitno pe karna

4. Qatl e aam - raman raghav 2.0

I prefer this version over the unplugged one more for the environment composer Ram Sampath sets this one in. We have singer Sona Mohapatra singing a melody with an electric backdrop having a discotheque feel in the beats. There's a sense of madness in the way the male singer Yash Divecha reacts to female vocals with 'qatl le, qatl le' as if only those words mattered to him and her rest stanza didn't. Also the 'tak dhin dha' bit before last antara is very well done. Lovely lyrics from Varun Grover, and Sona's best song since 'Ambarsariya' (Fukrey). Qatl e aam is damn addictive track, you won't stop listening to it once you listen it.

hai ghaneemat dil yeh patthar ho chuka tamaam hai, aapki aankhon mein varna aaj qatl e aam hai


5. Kaun tujhe - ms dhoni the untold story

There's something special about Palak Muchhal voice when it comes to romantic songs (like was during Aashiqui2), the same song if Shreya sang I would have found it listenable but nothing memorable. But Palak gives the song a lot more with her voice, and if the composition is very good which is the case here by Amaal Malik then you are in for a brilliant track. Kaun Tujhe is a solo female love track, very minimal arrangements like a typical Amaal track and simple yet appealing lyrics by Manoj Muntashir. Its a song that talks about how much the girl loves her lover, as Palak completely nails those feelings.
main tujhse hi chhup chhup kar, teri aankhein padhti hoon 


6. Bulleya (amit) - ae dil hai mushkil 

Took time to love this song, because at first the visuals were somewhat similar to 'Saadda Haq', not the same angst, but the dejected look and feel was there. Bulleya is like a romantic lighter version of Saadda Haq for me, less angst and more pleading of love/pain going in this song. Pritam and Amitabh Bhattacharya combine together towards a great composition, I specially love the bg that plays when Shilpa's part ends.  Special mention to the lines used in the end of song as additional vocals (only in film version, not album), 'bin tere main kya hoon, itna toh zaahir hai..mujhpe jo guzri hai chehre pe likha hai, chehra toh padhne mein tu bhi toh maahir hai'. There's a Arijit version of this song in deluxe album, but its Amit Mishra's rendition (used in film too) that works for me, really sang it well and worthy of a nomination at every award show, or for that matter a win too.
tere caravan mein shaamil hona chaahun, kamiyaan taraash ke main kaabil hona chaahun

7. Salamat - sarbjit 

Romantic songs with simple arrangements in composition, letting vocals do the main job and having a melody tune throughout are the best songs for me. Salamat comes in that category, and the fact that despite Tulsi Kumar (extremely irritating for me) being the female singer, the song's impact stays the same. Arijit Singh once again is terrific in his rendition, and Amaal Malik again has a composition that makes you hit the repeat button. Beautiful lyrics penned by Rashmi Virag that talks of a lifelong love. Unless you belong to the category who loves only selective Arijit songs, you would definately find Salamat worthy of a top10 position.
chaahe main rahun jahaan mein, chaahe main na rahun.. tere mere pyaar ki umar salamat rahe

8. Bol do na zara - azhar

Amaal Malik has a thing with romantic melodies, few years back it was emraan-esha single video, then the 'main hoon hero' from Hero. 'Bol do na zara' falls in the same league, with a difference that it outdoes all his previous songs. Lyrics penned down by Rashmi Virag are very good at places, but its Armaan's rendition that makes the song so much lovable. As long as I don't get a repetitive feeling in the compositions of his songs, I guess I will have more of his songs in top10 in future years. 

ik tumhe chahne ke alaava, aur kuch humse hoga nahi

9. Ji huzoori - ki & ka

A song where the lover is expressing his love and also demanding some level of understanding from his partner. Mithoon's composition and rendition is fantastic, but its Sayeed Qadri's lyrics that get more attention. Special mention to the background repeat of 'jee haan' which is well done throughout the song. Hardly a year goes by, when Mithoon doesn't give atleast one trippy romantic track..

kaise khush tujhe rakhu nahi pata, par chahta hoon tere labon pe hasi

10. Da da dasse - udta punjab 

Kanika Kapoor is famous for her item songs like 'Baby doll' and 'Chittiyaan kalaiyaan', but it was 'Chhil gaye Naina' where she really appealed to me. And with 'Da da dasse' she totally showcases her singing talent in what is easily her best song till date. Amit Trivedi's composition with a brilliant rap by Babu Haabi (honey singh and baadshah, you guys need to learn a lot) inserted beautifully that gives the song a slight haunting feel specially due to Shellee's lyrics.
kitte game khatam na ho jaave, main khud se hi ab lukta chhipta haan


11. Just go to hell dil - dear zindagi 

Slight familiarty in the starting tune with Aisha's 'lehren', but apart from that Sunidhi Chauhan excels and dominates this fantastic breakup song literally (not celebrating kind like the trend is these days). Kausar Munir's lyrics presents lots of pain one goes through after a breakup with the female here talking to herself and cursing herself. Composed by Amit Trivedi, who makes sure the song doesn't end one-dimensional as Sunidhi pitches in with angst towards the end perfectly. And I love the chorus that follows after that 'o roothe dil, roothe dil, roothe dil'. One of the best heart-break song last year, that you will just love.
deti hoon khudko main kharashein kyun nayi, koi mujhko mujhse hi bachaaye


12. Pashmina - fitoor 

The feelings one gets when you discover you have fallen in love with someone, the thought process and dreamy like mindset you suddenly have, all of this is beautifully taken in Pashmina by Amit Trivedi, who himself sings this solo track. We have seen Rahman sing some great romantic soulful tracks, while Pashmina may not quite be to that level, but Amit does a commendable work, hard to not fall in love with this track. And you gotta see the film version (not the promo video song that rather presented it in seductive dance moves) to see how well the song works.
khayalon mein yun, yeh guftagu.. chalti rahe.


