Raanjhanaa | Analysis Of Best Film Of 2013 | Blue Notebook

There was a little discussion on facebook and offline on how a film like Raanjhanaa whose mere selection was debated with some heat, won the best film of 2013 at Blue Notebook. Simple answer – it was an audience poll. But why audience appreciated it over films with more substance? Raanjhanaa was definitely one of the better made films but was it the best? Maybe it was because it was a perfect blend of everything a film demands.

Raanjhanaa might not be the best album from ARR’s catalogue but some of the songs were right there in most loved songs of the year. Songs like Banarasiya and Tum Tak were character driven and brought up the individual elements of the character. On the other hand songs like Piya Milenge and Tu Man Shudi were situation driven and pushed the story well. Piya Milenge had the haunting feel which made audience nervous to the core. The folk and classical blend in the musical was perfect manifestation of Benaras.

Story was developed in two parts – both sort of coming of age tales. First story was about innocent one sided love where the lover feels cheated brutally by the girl. He acts on whim and causes catastrophe. Second story is where the lover matures and faces his mistake in the hard way. His act of penance might seem foolish to people, it bring about the conclusion. In the end, the lover, still very much in love, is tired of the pursuit. Somehow, it reminded me of climax of Gone With The Wind.

Performances of different characters, with special mention for the side characters, were top notch. Only exception was a little broken but still her best ever – in Sonam Kapoor who played the lead lady. In cameo Abhay Deol nailed the role. Zeeshan and Swara were immaculate in their interpretation of characters. These two characters alone worth a re-watch. However, the USP of the film was Dhanush who played a Tamil Brahmin born and brought up in Benaras. His accent had the Tamil feel and somehow it worked for the character. He nailed almost each scene of the film.

As a package, Raanjhanaa was able to attract class and mass alike. For Hindi belt watching a Tamil star speaking chaste Hindi was a delight. Arguments will be there in favor of other films but still it was hardly a wrong choice.  

Blue Notebook Results | 2014 Thanks 2013

Its magical how cinema works. Like an impossible jigsaw puzzle which somehow fits in to amazement of audience. The creator smiles and thanks the Lord on the seventh heaven. Cinema is probably one of the most complicated puzzle. The outcome looks simple but the process demands blood and dedication in addition to talent to back with.

Last year I said - New Wave/Parallel/Alternate Cinema is no more different from mainstream cinema. Its part and parcel… no rather focal center of Indian Cinema now. When 2013 will take over the reins, it will have herculean tasks to accomplish. Well, I was right. Year 2013 had some tough time to deal with. It did well. It didn’t raised the bar but didn’t let it fall either. Probably there was a silver lining as well – small films doing well.

Let us start with first set of awards.

Living in an era and bringing it alive on screen are two different things. Art Direction is the craft to make it possible. From fine details like kind of shaving blade used to larger artifacts, everything speaks about the time and era. The trick is not only to be accurate but to be convincing as well. It’s something that can easily go wrong but tough to appreciate. The unsung heroes of Cinema. The award for Best Art Direction goes to  Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.

While Art Director makes think relevant in all dimensions, x,y,z and time – Editing involves an equally daunting task. What exactly an editor does? Clips cut and add? In layman language, it’s as complicated as selecting equal sized pebbles on shore of an ocean.  You have tools but if you don’t have an eye for perfection, no video editing tool can help you. In 2013, this trick was nailed by team of Madras Café. Kudos.

Best Art Direction –  Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Best Editing – Madras Café

Indian films have always been about music. Musical dramas have been our forte. A Russian singing ‘awaara hoon’ or an Uzbeik dancing on ‘disco dancer’ simply elaborate the global reach of Indian Music. However, over last few years the focus have shifted. This year has been a very average year. Still few albums made their mark. Like the winner of this category.  The award for Best Music goes to  Aashiqui 2. Frankly, it had no contest. Outright winner with 37.5 percent votes.

