The hits and the pits

READER REVIEW

Dhiren Amin

Historically, December movies always raise expectations but fall flat. 'Trimurti' and 'Akele Hum Akele Tum' are apt examples. This is a nice time to list the best and the worst movies of the year. So, here goes:

Top Movies of 2005

1. Black: Novel concept, great performances, best direction.

2. Iqbal: A simple movie that becomes great through the vision of the director.

3. Bunty Aur Babli: Best portrayal of small town aspirations. The father-son duo rocks in 'Kajra Re'.

4. Sarkar:  If you ever remake a movie, learn how to do it from Ramu. While Aby Sr. delivers a great performance, Jr. surpasses the effort.

5. Kya Kool Hai Hum: Full marks to the  writers for the witty double entendres.

6. Parineeta: Soft, mellow and effective. An art director's dream. Marksthe arrival of Saif, the performer.

7. Page 3: True reflection of 'Page 3' as it exists currently. An eye opener & extremely moving.

8. Chocolate: A thriller par excellence. An excellent movie that went largely unnoticed.

9. Salaam Namaste: Chemistry of the lead pair, great performances by the supporting cast and deft handling of a  live-in relationships make this a hit.

10. No Entry: Nice handling of a situational comedy.

Worst Movies of 2005

1. Shaadi No.1: Claims to be the "comedy of the year" cannot evoke a single laugh. Worst ever use of a grand star cast.

2. Mangal Pandey-The Rising: The direction was  bad and the story commoditised. Even spirited performances from Aamir and Toby Stephens couldn't save it.

3. Kyon Ki: Nothing ever happens in the moviewhich is the key problem. Bad performances from the key actors also pile up the agony.

4. Paheli: Great art direction does not make a movie.; a good script and good performances do. Both were missing in this case.

5. Dus: High on style but extremely low on substance. The script was so loose that even a hot & happening Abhishek could not get it to run for "Dus" days.

6. Kisna: Subhash Ghai lost his Midas touch with this one! He should have called the movie "Katherine".

7. Nazar: The story was pathetic and so was Meera. Koena Mitra and Ashmit Patel just can't act. So remind me again, why was this movie made?

8. Bach Ke Rehna Re Baba: Rekha can be Susan Sarandon but she didn't bother to act well in the movie. Mallika is hot but she is not Jennifer Love Hewitt. BKRRB is not Heartbreakers. Simply a torture.

9. Main Aisa Hi Hoon: Another bad remake. Devgan seemed uninterested resulting in this sorry movie. The "I am Sam" DVD is a much better option.

10. Garam Masala: Yet another bad remake. Priyadarshan has lost his Midas touch too. The so-called comedy hardly prompted a laughs.