13. Jag Ghoomeya (neha) - sultan

Rahat version maybe more famous due to those salman dance moves, but its Neha Bhasin's soulful rendition that makes this version better. Plus, you get a refreshing feel which is little missing in Rahat one as we have heard him sing such songs so often in past. Special mention to the lovely instrumental (don't know what it is) tune used after end of every stanza. Irshad Kamil has penned down beautiful romantic lyrics. Vishal Shekhar composes this track pretty much like a unplugged version (sort of, not completely), one of their best tracks since Dua (shanghai).
raaton ka sukoon bhi hai, subah ki azaan hai... chaahaton ki chaadaron mein, kare rakhwali tu


14. Chitta ve - udta punjab

Just like Da da dasse, Babu Haabi's rap is mindblowing here in Chitta Ve, as he takes you into the madness of this rock track. The proceedings however are calmed down when Shahid Mallya and Bhanu Pratap take the centre stage, and Amit Trivedi does this transition very effectively. Babu gets another rap later in the song, however the followup to it this time around is weak, and its the only reason why I couldn't fully love this song. Still Chitta ve has enough going in it that can make you go trippy on it, something you would expect from a drug based track, and Shellee lyrics does full justice to that.
mujhe gyan na pilana, main hoon antaryami.. tum hari gun gao, main paidaishi harami


15. Ranga re (english) - fitoor

Superbly sung by Caralisa Monteiro in english, supported well by Amit Trivedi singing the final part in hindi. Ranga re is a romantic track composed with a seductive feeling right throughout, and Swanand Kirkire lyrics helps too. I always like to listen this track, rather than the complete hindi version by Sunidhi Chauhan. Somehow Caralisa brings a lot extra factor to the song and the english lyrics makes it more lovable and the amaze feels.
I feel you burning inside of me, leaving me in this misery.. give me a sign that you are mine


16. Kyun re - te3n 

A song on love and loss of a dear one, composed and sung by Clinton Cerejo. He uses minimal arrangements mainly guitar and lets the vocals make Amitabh Bhattacharya lyrics bring in a deeper pain. Other version sung by Amitabh Bachchan is pretty good too, but listening to that the feeling of an elder person lost someone dear to him comes out lot more (which is the case for film). In Clinton's version, you can refer it to anyone who is no longer in your life, whom you miss and wish somehow returned back. Pretty sad track!
ghar ka woh kona tera, soona bichona tera.. teri gair maujoodgi mein bhi lage hona tera


17. Jab tak - ms dhoni the untold story 

The starting 10 secs of soft instrumental is one major reason why I prefer this one lot more over redux version, and other reason is the lyrics by Manoj Muntashir that are slightly better here. In a way, Jab tak can be termed as male version of 'Kaun tujhe' though its not as excellent as that one was. Wish they had kept 2 antara's in the song, rather than having 2 versions with 1 antara. Amaal Malik in his routine manner still successfully does enough to make you love this song both by his vocals and simple composition, kind of melodies he has made a name in by now.
jab tak teri lehar mein, khawaaishein meri beh na le.. haan mere paas tum raho, jaane ki baat na karo

18. Kar gayi chull - kapoor & sons

Recreation of Badshah's own song 'Chull', I definately like this film version over that one (against the majority like always). Amaal Malik does good work as composers, main aspects of original are kept intact like the hook lines and tunes, but the added female part with vocals by Sukriti Kakkar and Neha Kakkar makes Kar Gayi Chull even more worthy of shaking a leg to. One of best dance tracks of the year, even with lyrics that may sound stupid, but these kind of songs work that way only.  The starting 7 sec tune used a lot later too, and 'larki beautiful' phrase definately main highlights of the song.
kya naache tu dilli, hile hai london.. matak matak jaise raveena tandon

19. Haanikaarak bapu - dangal 

A super fun song, with some very witty lines written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and the debut of kids Sarwar Khan and Sartaz Khan Barna in singing is brilliant as they completely nail it. Last time a kid singer was impressive in debut was Durga in 'Chi cha ledar' (Gangs of Wasseypur 2), unless I am forgetting any other track. Its a very unlike Pritam song, and the fact that it worked so well, should do the composer a lot good. It will be a song that school kids specially will associate a lot more if they have a dad who is strict towards them.
sote jagte chooth rahi hai, aaansoo ki pichkaari.. phir bhi khush na hua mogambo, hum tere balihari


20. Bolo har har - shivaay 

A very messy track that has too much going in it, and it took a while before I started to like it. Its one of those rare songs where Badshah rap gives the song a lift and takes to a very trippy mode. Mithoon's composition starts with soft vocals of Mohit Chauhan (who is as always brilliant in his rendition), and then all the electronica enters but my fav part is how the various shloks of shiva are inserted, specially love 'nagendra haraya trilochanaya' one. Wonder why Sukhwinder Singh was limited to just 'toh bolo har har har' verse in song, when he could had made even bigger impact in this kinda of song with his powerful voice. Special mention to the guitar riff used in middle of song that I like a lot. I think down the years, I would still be listening to this song despite the flaws.
aankh moond kar dekh raha hai, saath samay ke khel raha hai


21. Hota hai - mirzya

Don't think I have liked any folk song before, always a first as 'Hota Hai' is pretty good for the way its composed. Nooran sisters gets the lead for most of the song and they expectedly are marvellous, there's something special about how well they both sync while singing. Its a song that describes the hardships of love. There's Akhtar Channal rendition before start of both antara's, that sounds good despite not able to understand the meaning (don't know name of the language). Post 3.25 mins, the song is a complete bliss, firstly for Shankar Mahadevan vocals, then the ending with Daler Mehndi's 'O mirzya' words and the finishing background music.
hota hai aksar, chot kahin lagti hai jaakar.. zakhm kahin pe hota hai, ishq mein

22 . Cutiepie - ae dil hai mushkil 

Surprise! I like this song lot more than Channa mereya and breakup song. Cutiepie gives a vibe of Dev.D song, even the picturisation is similar to some extent. A fun track where the lead actor is actually going through deep pain but faking happiness outside. And then ofcourse those final 30 secs instrumental is unforgettable. Nakash Aziz  and Pardeep Singh Sran vocals completely suit the mood of the song, and like how Pritam uses punjabi lyrics through backup vocals.
boyfriend ki tujhe koi fikar nahi, pehli date pe kahe.. okay bye

23. Kya tujhe ab yeh dil bataaye - sanam re 

Now a bigger surprise! It is kinda of heavily melodramatic feel to it like those 90's songs and the lyrics by Manoj Muntashir are inconsistent specially that aansoo line and the last antara that I found ordinary. So it isn't in any way as awesome as Saajna and Judaai were, but still Falak Shabir's vocals makes this a very good listen for me. If you are not fond of routine sadistic tracks, which this one is, then it may not work for you at all.
kya tujhe ab yeh dil bataaye, tere bina kyun saans na aaye