Few years back it was incomprehensible that we will deal with topics like the ones we managed this year. From adaptations to obscure, Hindi films toyed with multiple ideas and worked them out with some finesse. The winner of the award in this segment was a slice from past. While Tamil cinema has done some incredible work, Hindi cinema remained largely aloof. Yes, we are talking about the Best Story award winner Madras Café which successfully handled a complicated and sensitive talking to walk past the next best story – Fukrey – with lead of seven percent.

Best Music – Aashiqui 2

Best Story – Madras Café

The boundaries are becoming irrelevant. Films which were earlier geographically localized are now becoming global phenomenon. Success of Regional and Foreign Films attest that. This year there is a curious tie for Best Film In Regional Language between two very well made and deserving films - Duniyadari (Marathi) and Lucia (Kannada). On the other hand we had a clear dominating winner in Best Film In Foreign Language category – sci-fi philosophical adventure Gravity (USA).

Best Film In Regional Language – Duniyadari (Marathi) and Lucia (Kannada)

Best Film In Foreign Language –  Gravity (USA)

Now let’s talk about the most outstanding performances on screen. Last year Irrfan Khan won it for Paan Singh Tomar. This year, I don’t know if its co-incidence, the award for Best Actor goes to extremely talented Farhan Akhtar (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) for capturing the imagination of Indian audience with metamorphosis and soulful performance. This has definitely opened the doors for better sports films in this country.

Among actresses, all nominations had something about the role they played and there was No Vidya Balan this year. And there was a tie. The Best Actress most deservingly goes to Divya Dutta  (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag), Nimrat Kaur (The Lunchbox) and Chitrangada Singh (Inkaar). Kudos. The tie says it all. Brilliant contest.

Best Actor – Farhan Akhtar (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)

Best Actress – Divya Dutta  (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag), Nimrat Kaur (The Lunchbox) and Chitrangada Singh (Inkaar)

The director who got our attention and the prized recognition of Best Director did something unusual. He redefined film making with a small film that made everyone smile. He used a motif so visible that it was literally non-consequential and weaved the story around a rare co-incidence. The Lunchbox brought a sense of Relevance in our lives. Thanks and congratulations Ritesh Batra. Way to go man. Rakesh Omprakash was a close runner up losing by a margin of less than 2 percent.

The Best Film will bring some reaction. Even we didn’t expect this. Apparently as a package film was a complete delight. It was not philosophical on a higher level but had some moments which made us thoughtful. Some moments were brilliantly captured. Critics would argue but audience has made their choice.  Its Raanjhanaa.

Best Director – Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox)

Best Film – Raanjhanaa

With that we would like to thank you for all your votes and appreciation. It means a lot to us. I hope you like this entire exercise.

The year 2013 was a good year, hopefully 2014 will be even better. We will come back with Blue Notebook again in 2015.

Indie Efforts Making A Point | Blue Notebook

The Lunchbox: Ritesh Batra’s much appreciated film which was almost selected for country’s entry for Academy Awards – Foreign Language was more about relationships and abstract connection between rather unrelated dots. Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur – rather unusual lead pair – was dubbed as the most romantic couple on screen in a couple of year or so. on the other hand, in a quintessential role, Nawazuddin held his guns against the last king of his kind – Irrfan Khan.

Lucia: Nolan is definitely not the only man who can sell dreams so convincingly. Crowd funding, low budget and word of mouth, Kannada film Lucia appeared to have checked all the boxes correctly. Pawan Kumar moved from his acclaimed debut Lifeu Ishtene to a new model of funding and worked it out well. However, the USP was not crowd funding. It could have been made anyways and still would have got the acclaim for being an interesting psychological thriller. Critics rated it the best film concept wise in rather a long duration.

Qissa: An Indo-German collaboration, Anup Singh’s Irrfan Khan and Tillotama Shome starrer Qissa can boast of accolades it has got across the globe. Irrfan plays patriarch of a sikh family with four daughter. In the turbulent times of ’47 partition he raises his fourth daughter as a boy. The idea and the performance backed with capable technicians makes Qissa more than just an interesting watch.

