Review of Airlift

Airlift is a movie based on a real incident which has made an entry in Guinness world record marked as the biggest human evacuation ever when 17000 Indians had been evacuated from Kuwait to India. After watching the movie every Indian will think why such brave stories are just present there in the record books why not we all know the story of those brave Indians, why we do not get to see such stories regularly in form of a movie? Really there are so many untold stories in India's glorious past. We are really thankful to director Raja Krishna Menon for choosing this subject. 

This film is a fictional representation of the original incident which took place in 1990. There were two Indian Business tycoons in Kuwait who had actually leaded the whole procedure which has been merged here in a single fictional character as Ranjit Katyal. Ranjit Katyal (Akshay Kumar) is a business tycoon in Kuwait who do not consider himself as an

Indian, he has complain about everything related to India even Bollywood songs. He has a successful life, fame , money, a beautiful wife Amrita(Nimrat Kaur) and a lovely daughter. But his picture perfect life gets devastated when Saddam Hussain attacks Kuwait and Iraqi soldiers start to kill every Kuwaiti. At this time Ranjit realizes that how helpless he is in spite of having money and status, he could not even save his driver from getting killed by the soldiers. At this moment he realizes if there is anything which can save him that is his identity as Indian which he had tried to forget, as the Iraqi soldiers are not killing Indians. But still they have to leave the place to be safe as it is really hard to prove everyone that he is Indian. He decides to leave the place with his family but at this moment he finds all the Indian workers who used to work for his company as well as their family and friends have surrendered their future to him. They have came to him with a hope that he will do something for them. In such a crisis Ranjit takes the responsibility of the whole group of Indians to provide them a shelter. Initially he just starts to arrange a refugee camp for them but soon he becomes involved with all of them and everyone gets connected with each other with one identity that all of them are Indian. He tries to get political support from  Indian Embassy to Indian External Affairs Department to Baghdad Foreign Ministry but most of them refused to help him except one Joint Secretary in Indian Ministry Sanjeev Kohli (Kumud Mishra), with his collaboration Ranjit finally succeeded in his mission to evacuate all those Indians safely to India.
Although we know the ending very clearly from the beginning still the screenplay has been written in such a way that there is gripping thrill till the end. In every moment there is a fear of danger and an adrenaline rush going through the audiences. While watching the film you will actually get involved with the struggle of all those refugee Indians. You can feel joy when they are happy, you can feel tensed when they are in problem. There are different characters with different flavor in the refugee camp with whom you can identify. There is person like George(Prakash Belwadi) who always have something to complain or a sad silent young guy Ibrahim(Purab Kohli) looking for his lost wife. Together they have made a group which everyone can relate to. The dialogues by Riteish Shah are good and not too dramatic still gives required punches.

As a director Raja Krishna Menon should be applauded for choosing such a brave subject. He has done exceptionally well to represent a real life incident in very engaging and enjoyable commercial film format, it describes a real life incident but not in a documentary style. He has to deal with a group of junior actors who represents teh whole group of Indian refugees, for most of the part og teh movie and it is quite difficult to manage such a huge group of inexperienced actors but Raja Menon has done it quite efficiently. Hope he will continue to entertain us with such interesting subjects.

Akshay Kumar is an actor who is continuously delivering good films in recent past maintaining diversity in choosing subject and character. He has proved that he is an actor who can deliver more than just stunts and comedy. In Airlift he has delivered one of his career best performance where he has underplayed his character so well. Here he is not like a regular commercial hero rather he has played very emotionally challenging character and he is just perfect in every frame. He is the live wire of the film.

Akshay has been ably supported by Nimrat Kaur. She is not an actress to be fitted in regular commercial film heroine roles but here she has been caste in a suitable character of Amrita Katyal , a supportive wife and a responsible mother. She has not much scope but she managed quite well to look and act perfectly. She leaves her mark in one particular monologue sequence where her character speaks on behalf of her husband. 
Among the others Purab Kohli is impressive as the loner husband who is looking for his lost wife. Prakash Belwadi looks perfectly annoying as the always complaining George. Inamul Haq who has made a comeback after one and half year has done good job in the negative character of an Iraqi General though his accented Hindi speaking is a bit annoying. 
All others supporting cast is very good in their small roles. Here the credit should be given to the casting director for choosing such good actors in small but important roles as part of the huge crowd of Indian refugees.

The technical team has done very good job to recreate the period of 1990 in Kuwait. Production designer Mushtaq Stationwala has done an excellent job to recreate the devastated and destroyed Kuwait. The same can be said for the sound design and costume designers for making it look and feel so authentic. The cinematography has been done superbly by Priya Gupta. There is very little scope for songs still as it has been produced by a music company so there must be songs here and there. The song "Sochn Na Sake" sounds melodious rest of the songs are just okay, better be avoided.