24. Tuk tuk - sultan

By now you should know, how much I am fond of Nooran sisters. Another of their song in my list as they again sync together beautifully with a little dose of haryanvi accent, and this is Vishal Dadlani as composers at their experimental best. Tuk Tuk talks about the hardships of life but in a positive way, almost like inspiring to keep going by calling it 'meethi thaari zindagi'. Vishal's english rap is slightly off-track, works with visuals better, but Irshad Kamil lyrics don't divert from the motive of song so its a minor problem that can be ignored. Also, like the way song starts with male singer (don't know who it is) singing 'doorie dard milan hai masti'. My most loved song from Sultan after Jag Ghoomeya.
resham hai ya malmal hai, ya phir gehri daldal hai.. zindagi ya ra ra 


25. Teen gawah hai ishq ke - mirzya

I often end up thinking of Qayamat se Qayamat Tak song 'akele hai toh kya gham hai', when I listen Teen gawah. Both songs are quite apart though in lyrics, its just the kind of love felt in the songs and knowing the sad destiny the lovers will face sooner that makes me compare it. Composed by Shankar Ehsan Loy in a very light manner, and lyrics penned by Gulzar, its the vocals by Siddharth Mahadevan that gets the major attention in this song along with the chorus by the Salvation Singers. Totally love the background tunes used in the final 50 secs, very romantic. Except for the starting vocals which I assume were by Sain Zahoor, I very much liked this S-E-L melody.
khawaab tha, khawaab hai.. khawaab mein rehne do 

26 to 100 ----

26. Qatl e aam (unplugged) - raman raghav 2.0 

27. Gilehriyaan - dangal

28. Haminastu - fitoor

29. Channa mereya - ae dil hai mushkil 

30. Ae zindagi gale laga le (arijit) - dear zindagi 

31. The breakup song - ae dil hai mushkil

32. Haq hai - te3n 

33. Yeh fitoor mera - fitoor

34. Teri khair mangdi - baar baar dekho 

35. Ikk kudi (diljit) - udta punjab

36. Jag ghoomeya (rahat) - sultan

37. Nashe si chadh gayi - befikre

38. Kho gaye hum kahan - baar baar dekho

39. Kuch toh hai - do lafzon ki kahani

40. Aisa kyun maa - neerja

41. Rootha - te3n 

42. Sau tarah ke - dishoom

43. Sanam re - sanam re 

44. Taarefon se (ali) - dear zindagi 

45. Bolna - kapoor & sons

46. Ude dil befikre - befikre

47. Dhaakad (aamir) - dangal

48. Jabra fan - fan

49. Jab tak (redux) - ms dhoni the untold story

50. Darkhaast - shivaay 

51. Gehra ishq - neerja

52. Kuch din - kaabil 

53. Mera junoon - sarbjit 

54. Phir kabhi - ms dhoni the untold story

55. Jeete hai chal - neerja

56. Ek nadi thi - mirzya

57. Oye oye - azhar

58. Toh dishoom - dishoom

59. Grahan - te3n 

60. Kheech meri photo - sanam teri kasam 

61. Jagaa khunnas - saala khadoos

62. Rock the party - rocky handsome

63. Kaala chashma - baar baar dekho 

64. Lets break up - dear zindagi 

65. Kyun re (amitabh) - te3n 

66. Tu hi hai (ali) - dear zindagi 

67. Foolishq - ki & ka

68. Alizeh - ae dil hai mushkil 

69. Mehram - kahaani2 

70. Hone do batiyan - fitoor

71. Meherbaan - sarbjit 

72. Bulleya - sultan 

73. Tu hai - mohenjodaro

74. Paani ka raasta - raman raghav 2.0

75. Jeetne ke liye - azhar

76. Kaabil hoon (sad) - kaabil 

77. Tung lak - sarbjit

78. Tere naal ishqa - shivaay

79. Kuch der - traffic

80. Udja re - rock on 2

81. Kaari kaari - pink

82. Dum-a-dum - dhanak 

83. Raaz aankhein teri - raaz reboot 

84. Dariya - baar baar dekho

85. Besabriyaan - ms dhoni the untold story

86. Ud daa punjab - udta punjab 

87. Allah hu allah - sarbjit 

88. Baby ko bass pasand hai - sultan 

89. Love you zindagi - dear zindagi  

90. Re sultan - sultan

91. Saala khadoos - saala khadoos 

92. Rehnuma - rocky handsome 

93. Parwah nahin - ms dhoni the untold story

94. Woh jahaan - rock on 2 

95. Wajah tum ho (mithoon) - wajah tum ho 

96. Ishq mubarak - tum bin 2 

97. Hum mein tum mein jo tha - raaz reboot 

98. Sau aasmaan - baar baar dekho 

99. Saathi re - kapoor & sons 

100. Maths mein dabba gul - nil battey sannata

Recap 2016 : Best Hindi Albums

It was a year dominated mainly by Amit Trivedi and Pritam. With 'Fitoor', Amit Trivedi once again exceled in pure romantic genre just like he did last time with 'Lootera', hope Imtiaz Ali works with him someday. Also, 'Dear Zindagi' and 'Udta Punjab' had trademark Amit Trivedi stamp over them with some memorable tracks. Pritam striked gold in later half of the year with 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' and 'Dangal', such contrasting music they both had. Some of his songs in 'Dishoom' were catchy too. Who cares if he copies, I dont.

Shankar Ehsan Loy may not have lived upto the expectations for Rock On2 (frankly I found songs good enough to hear, just in comparison to 1st part it looks weak), but with 'Mirzya' they showed why they are still worth having expectations from.

While 'Befikre' didn't make my top10, with 'Akira' and 'Banjo' having mostly mediocre songs.. it was 'Sultan' where Vishal-Shekhar were impressive giving good variety of songs.

Both Sachin-Jigar duo and Sohail Sen had a not-so good year as their respective albums 'A Flying Jatt' and 'Happy Bhag Jayegi' had nothing much to like about.

AR Rahman seemed to be back in form with 'Tamasha' last to last year, but 'Mohenjodaro' failed to impress me at all. The wait for next awesome album from Rahman since 'Rockstar' continues.

Amaal Malik continued to rise, with not just his singing but his work as composer in 'Kapoor & Sons' , 'Azhar' and 'MSD The Untold Story' was very good. Maybe, in 2017 he would give that perfect album and make it to top3.

Other Notable Mentions would be Clinton Cerejo for his super music in 'Te3n', and likeable tracks in 'Kahaani2' also. There's Jasleen Royal whose songs in 'Baar Baar Dekho', 'Dear Zindagi' and 'Shivaay' were pretty good, only worry though is that she doesn't get repetitive as 'Kho gaye hum kahan (Baar baar dekho)' and 'Raatein (Shivaay)' had similar style of composing. And lastly, Ram Sampath for his music in 'Raman Raghav2', qatl e aam song had me on repeat mode for weeks.