Tasher Desh: More than often Q will appear in this section. His adaptation of Tagore’s  work by the same name has broken the conventions, even the ones set by Q himself. The selling point of the film is Q’s interpretation of Tagore’s work and its presentation. If at times performances don’t matter much, this is one such occasion. However, Q has been lucky to get a good team both behind and in front of camera.

B.A. Pass: Noir rarely work in India. Low budget noir die premature death. Ajay Bahl however managed to get the business right. Word of mouth and saucy promotions ensured enough footage to get the audience. Shilpa Shukla was the star of the film from the moment her name came across. She justified it with her performance. Though there were moments which seemed to be overdone, the movie successfully passed the message across the board. Well, a good precedent.

Legends We Lost Last Year | Blue Notebook

Roger Ebert - Film Critic - One of the most revered film reviewer of all time, Ebert was the first critic to receive a star at Hollywood Walk Of Fame. He popularized the art of film reviewing and inspired a whole generation of film bloggers.

Peter O'Toole - Actor - Shakespearean actor Peter was a known name in theatre circles before he came to cinema and adopted it with great finesse. Eight Oscar nominations spanning over five decades speaks volumes about his body of work.

Rituparno Ghosh - Director/Actor - Rituparno, one of the finest Bengali directors, will be remembered for his open thoughts, compassion for Rabindranath Tagore's craft and sensitive filmmaking. Awarded with National Award 12 times, he died fairly young leaving behind a thought - may be his best was yet to come.

Joan Fontaine - Actress - Joan will be remembered for her charm and acting skills. She is the only actor who got an Academy Award for a part in Alfred Hitchcock film. Only sad note will be uneasy relationship with her sister, an equally accomplished Olivia de Havilland.

Farooq Sheikh - Actor - One of the most underrated actor of post Golden era in Hindi cinema when mainstream and Parallel cinema parted and later came together. He played roles in exceptional films like Garam Hawa, Shatrannj Ke Khiladi and Chashme Buddoor.

2014 - Waiting List | Blue Notebook

Year 2014 sounds like an interesting offer. Apart from expected blockbusters like Jai Ho, P.K., Kick and Shuddhi, there are few interesting indie and offbeat cinema on platter. Mainstream too is experimenting on those line. TRM sneaked into 2014 and picked films which might grab your attention:

1. Miss Lovely: Ashim Ahluwalia’s film about C-Grade cinema may or may not interest the big spenders, it will be a treat for cinebuffs. Nawazuddin’s performance has gathered accolades in various fests the movie have been to.

2. Shaadi Ke Side Effects: Two immensely talented actors – Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan – will be a couple in this film. Sparks are already there on youtube. Laughter fest for sure. Trick is that it’s a sequel. Will it match the standards?

3. Finding Fanny Fernandes: Homi Adajania had our attention with Being Cyrus and Cocktail, will try to stretch the envelope. Some films deserve to be made, this story about five friends searching for an old postman’s lost love is one of them.

4. Haider: After Maqbool and Omkara, this will complete the Vishal Bhardwaj – Shakespeare’s trilogy. One of the most complicated stories of Shakespeare is a challenge for everyone – from actors to technicians. Will they bridge the gap?

5. Bombay Velvet: Ah, one of the most awaited film for like two thousand years now. It was in air when Dev D was released. Will this movie really release? Anurag Kashyap’s second outing of the year will note debut of Karan Johar in a major role. With Ranbeer and Anushka, there is some talent up there.

Music Of 2013 | A Random List | Blue Notebook

In quest of searching nominations for Blue Notebook, we did a little scan of the music of 2013 and courtesy our music specialists Neha and Rishabh we made a quick list of best of 2013 and the crooners who rendered their voice.