Overall it is a well made film which has its heart at correct place. It tells the story of the glorious past of our country in a very engaging thriller format. It has some faults but as one of the film's dialogue says, it is very easy to find fault in others but it takes guts to attempt even to fail, so we can just overlook the small faults and give big thumbs up to the film for attempting this subject. Watch it to salute those brave Indians who helped each other in a crisis situation. 

Review of Bengali movie Bastushaap

When Kaushik Ganguly makes a film one can be assured that he is going to experience an unique subject, same happens with #Bashtushaap. We all know about Bashtu is an ancient Indian practice to design your home correctly to bring happiness and prosperity in your home.But Mr. Ganguly has taken this concept to another level and showed us the true path for happiness. To be happy one need to restructure his inner self not interiors of the house. To be happy one have to come out his self made prison of his past guilt and have to forgive himself as well as the persons around him.
The film begins with two friends cum business partner Kushal (Parambrata Chatterjee) and Timir (Kaushik Ganguly), they both are very different in age and nature but they are very friendly with each other and work together as Bashtu and Fengshui consultant. They get an assignment from Arjun( Abir Chatterjee) to do a Bashtu check of his house in Darjeeling. Arjun is an ex-army officer who lives with his wife Banya(Raima Sen) and his widow sister Antara (Churny Ganguly). Arjun is very much frustrated and unhappy and dealing with lots of family problems specially after a road accident where he had a leg injury which caused him to left his job. Also Antara's husband and son died in the same incident. Arjun who don't believes in Bashtu but still want to try it as he wants to bring back happiness in her house at any cost. When Kushal and Timir reach Darjeeling they got introduced with every family member from Arjun's family. Also they found each one have their own share of secrets as well as guilt from there past. Even Kushal and Timir have their own set of disturbed past but unlike Arjun's family members they have come out of their past to give life a fresh start. Kushal gets surprise to meet Banya as they were connected with each other once upon a time. Will that past relationship between Kushal and Banya will have any impact on their present life? Will Kushal and Timir be able to bring back happiness in Arjun's house? That you have to watch in theater. 
The strong point of the story is while watching the movie everyone will be able to connect with their own life to some extent as all of us have gone through some bad phase and regrets in our life and many of us want one magician who can bring happiness in our life.The lesson given in the movie will definitely help you to get the solution to your own problems. That's the magic of the story. The screenplay has been written so well that you will be engaged from the beginning till the end. The way it unfolds the past and present of each of the characters is really interesting. Specially the flashback track of Kushal and Banya has been merged very well in the screenplay. Here one thing needs to be mentioned that there is only five characters and mostly the movie has been shot with these five characters in few fixed location, still it never looks boring as the scenes are so well written and well enacted. Even the climax is very thought provoking, do we really need someone from outside to make us happy or it should come from within ourselves.
As a director Kaushik Ganguly gets full marks. He has done full justice to every department from extracting wonderful performance from his cast and crew to set up the story convincingly in the backdrop of Darjeeling. His perfection is visible in every minor detailing.

Among the actors all five has done brilliant job. Abir Chatterjee has played a character which is quite different from the characters he has played so far. His character is not a negative one but has grey shades. He is someone trying to portray himself very strong but is suffering inside out of guilt. Abir has perfectly portrayed the complex emotions of his on screen character Arjun. Not only on emotional ground rather also he has worked perfectly on his body language too as a person suffering from leg injury. 
After a long time we see Parambrata Chatterjee doing something out the cliche roles. Here he has acted very well coming out of his typical mannerisms. Here he has got a chance to act in two different phases of a same character as the story goes back and forth showing the past and present of Kushal. Both the phases of the characters have different shades,the present Kushal is more confident composed Bashtu consultant but in the flashback story he is lesser matured and going through an emotional crisis. Parambrata has efficiently worked on the two different states of the character. His body language and screen presence shows the difference in Kushal's past and present.
Same goes for Raima Sen, she too has to enact two different phases of the character Banya. In the flashback sequences she is a helpless wife struggling hard to give support to his hospitalized husband. In the present situation Banya is a lonely housewife who suffers from her husband's negligence also she is a bereaved mother who is separated from her son. Raima has played both the parts brilliantly but we like her more as the lonely housewife Banya. Her inner pain and suffering has been well expressed with her eyes. It is one of her career best performance.
Churny Ganguly is a terrific actress. She has played a very complex character of Antara. Antara is a widow who is suffering deeply for her loss and is in mentally unstable situation but she pretends to be as normal as possible. Churny has done full justice to these moody character who can be harsh at one time and can be soft in the next minute. The mental instability of Antara is clearly visible in the body language and expressions of Churny Ganguly.
The last but not the least is director Kaushik Ganguly himself. The mystery is still unresolved Kaushik Ganguly is a better director or a better actor. We can only say he is a master of both. Here he has comparatively lesser screen time but every time he says anything it will bring laughter to your face. He has underplayed his character very well providing interesting comic relief. Watch him in the scene where Timir does a shootout duel with Arjun , he is too good in that scene.