'Shivaay', 'Befikre' and 'Raman Raghav2' just miss out... Here's my list, the order is based on the albums that have more songs I like to listen on repeat mode.

TOP 10 HINDI ALBUMS 

1. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil 

When it comes to romantic genre, Pritam in past has given many great songs/albums who are as appealing today as it was then. 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' is easily among Pritam's top5 albums ever, and you knew it happening the day title song got released which is the best track from album sung by Arijit Singh describing the pain of one-sided love so well. Amitabh Bhattacharya who is the lyricist has combined well with Pritam as you feel the songs working completely, both the music and lyrics. 'Channa Mereya' of Arijit, I may not love, like most people do, but still find it a good track, specially the unplugged and reprise version in the movie. I didn't like 'Bulleya' initially but listening repeatedly, it grew on me and is not far away from title track now, Amit Mishra rendition has given it a nice pain-angst feel and could easily be referred as lighter romantic version of 'Saadda Haq'. Both 'Breakup song' and 'Cutiepie' are catchy dance tracks, I specially love Cutiepie tune and ofcourse the way it ends in the movie. 'Alizeh' is the only weak song in album, and the english part at end doesn't help, it still is a good song but in comparison to rest songs it fails. Special mention to the songs included in deluxe album, Shilpa Rao's 'Aaj jaane ki zidd' is super seductive track, one of rare occasions of old classic song re-done perfectly. Reprise version of 'Bulleya' sung by Arijit doesn't appeal to me one bit. Special mention to the old classics of Mohammad Rafi used in the film, my fav being 'an evening in paris' with Arijit vocals.
Favs - Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Bulleya (amit version), Cutiepie


2. Fitoor 

Its surprising how a failed bad movie means the music must be forgotten and not praised even if it was awesome. That's how I felt when Fitoor was hardly in any awards nominations list. Even random people I see talk more about 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' or 'Udta Punjab' than 'Fitoor'. To be frank, Fitoor was very close to been no.1 in my list. Amit Trivedi after 'Lootera' gives another gem of album in the pure romantic genre, he should do this genre a lot more often . Title track 'yeh fitoor mera' by Arijit is very good and addictive, only complaint was it didn't have more antara stanzas which in movie is present but not in the audio album. 'Pashmina' is a beautiful song which Amit Trivedi sang himself, it was promoted through seductive dance moves in the video but in movie you could feel it lot more as the lyrics match-up with how the love is growing slowly. 'Haminastu' sung by Zeb Bangash is easily among best songs filmed on Kashmir, the music is really haunting and so are the lyrics, kudos to Swanand Kirkire. My song of the album however is 'Tere liye' sung fantastically by Jubin Nautiyal and Sunidhi Chauhan, its great to listen Sunidhi in romantic tracks something she doesn't do often, but its Jubin who owns the song, a soft romantic track that's hard to not love. Although Sunidhi has sung the hindi version of 'Ranga Re' very well, its the English version by Caralisa Monteiro that I love a lot more, deeply romantic and seductive in a way. I am fond of Nandini Srikar songs (dua, bhare naina, harjaiyaan etc) but 'Hone do Batiyan' was my least liked song in the album.
Favs - Tere liye, Pashmina, Ranga re (english)


3. Dangal

To see Pritam excel in this kind of album, really surprised me and its the same composer-lyricist combo i.e Pritam-Amitabh Bhattacharya at their best yet again. 'Haanikaarak bapu' sung by young Sarwar Khan is a hilarious father-daughter take that works as well without visuals too. 'Dhaakad' aamir version is way better than the raftaar one, and no wonder makers of movie realized it too by having it in movie.  Jonita Gandhi is soon reaching the league of Shilpa Rao kind of singers if she hasn't yet, i.e those female singers who you love to listen for their different voice and not typical like Shreya etc. Jonita's 'Gilehriyaan' tells how the habits of a person is changing whether to good or bad, and great reference is made with gilehri. 'Dangal' title track is one of best tracks of year, highly motivating and Daler Mehndi is perfect choice for this song. Arijit meanwhile fails to impress in 'Naina', the song works with movie though. Nooran sisters are very likeable yet again in their rendition of  the fun track 'Idiot Banna'.
Favs - Dangal, Haanikaarak bapu, Gilehriyaan


4. Te3N

Easily the most under-rated album of last year. Clinton Cerejo does a commendable work as composer making each of the 5 songs worth listening. Also, with Te3n, Amitabh Bhattacharya makes it three entries in top5 as lyricist. 'Kyun re' has two versions, one by Clinton and other by Amitabh Bachchan. Both with same lyrics and arrangements, while Amitabh one works better in relation to the movie story, I prefer Clinton more with the song talking of loss of someone very dear to you (grand-daughter in the movie), a good depressing track. Clinton's rendition of 'Haq hai' is a very motivational track that talks of hope and not giving up with excellent use of chorus. 'Rootha' has Benny Dayal and Divya Kumar who effectively talk about opposite of what 'Haq hai' did, which is feeling lost and tired with everyone. Bianca Gomes has few bengali lines too in the track. 'Grahan' has a rock feel to it, and great choice of Vishal Dadlani who fully nails the song that is combined tale of pain and angst.
Favs - Kyun re (clinton), Haq hai, Grahan


5. MS Dhoni The Untold Story

For music pundits or intellectuals, this would be just a routine average album. I am sure there will be many music lovers like me though who loved this album a lot, specially talking of the die hard romantics. Armaan Malik as composer is at his best in giving a complete good album. Usually seen Armaan sing soft romantic tracks, so was a surprise to listen him in 'Besabriyaan', a track that shows the routine of Dhoni from college to cricket practice, and very well written by Manoj Muntashir. 'Padhoge Likhoge' is a fun take on the everheard phrase of 'padhoge likhoge toh banoge nawaab' that works only with film else forgettable song. 'Parwah Nahin' is a missed opportunity by Armaan, lyrics have that angst and frustration feel and so does the singer Siddharth Basrur rendition but the composition doesn't really take off keeping the same tempo throughout. Its the trio of 'Kaun tujhe', 'Jab Tak' (both versions) and 'Phir kabhi' that is the major usp of this album. 'Phir kabhi' is a take on falling in love/just fallen in love and not caring about anything else feeling with Arijit vocals. While 'Jab tak' basically is a follow up to 'Phir kabhi' about someone who is deeply in love, with Armaan Malik vocals in the kind of song we are used to hear him and undoubtedly he is excellent. I like 'Jab tak' version slightly more than the redux one. 'Kaun tujhe' is the best melody you would had heard last year from a female singer, which is Palak Mucchhal here. Easily the best track from the album. The additional track 'Har gully mein dhoni hai' composed and sung by Rochak Kohli didn't work for me at all.
Favs - Kaun tujhe, Jab tak, Phir kabhi 