1. Ambarsariya (Fukrey) - Sona Mohapatra

2. Chahun Main Yaa Na (Aashiqui 2) - Arijit Singh, Palak Muchhal

3. Khoon Choos Le (Go Goa Gone) - Arjun Kanungo, Suraj Jagan and Priya Panchal

4. Meethi Boliyan (Kai Po Che) - Amit Trivedi and Mili Nair

5. Kabira (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani) - Mohit Chauhan, Harshdeep Kaur | Rekha Bhardwaj, Tochi Raina

6. Zinda (Lootera) - Amit Trivedi

7. Raanjhanaa (Raanjhanaa) - Shiraz Uppal, Jaswinder Singh

8. Poore Chaand (Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela) - Shail Hada

9. Saawan Bairi (Commando) - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

10. Maston Ka Jhund (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) - Divya Kumar

Blue Notebook - 2014

Blue Notebook | The King Is Back | Editor's Pen

Hi Friends,

Blue Notebook is back. Its payback time, friends. Appreciate quality cinema and open arms for more and more quality work. This year -2013 - has been a year of big blockbusters and cool indies. Money and art are growing together and how well, We sincerely hope that the story continues.

Last year ended on a sad note. Ever smiling Farooq Sheikh left us in tears.

Over last three decades, he was a part of Indian middle class. Films like Garam Hawa, Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Noorie, Umrao Jaan, Chashme Buddoor, Katha and Lahore, tele-shows like Chamatkar and Ji Mantriji, chat show like Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai and one of the most highly rated theatre romance – Tumhari Amrita. Such diverse and prolific career has no parallel. Be it Garam Hawa, Katha or Chashme Buddoor, he reflected the persona of a young man to the tee. With same brilliance he played Kaul in Shanghai. But probably the finest example for this generation would be Ye Jawaani Hai Deewani. This movie almost touched 200 Crore barrier but the most memorable were those five minutes where Farooq Sa’ab talks to his son Ranbeer. The movie was worth every penny spent for those few minutes. I felt I was talking to my father. We will miss you Sir.

I hope you like the new look of TheReelMag. We tried to make it more reader friendly – from both visual and navigation point of view. It might not strike as something outstanding from looks perspective, I hope it’s pleasing and comfortable for a sweet lingering reading experience. Well, more changes are in pipeline and will update you.

Love

Sujoy Ghosh

Blue Notebook | Voting

Results | Blue Notebook | Editor's Pen

Hello everybody!!!

This year’s Blue Notebook truly reflects the spirit of cinema. What an year 2012 was. Incredible, to say the least. We saw alternate cinema getting a strong ground in mainstream cinema, we saw indie doing so well and we saw emergence of actors, who till now were part of the crowd nobody remembered. What an year…

Three technical Categories… Best Art Direction. This was supposed to be tricky as the nominations covered a range rarely seen before. India won. The sleepy urban Kolkata and fiery raw rural Wasseypur. Yes… the honors goes to Kahaani and Gangs Of Wasseypur. The second technical category was Best Editing. Frankly, we found that there was hardly any contest. The most well edited movie of the year was Kahaani. Last and perhaps our favourite – Best Music. Vicky Donor seemed to lead the chart till the last morning and we saw an Usain Bolt in Cocktail who grabbed the award in the last moment with a small… real small difference.

We always argue that Bollywood, more than often, lack good stories. 2012 will be remembered as an exception. We had great stories. Kahaani, story of a pregnant women takes entire nation hostage with love, affection and care. Who would have thought that we will have a thriller there, I mean a thriller of that sort. However, the Best Story was an equally mesmerizing story of a couple, a doctor and a sperm donor. Chadhdhaji’s Vicky Donor turned out to be real Aryaputra.

National awards are dominated by regional cinema. Here goes our little tribute. Best Regional Language Film – Kaksparsh which won a close battle with Eega. The way we see cinema within India, we explore beyond borders as well. Along with blockbusters, we had  a small Kenyan movie as well. The Best Foreign Language Film was a contest between two films. The Dark Knight Rises lost. Argo won.