Everyone in the technical crew has done good job. The film has been shot mostly in indoors but whenever given a chance cinematographer Gopi Bhagat has captured the scenic beauty of Darjeeling wonderfully. The editing has been done superbly by Subhajit Singha. The flashback and present scenes has been merged very well. The music has been composed by Indradeep Dasgupta and the songs are very melodious. Every song has been blended in the story very well so it adds an extra weight to the emotional moments of the film.

Overall Bastushaap is an engaging film with a superb performances and a solid message. Go and watch it to adjust the Bastu of your inner-self probably it will help you to have a better life.

Winners of 61st Britannia Filmfare Awards

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male)
Ranveer Singh - Bajirao Mastani

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female)
Deepika Padukone - Piku

Best Film
Bajirao Mastani

Best Director
Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Bajirao Mastani

Best Debut Director
Neeraj Ghaywan - Masaan

Best Debut (Male)
Sooraj Pancholi - Hero

Best Debut (Female)
Bhumi Pednekar - Dum Laga Ke Haisha

Critics' Choice Best Film Award
Piku

Critics' Choice Best Actor (Male)
Amitabh Bachchan - Piku

Critics' Choice Best Actor (Female)
Kangna Ranaut - Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Lifetime Achievement Award
Moushumi Chatterjee

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) 
Anil Kapoor - Dil Dhadakne Do

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) 
Priyanka Chopra - Bajirao Mastani

Best Playback Singer (Male) 
Arijit Singh - Sooraj Dooba (Roy) 

Best Playback Singer (Female) 
Shreya Ghoshal - Deewani Mastani (Bajirao Mastani)

Best Story
Vijayendra Prasad - Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Music
Ankit Tiwari, Meet Bros. Anjjan and Amaal Mallik - Roy

Best Lyrics
Irshad Kamil - 'Agar Tum Saath Ho' (Tamasha) 

Best Dialogue
Himanshu Sharma - Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Best Screenplay
Juhi Chaturvedi - Piku

Best Costume Design
Anuj Modi, Maxima Basu - Bajirao Mastani

Production Design
Sujit Sawant, Saloni Dhatrak, Sriram Iyenger - Bajirao Mastani

Best Sound Design
Shajith Koyeri - Talvar

Best Background Score
Anupam Roy - Piku

Best Cinematography
Manu Anand - Dum Laga Ke Haisha

Best Action
Sham Kaushal - Bajirao Mastani

Best Choreography
Pandit Birju Maharaj (Mohe Rang Do Laal) - Bajirao Mastani
Remo D'Souza (Pinga)- Bajirao Mastani

Best VFX
Prana Studio - Bombay Velvet

R.D. Burman Award
Armaan Malik

Review of Wazir

“Wazir” has been promoted as an action thriller but after watching it you will realize that it is actually an emotional story presented as a thriller. There is action, there is thrill, but the main story is actually about the emotional connection between two strangers who are going through similar pain and loss in their lives and this similarity bonds them as friends finally.

It is a story about two bereaved persons who have lost someone very close to their life, their

daughters. The first person is ATS officer Danish (Farhan Akhtar) who has lost his daughter in an encounter with a terrorist and later got suspended from his job for killing the same terrorist without the permission of his higher officials. He is very much grief stricken and considers himself as guilty for her daughter’s unfortunate death. Even his wife Ruhana (Aditi Rao Hydari) thinks the same and she has disconnected herself from Danish. The second person is Omkar Nath Dhar aka Panditji (Amitabh Bachhan) who teaches chess to little kids. He too has seen very bad phase in his life. He lost his legs and his wife in a car accident and few years later he lost his only daughter in a mysterious accident. He believes that his daughter was actually murdered by the welfare minister Yajad Qureishi (Manav Kaul). PanditJi wants justice for her daughter but as he is wheel chair bound so he has his own limits

Danish and Panditjee meet each other accidentally and got involved in each other’s life gradually. Their bonding became stronger over some chess matches and Danish finds

himself more engaged in Panditji’s fight against Querishi for justice as he could identify with the pain of Panditji. In the meantime enters a mysterious character Wazir(Neil Nitin Mukesh) who calls himself a representative of Qureishi and gives Panditji life threat for his protest against Qureishi. Now Danish finds a new aim in his life to search Wazir and to protect Panditji from him.