6. Dear Zindagi

This album is much better than 'English Vinglish' as Gauri Shinde worked with Amit Trivedi again. 'Tu hi hai' and 'Taarefon se', both beautiful soft melodies which I liked more in Ali Zafar's voice in movie, wish they kept it part of original album too. Vishal Dadlani's 'Lets break up' is a good listen too, a fun take on break-up pretty much like Ae dil's 'Breakup song'. Jasleen Royal's rendition to the light-hearted title track 'Love you zindagi' is good but its not kinda of track that I like to listen repeatedly. Its Sunidhi Chauhan who steals the limelight in the album with a terrific track 'Just go to hell dil' where music may remind of some older heart-breaking tracks composed by Amit Trivedi specially 'Lehrein' from Aisha. Its a song very well written by Kausar Munir that keeps shifting from painful heartbreak to angst and to total angst in the end followed with an emotionally touching chorus. Then there's two versions of famous song 'Ae zindagi gale laga le' re-done by Amit. Alia's version just never really works, as the composition comes out more like a remix version. But Arijit version is really good that has a slight rock feel, keeps original lyrics intact and makes sure the essence of the loved classic song stays.
Favs - Just go to hell dil, Ae zindagi gale laga le (arijit), Taarefon se


7. Sultan 

Always good when Vishal-Shekhar come up with a quality album like they do here with Sultan. Consisting of 7 original tracks and 2 different versions, there's a lot of variety both in terms of genre and singers here. Inspirational title track 'Sultan' is very well sung by the reliable Sukhwinder and Shadab supports well. But unlike Dangal, this song works better with visuals. There is a smaller version of this song called 'Rise of Sultan' sung by Shekhar which gives a vibe of someone trying to motivate himself back and again is brilliantly used in film. Best song comes in form of 'Jag Ghoomeya', which has 2 versions too, one by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and other by Neha Bhasin. Though I love both, I am slightly more inclined towards Neha version as it feels more fresh with her voice, an excellent romantic track. Mika's '440 volt' also much like the title track, is appealing only with the movie, otherwise quite ordinary track. Papon's 'Bulleya' is likeable for the Irshad Kamil lyrics more than the composition which I didn't really love. 'Baby ko bass pasand hai' is easily my guilty pleasure song of last year, it has that salman special stamp all over it which most of his movies usually have, but Vishal-Shekhar makes it quite a fun filled track with rendition by Vishal and Sharmali and added rap by as usual Badshah. 'Tuk Tuk' I personally love a lot, at times more than Jag Ghoomeya, as Nooran Sisters are amazing yet again, the english part is slightly off-track but luckily its only for some secs.'Sachi Muchi' is a nice light-hearted track by Mohit Chauhan and Harshdeep Kaur.
Favs - Tuk Tuk, Jag ghoomeya (neha), Baby ko bass pasand hai


8. Baar Baar Dekho

Its one of those rare albums, where I like each song, but none of them is worthy of calling gem. With 5 composers used for the six songs in album, often it results in just one or two that are good enough, luckily not the case here. Baadshah's recreated version of 'Kaala Chashma' is very catchy and despite his rap (which more often than not ruins songs) and new lines inserted for Neha Kakkar's part, the song works alright. 'Teri Khair Mangdi' is a good romantic song, specially love the line 'ik teri khair mangdi, main mangaan na kuch aur', wish it would had been more than just a good song though. Arko's 'Dariya' has very nice lyrics, but vocals kinda of spoiled the song for me. 'Sau Aasmaan' works mostly for Neeti Mohan's vocals, with lyrics and Armaan rendition not making much effect. Jasleen Kaur Royal both composed tracks 'Nachde ne Saare' and 'Kho gaye hum kahan' are lovely tracks, specially the latter that I like a lot. 'Aloo bade karare' is very well used in Nachde track, and also like the fun filled lyrics, a good punjabi flavour dance song. 'Kho gaye hum kahan' is composed in a very simple way with fewer musical arrangments, with soft vocals of both singers Jasleen and mainly Prateek Kuhad who is very likeable in this song.
Favs -  Teri khair mangdi, Kho gaye hum kahan, Kaala chashma


9. Udta Punjab 

And Amit Trivedi makes his 3rd entry with Udta Punjab. The kind of movie where you expect Amit Trivedi come up with interesting compositions, and so he does but partially. There are 2 versions of 'Ikk Kudi', while Shahid Mallya definately sings it much better, I prefer Diljit Dosanjh who brings a lot more feeling to it instead. Babu Haabi sets up perfect mood with his rap for 'Chitta Ve' with Shahid Mallya and Bhanu Pratap taking over the rest song very well. 'Da da dasse' is easily Kanika Kapoor's career best song (not babydoll or the hugely over-rated chittiyaan kalaiyaan) and Babu Haabi rap is once again so efficient here. Maybe something for Badshah to learn, how a rap can actually work for a song rather than spoil it. Shahid Mallya's 'Hass Nachle' didn't appeal to me, while Amit Trivedi's rendition to 'Vadiya' has a very heard before feeling to it. What disappointed me most however was the title track 'Udta punjab' as the catch line 'andar da kutta ajj kadiye' in the trailer raised expectations of a terrific song, but the song turns out to be very mediocre.
Favs - Da da dasse, Chitta ve, Ikk kudi (diljit)


10. Mirzya

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra films have always had great music, be it Aks, Rang De Basanti, Delhi6 or Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Mirzya doesn't quite fall in that league, mainly for the fact that the songs here are folk based including some classical tracks. And I am not really fond of this genre, yet the album has some songs that were simply too good to ignore. Comprising of 15 songs, out which 6 are background scores that are 30 sec pieces sung by Daler Mehndi and serve for a different narration style in film. Title track 'Mirzya' has its moments, sung by Daler Mehndi and various other singers but it fails to be a typical Daler Mehndi special plus found it loud too. 'Ek Nadi Thi' is beautifully sung by Mohan Kannan and Nooran sisters, and lovely lyrics by Gulzar. 'Hota Hai' is a fantastic track about what happens when falls in love with Nooran sisters dominating most of the song, I specially love it post 3 mins mark from Shankar Mahadevan lines 'kabhi kabhi yun bhi hota hai, dost bichad jaate hai' and the final 15 secs music is just too good. And another fav track is 'Teen gawah hai ishq ke', a sweet romantic song very well sung by Siddharth Mahadevan, except for the start of the song I liked this one fully. 'Chakora', 'Aave re hitchki', 'Doli re Doli' and 'Kaaga' were 4 tracks that ain't bad but just not my cuppa of tea. Special mention to the instrumental 'broken arrows', love the use of flute in it.
Favs - Hota hai, Teen gawah hai ishq ke, Ek nadi thi

Recap 2016 : Top10 Hollywood Movies

Just like Hindi Movies, 2016 was a year I found incredibly good at the Hollywood movies. I am gonna list my top10 movies here in details, but I can safely say that there are minimum 5 more movies that I feel bad they didn't make to top10.