Coming back to mainstream…

Most compelling performances would include likes of Manoj Bajpayee, Tigmanshu Dhulia and Richa Chaddha in Gangs Of Wasseypur, Irrfan Khan in Paan Singh Tomar, Vidya Balan in Kahaani, Anjali Patil in Chakravyuh and Ranbeer Kapoor in Barfi. Contest was tough. Votes were split and there were many close calls. The Best Actor Male for 2012 was Irrfan Khan closely defeating Tigmanshu Dhulia. From Votes point of view, in the Best Actor Female category, we had a clear winner… Vidya Balan. Going by her records in Blue Notebook, we will have to think about giving her Lifetime Achievement Award soon. Chronic Offender.

Best Director! The winner has fought against odds. Over the time he has become symbol of rebellion in Hindi Cinema. People say he is the posterboy of Indian Indie. The award goes to Anurag Kashyap. However, it’s worth mentioning that it was a close call between Anurag, Dibakar and Sujoy. Brilliant cinema. Brilliant filmmakers.

Now the most awaited one. What was the best film of 2012. Its difficult to point out one winner. We have two joint winners. A tie shows the intensity of contest. The Best Film of 2012 are Gangs Of Wasseypur and Paan Singh Tomar. Rural India swept the country off its feet.

On that note, lets hope that 2013 will raise the mark.

Love

Sujoy Ghosh

5 Bollywood Movies Which Defined 2012 | Under Lens

Paan Singh Tomar: Bollywood usually present lame biopics. Even one like Guru disappoints with all gloss and glitter. After Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen, we finally had a biopic which held subject with compassion but didn’t made a martyr out of it. Interestingly both Phoolan and Paan Singh were contemporaries. Paan Singh was a champion turned dacoit. He died a death of dacoit. He lived a life of athlete. Abuse he faced as a villager can be the reason why he picked up gun but reason was definitely not justified. Dhulia, as director made no such attempt.   

Kahaani: When was the last time you saw a city as raw and natural? Kahaani was a brilliant medley of lot of things – a good story, interesting twist, strong characters, competitive actors and subtle music. Kahaani worked on two levels – emotional where viewer connects with the tragedy and trauma of a pregnant woman and affection of a young vulnerable cop and secondly as a thriller where viewer gets one of the biggest shock of their life, just below their belt.

 

Gangs Of Wasseypur: Pulp Fiction of India? Comparisons with Tarantino and Guy Ritchie might be a little far-fetched, spells out the word pretty good. GOW is one of those movies which can take on word. Yes, influences are there. You can see QT and GR written all over. You can see glimpses of City Of God. Still, the brilliance on screen will be unadulterated Indian pulp fiction seen with different lenses.  

 

Vicky Donor: Sperms!!! A taboo subject handled with love, humor and wisdom. Rare for a Bollywood film. Even if you keep performances and music aside, the story in itself is such a pleasure. The way story has been woven around characters and caricatures is simply brilliant. I agree that having good actors and spicing it up with good music helps, it should not take away anything from the writers… the third and strongest pillar.

 

Barfi: Scenes were copied. Accepted. So? Does that make Barfi a bad movie? If we keep aside plagiarism for a while, Barfi comes out as a lovely story of a guy who cannot speak or hear but lives and loves more than anyone. His handicap is not a bane. He doesn’t reason much when it comes to love. His innocent definition of true friendship can move even the slyest of all. Handicapped should be called differently abled… Barfi subtly tells us why…

Good Movies Which Failed To Make The Cut To Blue Notebook

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu: A very interesting take on cosmopolitan culture in an unconvincing plot which hardly takes away anything from the credit well deserved by the writers. Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu is not Wake Up Sid but the positive turn it takes is very similar. Music and story were two areas where this movie had a strong case but contest was too tough. A shade better would have got some.

 

The Forest: This movie had some real good art work. What worked against The Forest was the failure of Art Direction to make story convincing. It didn’t do much. The element of gore failed to enhance the thrill the way it should have. Movie turned out to be a disappointment.