 Who is Wazir? Will Danish be able to chase him? Will he be able to save Panditji? That questions have been answered in the climax. In fact it has been elaborated quite well like they are telling the story to class five students but the sad thing is you can predict the answers well ahead of time.

The story is different but it has its own loopholes as a thriller. This is definitely not a smart

and fast paced thriller. But the screenplay has been written quite well by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijaat Joshi which is quite engaging. Although there is not much suspense still you will not get bored as you are not interested to reveal the truth rather you would like to get involved in the emotional journey of the characters. There are some really touchy moments whether it is the between the bonding between Danish and Panditji or the scenes between Danish and his wife Ruhana. In the chess sequences there is very smartly written dialogues which tries to make the connection between life and chess. The dialogues written by Abhijeet Deshpande and Gazal Dhaliwal are very well written specially the ones written for Mr. Bachhan.

As a director Bejoy Nambiar has handled more complex subjects earlier and his direction is very stylish. Here too we can see his signature style during the action sequences.  His direction is quite well and his presentation is engaging.

Among the actors both the leading men are the true gems of this film. The film totally rests on the broad shoulders of these two talented actors Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar.

Together they are wonderful. Amitabh Bachchan has very impressive personality and screen presence and it works really well for his character who is disabled but still on high spirit about life. He is too good in his emotional scenes, for example watch him in the scene when he tells about how he lost his family, it will make you moist eyed. On the other hand Farhan Akhtar has to play a challenging role which is one of his best of his career as an actor. He has played a father, a husband, a friend and in every role he suits very well. He has enacted very well sometime without saying a word especially in the scenes with his on screen wife.

Among the others it is Aditi Rao Hydari who has left impression in her brief role. She looks very pretty and acted very effectively. In most of her scene she has to enact through her eyes as she has very few dialogues. With Farhan she has superb chemistry. Manav Kaul is brilliant as the welfare minister with a secret from his past. He is one underutilized actor of Bollywood and deserves to be seen in more films.

Neil Nitin Mukesh and John Abraham are there in cameos. Both are quite okay. Neil is a bit over the top in his villainous act where John has underplayed his character very well. But it is really a mystery why John agreed to do this insignificant cameo.

The technical team has done a good. Cinematography by Sanu John Varughese is very

effective and suits the mood of the characters very well. As a thriller it’s editing done by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abijaat Joshi is very crisp. The action sequences are fast paced and stylish whether it is the shootouts in the beginning or the chase sequence between Danish and Wazir, all the action scenes have been designed wonderfully which provides the much required adrenaline rush.

There are too many songs considering the short running time but still it works quite well in the story. The songs, “Tere Bin”, “Maula” and “Atrangi Yaari” is good. Shantanu Moitra has composed very melodious songs.

Overall it is a thriller where the suspense is not that effective but the emotional connect is very strong. In spite of the loopholes in the story you won’t feel cheated at the end. Watch it for the superb performances by the two fantastic actors Mr. Bachchan and Mr. Akhtar.

Winners of 22nd Annual Star Screen Awards 2015

Best Film (Popular Choice)
Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Film (Jury Choice)
Talvar

Best Director
Kabir Khan (Bajrangi Bhaijaan)

Best Actor
Ranveer Singh (Bajirao Mastani)
Amitabh Bachchan (Piku)

Best Actress
Deepika Padukone (Piku)

Best Actor (Popular Choice)
Shah Rukh Khan

Best Actress (Popular Choice)
Deepika Padukone (Piku, Tamasha)

Best Child Actor
Harshali Malhotra (Bajrangi Bhaijaan)

Best Supporting Actor
Deepak Dobriyal (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)

Best Supporting Actress
Priyanka Chopra (Bajirao Mastani)

Best Actor (Jury Choice)
Irrfan Khan (Talvar)

Best Actress (Jury Choice)
Kalki Keochilin (Margrita With A Straw)

Best Jodi
Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol

Best Music Album of the Year
Amaal Mallik, Meet Bros Anjjaan, Ankit Tiwari - (Roy)

Best Playback Singer (Male)
Papon - Moh Moh Ke Dhaage - (Dam Laga Ke Haisha)

Best Playback Singer (Female)
Monali Thakur - Moh Moh Ke Dhaage (Dam Laga Ke Haisha)

Best Story
Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Dialogue
Piku

Best Background Score
Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Lifetime Achievement Award
Rishi Kapoor

Best VFX
Bajirao Mastani

Bengali Movies to watch out in 2016

As 2016 has already started lets have a look at 10 Bengali movies to watch out in 2016.