As far as worst films are concerned, 'Batman v Superman', 'Suicide Squad', 'Shut In' and 'Hail Caesar' (which is favourite of many) I found completely ridiculous and time-wasters.

Among major disappointments, 'Silence', 'Doctor Strange', 'The Girl in the Train' and 'Jason Bourne', all of which I liked but they should had been much more than that.

Pleasant surprises of the year were 'The Nice Guys', 'Kubo and The Two Strings',  'Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them', 'Moana', 'The Accountant' and 'Lights Out',

'The Junglebook', 'The Witch', 'Nocturnal Animals' and 'Hidden Figures' just missed out on my top10 list, as I told it was a very good year.

Now, talking of the Top10, there are 6 oscar nominated pictures in them but the omission of 'Moonlight' will surprise a lot of people reading this, and also a horror movie I have included. Frankly Moonlight had a very weak 3rd act, after two superb chapters. Sorry Oscars, lets agree to disagree.

I love all the listed top10 movies here, the order is strictly on the basis of which film has higher repeat value for me.

P.S. Just a reminder, the post will be full of spoilers, so read at your own risk. 

TOP 10 Hollywood Movies : 

1. La La Land 

No, there ain't any mistake like Oscars did. La La Land indeed is the no.1 movie on my list, and its the best movie I have seen since 'The Dark Knight' in 2008. A movie where people talk about jazz, yet its not on jazz. One of major reasons why I love La La Land so much is that its not a routine musical movie from Hollywood like Les Miserables (which I really couldn't sit through as I hate such musicals). Instead here we get only some moments where characters would have conversations through songs, rather than having a whole film where characters keep breaking into songs every minute. That is why Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone), even when they dance or sing, and appear so not prepared or perfect in that department, it comes off so well, because suddenly you feel that I can be that too, I could also sing and dance like that, and it gets relatable. Thats how the movie is, a tale about dreams and love, and the choices we make, but narrated in a very magical manner. I didn't get all the homage or references paid to past musicals which I haven't seen.
'City of Stars' and 'Someone from the Crowd' are my favs from the soundtracks. Mia requesting  'I ran' song and Ryan explaining jazz to Mia were two of my most fav scenes. Special mention to the starting song 'Another day of Sun' that sets the tone of movie right from beginning, it wants you to think that its real even though it isn't. Love the sizzling chemistry between Ryan and Emma, wasn't a surprise at all to see Emma win Oscar for her performance, completely deserved it. Like how the signature Mia-Sebastian relationship tune is used at 3-4 places very effectively. Final 15 mins of movie is simply heartbreaking, and so are the words from Sebastian 'Welcome to Sebs'. And still there's a smile on your face when the film ends despite a realistic and sad ending. Very few films can do that. La La Land is full of lighthearted humor, romance, drama and almost makes you cry, its a perfect five star movie for me, one that I will fondly remember with other all time greats. If you are a romantic, then La La Land should work for you surely. 

This is the dream! It's conflict and its compromise, and it's very, very exciting. 

2. Manchester by the Sea 

When this movie was getting great reviews from critics and getting applauded at awards, I was wondering this will be one of those typical oscar movie that won't appeal to me. But that wasn't the case, I loved Manchester by Sea so much that I had to see it atleast 4 times even when I was on a 15 day non-stop oscar movies watch spree. Its easily the most depressing movie I have watched ever that doesn't involve physical suffering (like 12 years a slave or Revenant or Silence or any other movies do). Here, we see Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) dealing with a past trauma that happened in his life when he lived in Manchester, and now he is forced to go back there and be guardian of his nephew after finding his brother has died. Director uses non-linear narration, one shows Lee before trauma, happy and friendly guy spending time mostly with wife, children, friends and sometimes nephew on boat.  And other one where Casey really excels is the post trauma, when he keeps suffering inside, not letting the pain come out, we see him get angry on random people at drink place twice, been cold to a girl at the bar, or the scene at hospital when he is finding it hard how to react on his dead brother news. Director does well, by taking time to reveal as to why Lee has a personality that makes people not like him. There's one terrific scene between Lee and his ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams) where she is trying to be sorry for her poor behavior or words she used for Lee, which we are never shown when the incident happens and also when Lee explains the entire incident to police and is surprised to be told he can leave as if he wants to be punished for what he did unintentionally. Personally, I love the scene when Lee finally seems to break-down and cry when he is getting first-aid, or when he dreams his daughter asking him that 'can't you see we are burning', and the one where he tells Patrick 'I can't beat it' (the trauma). Happy that Casey won the Oscar, no one else deserved it more than him, liked how he played the character internally, and making it thereby look even more depressing. Lucas Hedges (Patrick) is the only character who gives some light-hearted moments through his scenes with both girlfriends or talks with Lee on them, though I was wondering if his character was deliberately kept like that, as was surprised to see less emotions towards his dad's death. I like his dining scene with his mom most, and the one where he stares at the 3 photos kept in Lee's room which are never shown to us. Manchester by the Sea is definately a movie you should watch, as long as you don't mind a depressing movie.
I can't beat it. I can't beat it. I am sorry. 