 

Arjun: The Warrior Prince: Only logical reason is that we don’t have a category for animation. The way Virat episode is used to set the context for Mahabharat is a good example to follow. Sincere apologies.

 

Kshay: Frankly, only category Kshay had a strong case was Best Actress. It was out an out Rasika’s movie. The motif and protagonist blended well together. Its just that there we wanted to have 5 or 6 names and somehow the cut was a few inches high. Even without the nomination, Rasika is a winner. The DVD in my closet affirms my belief.

 

Jab Tak Hai Jaan: What went wrong with this film? Music turned out to be below par. Story was a shade over dramatic. Direction turned out to be a shadow of memories. A movie we thought would grab atleast six nominations failed to get even one. But still, Yashji we love you.  

Duds Of 2012 | Under Lens

Let the curtain fall for ever...

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu – I somehow couldn't digest the fact of two people getting drunk and marrying and then still trying to behave as friends. Also Kareena and Imran have no chemistry, infact she looked older than him throughout the movie.

Ek Deewana Tha – May be I expected too much from Gautham Menon and was biased towards the original Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. But this hindi version lacked to display passion and madness of the male protagonist and total blame cannot be given to Prateik Babbar. And ofcourse Mumbai can never be as picturesque as Kerala. Also, the songs which were too good to hear, somehow didn't fit into the movie.

Rowdy Rathore – I just have one adjective for this one "TERRIBLE". Throughout the movie, I waited for it to end. The acting and jokes are irritating. Also no chemistry between Akshay and Sonakshi. Just a personal experience, my mom couldn't even watch it and asked me to close it as it was irritating her.

Teri Meri Kahani – Too slow and no relationship between the three stories. I felt that director and writer were themselves confused  when they chose same actors for the three stories, on whether they plan on reincarnation or just 3 simple love stories set in different times. Priyanka and Shahid were too fake.

Cocktail - The songs were awesome, the trailer was exciting and it was in my must watch list. But oops it turned to be a big disappointment !!  A great contrast that the pace of the movie is too slow, but the songs which were good end in fraction of minutes. And when I say movie is slow, I mean damn slow !! No chemistry between Diana and Saif and I simply didn't realize when he fell in love with her.

Ek Tha Tiger – I am not sure what was Aditya Chopra thinking when he wrote the story using the common formula of two rival family kids falling in love and then trying to escape wrath of their families and families joining hands to easily catch them. I do not blame him for using the common formula but why to scale it up to international level !! That was one of the worst scripts I have seen. Moreover, YRF promoted it as a spy thriller and set the expectations too high.

Student Of The Year – I read it on FB somewhere that this was less a movie and more a fashion show and after watching realized how true it was. Karan Johar took some new star kids, used Sharukh's template from DDLJ, Kareena's dresses from K3G, sets & songs from K2H2 and made a movie. Its awesomely boring and some wonderful actors like Ronit Roy, Rishi Kapoor are fully wasted.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan – The lamest story and twists possible. What did they think when showing an Asian going direct upto American army, talking about bomb and then easily dismantling it and they thank him and let him free with no questions. I think SRK forgot what he said in My name is Khan. Leaving jokes apart, bad music, as usual fake Katrina and easy to guess twists.

Son Of Sardar – Jokes are too boring. I will not say it to be a full disappointment as I expected it to be full of nonsense jokes and had entered with the same mindset. But Ajay Devgan can definetly do better comedy. Sanjay Dutt disappoints and extras (his nephew) really seem extras!!

Written By: Neha Jain

Top Chartbusters of 2012

Team TRM reviewed 50+ songs released in 2012 and came up a list of the top 11. Chartbusters which stole our heart and soul.