Hindi Movies to watch out in 2016

As 2016 has already started lets have a look at some big Bollywood releases of 2016 on which we have high hopes.

Best Directors of Bengali cinema in 2015

2015 was a very good year for Bengali cinema, in terms of business as well as in terms of good quality films. Thanks to the new brigade of directors with interesting subjects and a fresh approach to tell the subject. Following is the list of the top five directors of Bengali cinema in 2015 based on their creativity.

1.Shiboprasad Mukherjee & Nandita Roy -  With their each and every film

Shiboprasad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy have proved that story is the main hero of their

film and with their 2015 release "Belasheshe" they have proved it once again. The main lead of the film were not any conventional super stars rather they were an old couple of more than 70 yrs age, but the story was the hero here which touches everyone's heart.The director duo had given us the very beautiful message through their film, that  how to make the bonding of a marital relationship more stronger. The screenplay had been written so skillfully providing enough scope for comic relief as well as for emotional connect too. With its engaging story with which everyone can relate and some heart touching performances the film got a good response from the audiences and became the biggest hit of 2015. In fact it is one of the biggest hits ever.

2.Srijit Mukherjee - From 2010 Bengali movie lovers have got an amazing director Srijit Mukherjee, who has changed the way of film making in Bengali cinema. Since 2010 he is

continuously giving us wonderful films every year. In 2015  he gave us two movies, two totally different movies from each other. First one was "Nirbaak" which was the most experimental film from the director till date. It was a film which combined four love stories together with a common theme where in each love story one partner was silent. It did not become successful at box office but hats off to the director for attempting a subject close to his heart without compromising for box office. The second release was the Puja release "Rajkahini", a story about a group of women's revolution against male dominated society in the backdrop of India Pakistan partition. It was more mainstrem compared to the earlier one with the common ingredients of a Srijit Mukherjee film an engaging story, a fresh approach to tell the story, a well sound technical crew, an appropriate ensemble cast. This movie made Srijit famous among some Bollywood heavy weight filmmakers too.

3.Arindam Sil - Before 2015 he was hardly there in scene as a director. He was just an actor turned director with one film experience that too was a box office failure. But by the

end of 2015 Arindam Sil proved himself as a successful director with not one rather two big hits. The year started as well as ended with his films "Ebar Shabor" and "Har Har Byomkesh". Both the films were detective thriller but in different backdrop and time frame. "Ebar Shabor" was a multi-starer set in Kolkata of 2015, revolving around a murder mystery. With this film Arindam Sil gave us a fresh look of urban Kolkata  with refreshing styling as well as production design. It was a big hit with more than 100 days successful run. "Har Har Byomkesh" was a Byomkesh Bakshy film set in Varanasi in pre-independent India. Here too he showed his skill as a director with choosing a fresh supporting cast which gave it a new look and feel and make it different in spite of having more than three Byomkesh film in just one year. This film got a good opening and still doing good business.

4.Kaushik Ganguly -  Kaushik Ganguly has done specialization in telling unconventional stories. He can choose a subject about which others can not even dream of. In 2015 too he

continued this with "Chhotoder Chhobi". It was a film about the dwarfs working as clowns in circus. We hardly think about their life and their struggle, this movie gave us an inner view of their life, their problems and their emotions. It take guts to make such a film where your lead pair are dwarfs. Another difficult task was to cast actors who are dwarfs but good actor too and Kaushik Ganguly did this wonderfully.For the film Kaushik Ganguly had chosen a set of brilliant actors and a talented technical team. Although it was not a box office success mostly because of the all new unknown cast and the depressing subject of the film. But it got great reviews at different film festivals and many awards including national award.

5.Anindya Chattopadhyay-  Anindya Chattopadhyay is already popular as the member of famous Bengali band "Chandrabindu". In 2015, he made his debut as a director with "Open

Tee Bioscope" and he scored a perfect 10 with his debut. The master stroke was choosing the subject which was actually his tribute to his own teenager-hood in the 1990's. The subject connected with audience too making them nostalgic about their growing up age. the small references of big events from 1990's were incorporated in the screenplay very intelligently. Another strong point of the film was its casting, which had no big stars but were extremely  talented actors perfectly cast in each role. The film got good opening and easily connected with the audiences and as a result it did good enough business of around 100 days to claim itself a hit.

