2012 Bollywood Summarised: Oh womaniya.. Aha Womaniya..!

Let us not talk of box office figures. Please. There’s a khan-dani monopoly there. Let us also not talk about awards. (No offence to those deceased and alive) but there is an oh-so-predictable formula to find yash  at such events and win “Awards of the year”.

Let's shift focus to content. Let’s talk about unforgettable cinematic moments that won’t leave us for a long long time. And when I sit back and recall, 2012 looks like a year when a handful of women made a huge amount of difference. These weren’t sporadic highlights in one stream of cinema, but a consistent display of excellence in various streams. Here are some such wow moments and the women behind them:

Women of bollywood 2012: I am not only talking about actors or technicians alone. Even in terms of characters and portrayal of women this year at the movies. Be it a gutsy real-nameless Mrs Baagchi of Kahaani or a earthy Shalini Sahay in Shanghai, they have had a more meaningful presence on screen than in previous years. It is almost like script writers are beginning to unearth the many layers that women can have. For starters, the characters seemed more human and not caricatures. Needless to point out, that this year – after a really really long time – the category for best actress might be more competitive than the best actor. (But let us not talk of who may win awards, after all). But if an award was constituted for the most original portrayal of women in cinema it would be this:

The drunk-but-not-sunk Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in Vicky donor: 

Raw, rifely playful and unashamed, I cannot like their camaraderie enough. “Aaj chhad nahi rahi hai”, says the widowed daughter in law. While the sheer shock value of these scenes made them hilarious, the underlying winner is the portrayal – so far, a woman drinking on screen meant one of two things -  either a romantic fantasy (remember Cognac sharab nahi hoti – from Chandni) or just a sign of mental derangement arising mostly out of failed relationships and leading to complete insanity. But two women (a Saas-bahu combo at it) simply chilling out in their suburban semi-pucca home in Dilli while discussing their “problems” is such a fresh portrayal. Of course, the actresses (especially Kamlesh Gill as Biji) take all the credit for the impact of the scenes.

Music - finally there is someone who can potentially change the game, and it’s a woman! After Roja in 1992, which completely changed how the audiences perceived what sound and music can do to cinema, we have another "perspective". Unassumingly uncompromisingly and undeniably ORIGINAL.

Make way for Sneha Khanwalkar – the music director of Gangs of Wasseypur.

A fusion artist Avant-garde, Sneha makes an impression by just being herself. It is not the usual fusion - not the MTV coke studio fusion, not the world music Grammy kind of fusion, hers is a fusion of sensibilities and sensitivities.

Of course she had already shown sparks of brilliance with “Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye” or LSD, but with Gangs of Wasseypur she went all out – like an artist armed with an idea, she paints the canvas with both madness and method; and such detailing that you haven’t seen before; an imagination unlike any of her contemporaries.  Mixing rustic voices with urbane messages with modern recording techniques, adding a twist of bollywood or an occasional bhojpuri tadka, she makes a delightfully shocking cocktail that no can resist.

Direction – She isn’t the only female director to find success with her debut film, or the first one. But she is probably the only woman to make a movie about a woman as her first film and to find both critical and commercial success. Gauri Shinde has emerged as a director to watch out for with her debut film English Vinglish.

I have praised it enough, and still not enough. A deceptively simple story, executed with a mind that doesn’t lose focus from movie’s soul, not overwhelmed by the pressure of creating a comeback vehicle of the film’s leading star, English Vinglish brims with poise and confidence and quite simply makes a point. She shares credit for the film in her own words with the editor of the film – another woman, Hemanti Sarkar, who handles the climax with adept thought – not letting it fall into a mundane linear end. Only one question for Shinde: What next?

Performance(s)

Vidya Balan – take a bow. You made us believe in a Kahaani. When that kick was blown into your “pregnant” womb towards the end of the movie, the whole theatre felt your pain. But your remorseless eyes in the very next shot, began to give the audience a new story and your eyes are such story tellers! Last year you were the Dirtiest of them all and this year your motherly-mother-india-isque character in Kahaani, wins you critical acclaim that can now conveniently be called the Vidya Balan niche.

Priyanka Chopra – ok, I have to admit I have been on the fence about her performance in Barfi! I am unable to classify if she was autistic or just mentally challenged, or if she meant to portray one but ended up portraying the other, (simply out of lack of subject matter expertise at my end). But if I just look at the movie and accept that she played a Special girl Jhilmil, she completely makes Jhilmil endearing. She gives Ranbir a run for his money for screen presence, without over doing.

Saving the best for the last, it is safe to say that any review of the best of 2012 cannot be complete without mentioning the greatest comeback in Bollywood among women – Sridevi. Sridevi’s Shashi Godbole, wins you over from Screen 1 and you end up cheering every small success of the protagonist. Rarely comes a performance that defines a movie where the actor and the character seem inseparable. (The last I can remember is Kareena in Jab We Met) - It felt like no one else could have played that role – let alone with such .

Ladies, you have wowed us this year and left us craving for more. For a year where item numbers continued to compete and yet substance wasn’t left far behind, I have only one last thing to say: Oh womaniya.. Aha womaniya.. !