 

1:  Pani Da Rang (Vicky Donor)

2:  Aashiyan (Barfi)

3:  Womaniya (Gangs Of Wasseypur)

4:  Daaru Desi (Cocktail)

5:  Tumhi Ho Bandhu (Cocktail)

6:  Taar Bijli (Gangs Of Wasseypur)

7:  Phir Le Aya Dil (Barfi)

8:  Vo Dekhne Mein (London, Paris, New York)

9:  Hosanna (Ek Deewana Tha)

10: Second Hand Jawaani (Cocktail)

11: Main Kya Karoon (Barfi)

 

Comments most awaited.

Blue Notebook Version 4.0 | Editor's Pen

Hi All,

 

When we say 2012 has been a great year for cine lovers, it reflects well on the report card as well.

 

 

 

Blue Notebook Version 4.0 for Year 2012 is a quick look on Indian and World Cinema and progress it has made across the domains. The actors, the actresses, the technicians and the makers, everyone stood by the expectations 2011 set. New Wave/Parallel/Alternate Cinema is no more different from mainstream cinema. Its part and parcel… no rather focal center of Indian Cinema now. When 2013 will take over the reins, it will have herculean tasks to accomplish. Wishing the best.

 

Show your love and vote!! For cinema.

 

Love

Sujoy Ghosh

Nomination....

Best Art Direction




Best Editing




Best Music




Best Story




Best Regional Movie




Best Foreign Movie




Best Actor (Male)




Best Actor (Female)




Best Director




Best Movie

Result Time!!!!

Finally…. the day has arrived… Here we present the results…  

And The Results | The Blue Notebook

Cinema has a very unique language. It’s a difficult art form as it tries to mimic real world and add the sparkles of imagination, and sometimes the other way round. Like a painting its simple for few and complex for many, like music its pleasure to few and noise for others and like drama, its sensible for few and insensitive for many. It’s just that it comprises all art forms and that makes cinema such a trickery of imagination. It clicks if all shades are in perfect intensity and rarely if a shade overshadows.

How does cinema becomes so believable. Art Direction has an important role to play here. How the structure of scene is created and captured to make it so realistic or believable. Its far more difficult than it appears on a higher level. The honors in this category goes to ... Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

No art-direction and cinematography can crack a nut if a movie is shabbily edited. If you think a picture, colors are all same, the placing of a hue makes it beautiful or bland. Editor has one of the most difficult technical work to do. To make the viewer imagine what cine-crew wants. For 2011, the honors in this category goes to… Shaitan

For a cine-goer, ambience is the key word. It’s difficult to conceive a Indian movie without music and rather any movie, in any language, without a theme music. Be it AR Rahman’s Roja or a very subtle Chariots Of Fire. This year we had some awesome nominations. For 2011, people chose… A deserving candidate, I must Add.... A R Rahman (Rockstar)

What makes The Godfather, a The Godfather? It’s a crime story that grips your soul. Yes, you got it right. Story. It’s the story what makes most of the difference between an average movie and a cult/classic movie. Story/Screenplay are the soul of the movie. They overhaul a blank viewer with wild imaginations… I guess Sidney Lumet fans would agree. This year three movies have shared the honor... Yeh Saali Zindagi, Rockstar, Shor In The City.

World cinema… here we are. In next two categories, we pay our tribute to Regional and International cinema. Best movie in Indian Regional Cinema… the winner is… Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai (Tamil) and the Best movie in World Cinema… the winner is… A Seperation (Iran)

Now the most awaited honors… these honors are considered to be at a different level not because other skills are inferior or something, but because they hear the music more often than others. At least in the current world. Their success is more vulnerable and failures are loud.

Who was the most impressive man on screen? Who stopped the heartbeats of audience with his impeccable on screen persona? The Best Actor Male… The winner is…Ranbir Kapoor (Rockstar).