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Apart from these extremely talented directors we also loved the following:

• Suman Mukhopadhyay - Shesher Kabita
• Aparna Sen - Arshinagar
• Partha Sen - Anubrato Bhalo Achho

There were some debutante directors who impressed us:

• Aditya Vikram Sengupta - Asha Jaoar Majhe
• Churni Ganguly - Nirbashito
• Bauddhayan Mukherjee - TeenKahon

Best Actresses of Bengali cinema in 2015

In 2015 Bengali Cinema favors more meaningful films over commercial remakes as a result, there is not many regular commercial movie heroines, in the list of powerful ladies of 2015. Here is the list of those ladies who left an impression in 2015 with their contribution in Bengali cinema .
Let's have a look how was the year for the leading heroines of Bengali cinema.

The actresses who topped in 2015.

Rituparna Sengupta - Compared to last few years this year Rituparna had lesser number of releases. She was featured in two big hits of the year "Belasheahe" and "Rajkahini". She was pretty much effective to stand out among an ensemble cast in movies like "Belasheahe" and "Teen Kahon". On the other hand she was outstanding in the lead role in "Rajkahini". Her portrayal of Begum Jaan was one of her career best and she utilized the opportunity very well. She even got an award for this performance.

Konkona Sensharma - She is not a regular actress of Bengali movies but in 2015 she was featured in three Bengali movies "Sajarur Kanta", "Kadambari" and "Shesher Kabita". In all these movies, she had performed brilliantly, specially in the last two she was too good. In the last two movies she had played some periodic characters and her acting as well as her look were very much appropriate for her on screen characters of Kadambari and Labanya. Among these movies "Kadombari" had got better response at box office too and it had became an average hit at the box office.


Swastika Mujherjee - She began the year with a better note with a big hit "Ebar Shabor".

In this movie she was very natural and impressive. Then she created buzz for her Bollywood debut, there too she got recognition. After that she appeared in the controversial movie "Family Album". Although it was not a hit at box office but she appreciation for her bold avatar as a girl with homosexual interest. Then she appeared in the movie "Anubrato Bhalo Achho" which was not a commercial hit but had got good feedback at different festival. Here she had played a much older woman than her real age with ease, which is commendable. Finally she once again impressed her with her periodic movie "Shesher Kabita", where she played a second lead with lesser screen time but she managed to grab our eyeballs with her power packed performance as well as her retro look.

Sudipta Chakraborty - She is not the conventional heroine but in 2015 she has once again proved her caliber as an actress in power packed performances. Whether it is her single mother act in "Open Tee Bioscope" or the physically handicapped but mentally strong girl in "Bheetu", she was too good in both the movies. Among these the first one was a big hit where the second one was an average earner. She was also a part of another big hit "Rajkahini" where she was very natural and effective in her brief appearance.

Parno Mitra - This lovely lady had two releases in 2015. In "Bheetu" she played an young professionals struggling to overcome her fear and disturbed past. This movie was an average hit. It was followed a big hit "Rajkahini". Here she had a strong supporting role. With her wonderful act she has managed to left impression in spite of such a huge cast.

Shrabanti - This beautiful actress had appeared in two big hits of 2015 "Sudhu Tomari Janno" and "Katmundu". Although

in "Katmundu" she was almost lost among the ensemble cast but in "Sudhu Tomari Janno", she did a very good job. Here she managed to play the transition from an young college girl to a mature married woman very well.

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Apart from these actors there were few other actors too who are not the Conventional heroes, but they impressed us with their wonderful performances. Such as:

• Deblina Roy - Chhotoder Chhobi
• Arpita Chatterjee - Bodhon
• Susmita Sen - Nirbaak
• Swatilekha Sengupta - Belasheshe
• Basabdutta Chatterjee - Asha Jaoar Majhe
• Churni Ganguly - Nirbashito
• June Malya - Ebar Shabor
• Deboleena Dutta - Anubrato Bhalo Achho?
• Ananya Sen - TeenKahon
• Jaya Ehsaan - Rajkahini
• Mimi Chakraborty - Sudhu Tomari Janno
• Sohini Sarkar - Har Har Byomkesh
• Swgata Mukherjee - ArshiNagar

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The actress who flopped in 2015

Payel Sarkar - The beginning of 2015 was good enough for Payel with "Ebar Shabor" but it was followed by flops one after another. Movies like "Larai" and "Jamai 420" were neither a box office hit nor it gave her any recognition for her performances. She was in not so significant roles in these movies. Her final release was "Jomer Raja Dilo Bar". She was very hopeful about this movie but destiny had decided something else and it flopped badly.

Best Actors of Bengali cinema in 2015

In 2015, in Bengali film industry many actors impressed us where some other disappointed too. Let's have a recap of how our favorite actors from Bengali film industry performed in 2015.

The actors who rocked in 2015.