3. Arrival 

Denis Villeneuve has soon become one of my fav directors in no time, Prisoners (yet to watch Enemy), Sicario and now Arrival. The best thing about his movies is that he uses the music so beautifully to build the tension, which here are the twelve spacecraft that have landed on earth and Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguistics professor is asked to help decode what is the purpose of Aliens on earth. The story thereby leads to amazing discovery of how well Louise handles the communications she has with the aliens when she goes inside the spacecraft. Also, excellent editing regarding Louise continuous past thoughts about her dead daughter, which ofcourse turns out to be something else as the story unfolds. Amy Adams was totally snubbed of not just a oscar nomination, but probably a win, I would certainly have rooted for her despite Emma being there. Amy carries the entire movie on her shoulders, without faltering anywhere. If La La Land showed in end, 'what could had been for Mia and Sebastian', Arrival shows us 'what it will be in future' for Louise and her family in an excellent montage with a background score that makes it even more emotional. I love the scene when Louise daughter from future says 'Daddy' and we are cut to Louise looking at Ian (Jeremy Renner) in present. Arrival is easily one of best sci-fi movies I have seen, it is slow-paced but if you are patient enough then its a movie that most likely you would love to have watched when it finishes.
If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things? 


4. Zootopia

Animation films are lot more appealing when it tries to tell a unique story, rather than just entertain with cartoon characters. Zootopia achieves to do just that, telling a story about a city where various animals of different sizes live together including predators and ones they prey on, and still manage their routine lifestyle like typical humans. When Judy (voiceover by Ginnifer Goodwin) becomes the first rabbit to join the police force, she is so delighted only to later find out that she is allotted parking duties. Until one day, she gets involved in proving her worth by solving a mysterious case, and takes help of Nick, a fox (voiceover by Jason Bateman) to find he missing otter within 48 hrs. Zootopia entertains a lot, specially that laugh out sloth scene which is easily the best of last year. But what it also does, is tell about all the prejudices and stereotypes prevalent in the society, which can easily be compared to racism or equality. It talks about how tough it can be to fit in and you have to believe in yourself and not give up. There's another super laughout moment with the Godfather reference of Mr big (ironically his shape is opposite to his name, voiceover by Maurice LaMarche). Its Judy and Nick super chemistry with some excellent humor, that keeps you engaged when they go through various adventures and coming close to the reality behind the missing otter. Definately an animation movie, not to be missed, delivers to both young and adult audience.
Life's a little bit messy. We all make mistakes. No matter what type of animal you are, change starts with you. 


5. Deadpool

Completely ignored at the oscars, and it was one of most pleasant surprise movie of last year for me. I mean the opening credits itself set me right into 'Oh yea, this is gonna be a some special kind of entertainer'. The story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelarated healing powers, adopts the alter-ego Deadpool as he hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life. To sum up the movie in 2 words, its Ryan Reynolds, he is so spectacular in his sarcastic humor with fast speaking, reminding of Robert Downey in Ironman. Whether the situation is happy/sad, tense/tricky it just won't matter, Deadpool has a sense of humor for all occasions and he makes fun of lots of movies whether superhero, or Taken series, or other random famous lines he uses in his routine conversations and he doesn't spare himself too. Told in a non-linear narrative by director Tim Miller, there's plenty of action, and good screen-time given to develop Wade's romantic life with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) before he became Deadpool, and we are talking of a different lusty relationship turned into love, and not a routine superhero love angle. Only weak point of movie is the villain Ajax (Ed Skrein) whose performance is rather good, but the character doesn't really offer much to be scared of or look forward to for that finale battle. Thats one curse many superhero movies go through sadly. Leaving that asides, there's nothing really to complain here, supporting cast is pretty good too but its just Ryan show all the way from the start for his witty adult humor and the writing that is top class.. Unless you are a sanskaari chela of Pahlaj Nihalani (who kinda of spoiled a lot of the movie with his stupid scissors), you are in for a laughter ride. Oh but I regret to have missed the hilarious end-credits scene. Waiting for the 2nd part..
You are probably thinking, "Whose balls did I have to fondle to get my very own movie"? I can't tell you his name, but it rhymes with "Polverine".


6. Lion 

I was worried that this could be another Slumdog type movie that shows India is a poor country n blah blah. But, Lion rather is about the struggle of young Saroo (Sunny Pawar), 5 yr old boy who falls asleep in an empty train only to find himself locked when he wakes up as train is headed to Calcutta, about 1500 miles away from his home. Saroo gets lost in the streets of Calcutta, trying to reach back to his family and avoiding wrong people he meets on the way, eventually an Australian family John Brierley (David Wenham) and Sue Brierley (Nicole Kidman) adopts him. Dev Patel plays the grown up Saroo, who hasn't been able to come out from his childhood trauma and goes on a obsessive path of finding his real family. To my pleasant surprise, 1st half is entirely in hindi giving a very authentic touch to the movie. Nawazuddin Siddique appears in a one scene role, and makes it look very creepy. That scene where Dev Patel looks at jalebi and instantly thinks of childhood memory almost makes you cry, and so does all the failed attempts he goes through using Google Earth to find his home, or when he finally successfully finds home connecting every path to his home. Director Garth Davis keeps the narrative moving despite a story that spans over 25 yrs, and he perfectly makes sure that he never indulges in melodrama which this film had a lots of scope to do, the only time you see overflow of emotions is the climax and to be frank you gotta accept that scene as its done. Only weakness in the movie was Saroo-Lucy (Rooney Mara) romance which felt got affected by the film's main plot and comes up as half-baked. Special mention to 'Urvashi' track, just loved the cuteness of that scene with Dev and Rooney having a great time. Dev Patel is splendid in 2nd half of movie, better than his Slumdog act and sad he couldn't win oscar this time. Nicole Kidman has one very good scene where she tells her reasons for adopting Saroo. But Lion belongs mainly to Sunny Pawar, he is the soul of the movie, the one you remember when you are done watching movie,and harsh truth as end credits say is many children of that age go through such life in India. Hard to forget that heart-breaking scene when he steps out of train that stops at Calcutta, as he looks on platform calling out ammi (his mother) and Guddu (his brother), hoping they are somewhere there, only to be left disappointed.
Every night I imagine that I am walking those streets home and I know every single step of the way and I whisper in her ear 'I am here'. 