Who led the movie with her antics? Who redefined acting on screen? Who made people believe that its not a All Men’s World? The Best Actor Female… Well, its not a surprise for anyone who follows Blue Notebook... The winner is… Vidya Balan (No One Killed Jessica)

Whose captured the imagination of people and critics? Whose movie was a positive for Hindi Cinema and deserves a standing ovation? The Best Director… The winner is Zoya Akhtar (ZNMD)…

The last but not the least… and perhaps the most important one… The Best Movie…

Every year some movies surprise you. This was a year of many good surprises. We saw a Dhobighat which captured Mumbai like never before. We saw Pyaar Ka Punchnama which made us laugh like never before. We had a Rockstar touching unheard chords. Interpretations, emotions and much more. The movie people chose as the best of 2011 is Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara….

I guess, you all had an amazing time voting and waiting for results. Thanks for your support and appreciation.

This was Sujoy Ghosh, signing off.

Memories From 2011 | Blue Notebook

1.       7 Khoon Maaf: A new Shah on Silver Screen. Vivan is a huge promise. He is young, fresh, looks good and acts well. Hope to see more of this chap.

2.       No One Killed Jessica and The Dirty Picture: Vidya Balan is next Smita Patil. She is amazing. She went past male dominated movies and gave two stunning female-oriented movies where men seemed to be puppets. Her performance and Box Office speaks for her.

3.       Stanley Ka Dabba: Highly acclaimed Taare Zameen Par was supposed to be directed by Amol but due to ‘creative differences’ with Aamir, he left it. SKD was a fine example how a movie for children should be made. I wonder how differently TZP could have been made.

4.       Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: In a chauvinist world, men would argue that it was the Barbie version of a bachelor trip. However the reality is that ZNMD comes out as a beautiful canvas and Zoya stamps that Luck By Chance was no fluke.

5.       Dhobi Ghat: Few takers though, Dhobi Ghat comes up as a difficult movie. Its interesting and has a beautiful story line. Like Single Malt, it grows on you slowly… some people just hate this and prefer low grade Blended.

6.       Murder 2: Prashant Narayanan Period.

7.       Rockstar: Bad acting by lead lady can deter you but still you can go gaga over lead man, soothing music, rocking singer and amazing package. One of the best of the year, though had some haters… even Gandhi had a few.

8.       I Am: Onir had his share of controversies but still I Am stood strong. So does our conviction in him.

9.       Tanu Weds Manu: Nice sweet rom com based in sub urban North. And again as clichés go… Good guy wins…

10.   That Girl in Yellow Boots: Anurag Kashyap is BACK!!!

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Out-Standing Movies Of 2011 | Candid Krishnan

Thank You: Who directed this? Anees Bazmee… Man, he is live bio hazard. He can make an innocent looking piece of Post-It Notes into a Script and a movie which can lead CIA attack India in search of WMDs. Make Kasab watch Thank You once and we will get our solution for Terrorism. I heard that to deter US Seals, Osama kept a copy of Thank You but unfortunately his DVD player had denied his services.

Faltu: Accepted. People say it’s a hit. Accepted. People say Jacky is a star. Accepted. People say this movie is a milestone. Accepted. Accepted. Accepted. Accepted. Now please spare us. the name said it all, after all.

Double Dhamaal: Dhamaal was bad. Then we consoled ourselves by thinking it’s over. Then came Double Dhamaal. I don’t know will I have a smile on my face if I see RGV Ki Aag Returns. 

Rascals: This movie almost killed a few. Some died by seeing Kangana in new avatar. Some tried to understand the story plot and were humbled by high IQ of Sir Dhawan. When National Award winners do movies like this, movie lovers should tie a big stone around their feet in jump in Indian Ocean. And yes… how come Censor passed this one. This was a killer… more violent than Black Friday, Gulaal and Rambo 5 combined.

Chatur Singh Two Star: This movie should have a statutory warning… Can make you cringe in your graves (because you will be already dead if you have seen any of above). Anyways it was as good remake of Pink Panther as Venkatesh Prasad’s batting skills. It was a dangerous blow to mind body and soul. I thought of suing the script writer but then I realized there was none.

If you have seen all these movies, you can apply for Padmashree. I will second your nomination.

Written By: Krishnan