Abir Chatterjee - The year started with Abir's last year's big hits "Badshahi Angti" and

"Byomkesh Fire Elo". His successful journey continued in 2015 with superhits like "Ebar Shabor", "Rajkahini", "Katmundu" and "HarHar Byomkesh". There were flops too like "Jomer Raja Dili Bor" and "Abby Sen" but he got good response for his performance in "Abby Sen". Performance wise he showcased his variation as an actor from doing negative role in "Rajkahini" as well as comedy too in "Katmundu". But we loved him most in his last release of the year "Har Har Byomkesh" where he played his most loved character, Byomkesh. 

Jishu Sengupta - There is no doubt 2015 was very much successful year for Jishu Smgupta. He was not much there throughout the year except for the experimental movie

"Nirbaak" which did not fare at box office. But he manged to leave impression with his three big releases in teh last quarter of 2015. He had his career best hit as a leading man in "Byomkesh Bakshy". We also loved him in a negative role in "Arshinagar". But the best of him we saw in "Rajkahini". In "Rajkahini",he played a negative character  for the first time in his career. It was an extended cameo where he hardly had 3-4 scenes but he was just awesome in those scenes. His performance as well as his physical transformation for the character was truly surprising. 

Dev -  From last few years, Dev is constantly trying to maintain balance in his choice of

movies ranging from mainstream south Indian remakes to subject oriented parallel cinema for multiplex going audiences. In 2015 he had acted in movies like "Herogiri" and "Sudhu Tomari Janno" which were remakes alongside an experimental parallel cinema "Arshinagar". Among these three only "Sudhu Tomari Janno" was a big hit in small centers as well as in urban theaters. We appreciate his attempt to work on a movie like "Arshinagar" and we also give him credit for his film selection for both type of audiences. Although he managed to give at least one hit at box office but performance wise he is yet to get that recognition.



Ritwick Chakraborty - He is definitely one of the best actors of Tollywood as of now. For an actor of his caliber the length of the on screen character does not matter and he has

proved that in 2015 with smaller yet impressive supporting acts in movies like "Ebar Shabor", "Nirbaak" and "Har Har Byomkesh". Apart from that he impressed us in leading roles in the movies "Asa Jaoar Majhe" and "Anubrato Bhalo Achho". In both these movies the he had played some really challenging roles and he was just too good. Also we loved to hate him in his negative role in "Bheetu". He had also tried his hands in comedy with movies like "Bitnoon" and "Cross Connection 2", but sadly it did not worked in his favor. No matter hit or flop, no  matter he is in lead role or supporting role when Ritwick Chakraborty is on screen he definitely mesmerizes us with his wonderful  acting.

Shashwata Chatterjee - Its obvious that Shashwata Chatterjee does not look like a conventional hero to play a lead role so mostly he continued giving wonderful performances in supporting roles but as a main lead he gave a big hit in the beginning of 2015. It was the crime thriller "Ebar Shabor" where Shashwata played the title role with perfection. Among the others he was very impressive in supporting roles in movies like "Nirbashito", "Rajkahini", "Katmundu", "Byomkesh Bakshy" and "Nataker Mato".There were some flops too but we can overlook that considering the success rate of this wonderful actor.

Jeet - While all his contemporaries are shifting towards parallel cinema, Jeet is the only Tollywood hero who is still consistent in Mainstream commercial cinemas. Not only that he is even making such movies a hit too. This year his only release was "Besh Korechhi Prem Korechhi" which was a full on masala entertainer and Jeet impressed us with his stardom. It became a big hit specially in small centers.
Once again he proved he is still the Boss of mainstream commercial cinema.
************************************************************************************** Apart from these actors there were few other actors too who are not the Conventional heroes, but they impressed us with their wonderful performances. Such as:

• Riddhi Sen - Open Tee Bioscope
• Rahul Banerjee - Ebar Shabor
• Dulal Sarkar - Chhotoder Chhobi
• Soumitra Chatterjee - Belasheshe
• Mithun Chakraborty - Ek Nadir Galpo
• Rajatava Dutta - Open Tee Bioscope
• Kharaj Mukherjee - Lorai/Belasheshe
• Sabysachi Chakraborty - TeenKahon
• Joy Sengupta - TeenKahon
• Barshan Shil - TeenKahon
• Ashish Vidyarthi - TeenKahon
• Rudraneel Ghosh - Katmundu
• Koushik Sen - Rajkahini/Open Tee Bioscope
• Harsh Chhaya - Har Har Byomkesh

*********************************************************************************The actor who flopped in 2015.

Parambrata Chatterjee - This year he started as a director with "Larai" which was a box office disaster.Then he came as an actor in movies like "Roga Hoar Sahaj Upay" and "Babar Naam Ghandhiji". Both the movies were complete washout at the box office, not only that even Parambrata's performance did not get any recognition in any of these movies. Mostly he looked repetitive in both the movies.