7. Hacksaw Ridge

I am not really fond of war films unless they offer something very different which Hacksaw Ridge does. The story is about Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), the conscientious objector, who at the battle of Okinawa, won the Medal of Honor for his incredible bravery and regard for his fellow soldiers. Its a true story about a guy who believes that he would serve by saving soldiers rather than killing enemy soldiers, and refused to carry a rifle at the battlefield. 1st half mostly goes in exploring Doss childhood, his love at first sight with a nurse Dorothy (Teresa Palmer) and then the combat training he undergoes. When Doss informs Sergeant Howell (an excellent Vince Vaughn) that he won't touch a rifle, the proceedings thereby becomes interesting as Doss religious faith is put to question by everyone at training. Being labelled coward, Doss goes through court-martial hearing but only to win the trial and getting the permission to go at the battlefield as medic without a rifle. Mel Gibson is very brutal when it comes to filming war sequence in 2nd half, lots of dead bodies full of gore, or terribly wounded soldiers that is very hard to watch, and Gibson makes sure it keeps coming non-stop. My favourite moment (must be for many) is when Doss feels dejected to an extent that he almost starts wondering what his role is at war, if he won't be able to save lives while he questions his lord, and then he takes that  decision to save everyone who is wounded and can't return back, when artillery strike is on by his captain. Doss even tries to cure one of enemy soldier at one point. And then the goosebumps moment when Doss saves one by one, 75 soldiers, and after saving every one, he would plead to lord 'one more, one more'. Its really good to see Andrew Garfield in such a good performance, and glad he went away from Spiderman franchise. Hacksaw Ridge is cheesy at places, bit of melodrama in 1st half, but a powerful 2nd half specially the war sequences and fact that its a true story makes it a very good watch.
Please, lord, help me get one more. Help me get one more. 


8. Hell or High Water

After excellent work as screenwriter in Sicario, Taylor Sheridan has a very good follow up in form of 'Hell or High Water' and I had a very positive vibe right from the trailer itself. A robbery based movie where 2 brothers, Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are trying to raise enough money to pay off the reverse mortgage and save their family's ranch in West Texas. Marcus (Jeff Bridges) and Alberto (Gil Birmingham) are two Texas rangers who try to understand their plan and catch them before they rob next bank. Tanner is a ex-con and prisoner before with a very impulsive attitude, but its Toby's idea to rob banks who has never been in the wrong line before. This makes for a very vulnerable sequence whenever they both go and rob banks, What makes this movie a compelling watch is the conversations Toby and Tanner have before the robberies giving an idea of their relationship, or the banter Marcus and Alberto share. There's a hilarious diner scene where the waitress asks 'what don't you want'. And a tense dialogue sequence between Toby and Marcus in the end, also I liked the open ending very much. Chris Pine gives a restrained performance that is quite likeable, but personally I loved Ben Foster a lot that I was surprised he didn't get the supporting actor oscar nomination instead of Jeff Bridges who was pretty good too. Hell or High Water is a smart heist movie, with great writing and well developed characters and robbery scenes when they come (opens with it), makes for a entertaining watch, Something for our film-makers to learn when they make these kinda of movies.
I have been poor my whole life, like a disease passing from generation to generation. But not my boys, not anymore. 


9. The Conjuring 2

My list is always incomplete without a surprise. The Conjuring 2 wasn't much liked by the critics or most people specially in comparison to 1st part. But, for me this part was lot more convincing. Be it 1st part or the two Insidious movies James Wan has directed, his horror movies always have a great atmospheric setting, he knows when to use jump-scares and when to fake it. Also, he is very good at developing the scare with long takes, and a haunting background score to go with it.  Story here revolves on a real life incident popularly known as Enfield Poltergiest, about an evil spirit that caused havoc to a Hodgson family of North London in late 70's with a particular liking for 11 yr old child Janet Hodgson (Madison Wolfe). We don't get the usual 'I don't believe there's a spirit' nonsense, the first time Janet informs her mother of something bad, we see spirit willing to scare her mother too letting her know its presence, and also the same when the police comes for a inspection in a somewhat comical scene. Wan uses songs like 'London calling', 'Bus Stop' very well, and also Elvis Presley's 'Can't help falling in love' showing Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) romantic angle. That was actually only part in film that felt un-necessary, even though it works if you look at it in context of the characters in the movie, but as a viewer you felt like it was more of a giving breather from scare element for a while which you don't want. All scenes of Valek are most scary, my favourite is when Lorraine goes looking for her in her home, also I love the painting Ed makes of her, think of living in a house daily with such a painting in your room. Or the train scene, where Ed and Lorraine finally are able to find the missing link to the motive of spirit. Just like 1st part, here also we have a toy game, a crooked man used many times to scare. Madison Wolfe comes up with a very good performance. Patrick and Vera are reliable as always, would like to see them always be in Wan's future Conjuring movies. The Conjuring 2 is easily one of those horror movies that I can watch repeatedly without getting bored, and getting scared every time.
After everything we have seen, there isn't much that rattles either of us anymore. But this one... this one still haunts me. 


10. Paterson

This ain't a film for everyone, because for 1st 10 minutes even I felt like what am I watching, but glad I didn't stop and it turned out so good. Paterson is one of those rare beautiful films that brings art out of daily routine life, without any drama or conflicts. Narrated linearly over a week span from Mon to Sun, Paterson is about a bus driver also named Paterson (Adam Driver) living in Paterson, New Jersey whose routine is getting up before 6:30 in morning (on his own, without alarm clock), listening to his wife Laura's (Golshifteh Farahani) wierd new dreams she had last night, eating bowl of cereals, going to work and noticing people on the way or while driving bus, coming home at evening to discover new creative activity of Laura, having a dinner where Laura experiments again, taking dog Marvin for a night walk, going to bar to have just one glass of beer. This routine repeats itself for 5 days of story-telling, and everytime we get to hear different poems from Paterson whenever he gets the lonely time to write it down. Even match-box is used to make a love poem out of it. Paterson also meets a little girl fond of poetry who herself has a secret notebook like Paterson, reciting a beautiful poem on 'Water falls'. Paterson is shown as a old fashioned, who doesn't like mobile phones, doesn't want his poem notebook to have any copies. The only drama in movie comes on Friday and Saturday which is very minimal too, and forgotten when Paterson meets a Japanese poet (Masatoshi Nagase) who gifts Paterson a new blank notebook to start penning down his poems again, after Marvin destroyed his old notebook last night. Love Masatoshi's 'Ahaa' and Adam repeating it after him. In a way, this gesture of the poet turns the entire movie into a poem, with Paterson's poem on 'would you rather be a fish?' Adam Driver's performance is very subtle, and hard not to draw parallel with Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, except for the difference that De Niro character went violent and different path, while Adam's Paterson never does that. Rather Paterson is about drawing inspiration from every small thing that exists, a very positive take on a boring routine life that can be enjoyable too if lived with joy. One can argue that its a 7 day period story, who knows what the equation between Paterson and Laura be, won't there be conflicts, with Marvin chipping in. Adam Driver was sadly snubbed of a best actor oscar nomination, and so was the film for various categories including Best Picture. Paterson is a beautiful movie, that you enjoy for been so simple and yet so poetic with wonderful visuals and musical score.
Would you rather be a fish?