Report card of Actresses of Bollywood in 2015

Unlike 2014 there was not much woman oriented movies in 2015. Still there were some leading ladies who impressed us with their powerful performances as well as they contributed to the box office success too.

Top actresses of Bollywood in 2015.

1. Deepika Padukone - This lovely lady continued to rule the box office in 2015. This year she had three releases and in all three she proved her versatility as an actress. In "Piku", she played an young independent working girl who is taking care of her father all alone. In "Tamasha", she played a girl who acted as a motivational force to his hero. In "Bajirao Mastaani", she played the character of an warrior princess Mastaani. In every film she performed exceptionally brilliant. Among these three two were big hits "Piku" and "Bajirao Mastaani". "Piku" which was made with very small budget make more than 70cr at box office, where "Bajirao Mastaani" was a 100cr club member with around 150cr. There is no doubt that right now she is the top actress of Bollywood at this moment.

2. Kangna Ranaut - Kangna Ranaut is the queen of Bollywood in true sense. Without

having any backup from any big banner or big co-star, she kept ruling the box office on her own. In 2015, she had two releases "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" and "Katti Batti". "Katti Batti" was a big flop and Kangna had not done anything significant here but we can overlook that because of her extraordinary performance in "Tanu Weds Manu Returns". It was a comparatively small budget movie which earned more than 150cr. In this movie she had played a double role, one married woman suffering from a bad marriage and another one was a young sportsperson who is in love with a married guy. Without any doubt it can be said it was one of the best double roles done by any Bollywood actor ever. The way she had created these two characters exactly different from each other that makes it the best act of 2015.

3. Priyanka Chopra - Priyanka Chopra rocked in 2015 not only in Bollywood but in

international Television too with her acting debut in English TV series. In Bollywood she impressed us with her two releases "Dil Dhadakne Do" and "Bajirao Mastaani". In both the movies she played two different characters which were poles apart. in "Dil Dhadakne Do" ,she was playing a modern day business woman balancing her family problems with her professional life and in "Bajirao Mastaani" she played a married woman confined in her rituals an relationships who is longing for her husband's love. Both the movies did good business at box office specially the second one was a big hit with earning more than 100cr.

4. Anushka Sharma -  It was not a 100% successful year for her. She became part of an

ensemble cast in not so significant roles in movies like "Bombay Velvet" and "Dil Dhadkne Do", but we can forgive her for those wrong career choices because of her another release of 2015 which was NH10. Anushka Sharma made debut as a producer too with these thriller. In this movie she did a brilliant job as a young urban lady struggling for survival. This was a small budget movie with a woman character in the lead but still it make it big at the box office with collections around 30cr. We appreciate her for backing an unconventional film like "NH 10" not only as a n actress but as a producer too.


The actresses who flopped in 2015.

1. Vidya Balan - The bad phase continued for this talented actress in 2015. This year she had only one release, "Hamari Adhuri Kahani". She had performed quite well in this movie but people did not like this love story. It had very bad response at the box office.

2. Alia Bhatt - In 2014 she was a hot property, but luck did not favor her in 2015. This year she had only one release "Shandaar", which was one of the biggest flop of the year and unfortunately the first flop of Alia's career. She even did not get good appreciation for the thankless role. Only thing which was quite popular about her in this movie is was her bikini shot.

3.Katrina Kaif - This year she had only one release to her credit with his lucky director Kabir Khan, it was "Phantom" which failed badly at the box office. Her only saving grace was teh promotional song of the film "Afgan Jalebi".

4.Sonakshi Sinha - There was a time when Sonakshi was a guarantee for super hit south indian remakes but in 2015 her only release "Tevar" which was a also a south remake was a disaster at the box office. later she appeared in an item song "Nacha Farate" which was just average.

Mommies who made comeback in 2015

1.Kajol - Kajol made her much talked about comeback in 2015 with "Dilwale" along with her most loved on screen partner Shahruk Khan. It was a successful comeback, even at this age she managed to play a young girl convincingly. She looked stunning and once again proved her caliber as an actress. We wish to see her more in future.

2. Lara Dutta - She had never took retirement officially but she was missing from silver screen for a long time. She made a surprising comeback in 2015 with "Singh Is Bling". It was not a conventional leading actress type role rather it was a supporting act, but she impressed everyone with her superb comic timing with this funny character.

3. Aishwatya Rai Bachchan - This lovely lady tried to make a comeback in 2015 with "Jazzba" which was a big flop. Even her fans were surprised why she chose such a film for her comeback that too after such long wait. We are hopeful for her reattempt for a comeback in 2016 with Karan Johar' S next directorial.