Report card of Actors of Bollywood in 2015

2015 has just finished so its time to look back at the year and who were the leading men who ruled Bollywood in the year 2015. 

Top Actors of 2015

1.Salman Khan - In 2014 Salman Khan no releases but in 2015, he compensated that withtwo back to back hits on Eid and Diwali. First it was "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" on Eid which was the biggest hit of 2015 and second big hit of all time with a collection of 320cr. It was followed by yet another big hit "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo" on the occasion of Diwali. It made a box office collection of 207cr. In both these movies Salman Khan had played characters which were really different from his current image of an action hero still his fans accepted him in these movies and appreciated his performance. He got good recognition from critics too for his wonderful portrayal of Bajrangi in "Bajrangi Bhaijaan". Together Salman alone earned more than 500cr in Bollywood this year which is big enough to prove his stardom.


2. Akshay Kumar - He had not a single 100cr hit in 2015 but still he is on the second position because he kept delivering average hits constantly throughout the whole year with

each movie having an average collection between 80-90cr. He had four releases this year and coincidentally one movie per quarter. The first one was "Baby" a fast paced thriller with wonderful performance from Akshay, where he played an under cover agent. The next one was Akshay's fight against corruption in the South Indian remake "Gabbar". Here too his stunts and acting was well received. The third installment was "Brothers" an emotional drama about two estranged brothers in the background of a MMA competition. Once again he proved his acting capabilities but the main highlight was the superb martial arts performed by Akshay Kumar. The last one was "Singh Is Bling". In this one Akshay Kumar showed his funny side after a long time. It was a funny comedy with Akshay Kumar's wonderful comic timing. Together all four movies had made more than 300cr.

3. Ranveer Singh - This guy was definitely not in the race of big heroes in last few years

but in 2015 he has made a big jump towards stardom with two big movies "Dil Dhadkne Do" and "Bajirao Mastaani". At box office "Dil Dhadakne Do" was an average earner where "Bajirao Mastaani" made it to 100cr club and became fourth big hit of 2015. Performance wise Ranveer Singh was superb in both movies. Both the characters were poles apart and he managed to give life both the characters brilliantly. Where in the first one he played a rich brat confused about his goals in his life , in the second one he played a great warrior with a heart of gold. Not only acting , even his physical transformation for both the characters was also commendable.

4. Shahrukh Khan - It is quite strange but true that in 2015 King Khan was not ruling box

office the way his fans expect him to rule. His only release this year was "Dilwale" which had sky high expectations because it was the only release from the super star after one year and also because this time he had made a comeback with her most loved on screen partner Kajol. But the movie did not get that big opening and even it took one week to enter in 100cr club which was below expectations. Although people loved SRK and Kajol pair very much but in final run it was not that big hit to prove the power of Badshah Khan at the box office. It is high time for Shahrukh Khan to think about his movie selection.

5.Varun Dhawan - Varun Dhawan has proved it, that he is running much ahead of his

contemporaries. In 2015 he had three releases "Badlapur", "ABCD2" and "Dilwale". All three movies were hit at the box office specially the last two were 100cr club members. But the thing which have made Varun Dhawan a part of this list, is not only his box office success rather it is his selection of totally three different characters and his wonderful performance in those versatile roles. In "Badlapur" he proved his caliber as a powerful actor as an intense angry man on a mission to take revenge, it was very serious dark thriller and it was his best performance till date. In "ABCD2", he proved his dancing abilities and in "Dilwale", he remind us about his comic timing. This guy is really making a fast progress hope to see him in much better position in future.

Note- This ranking has been done with combination of Box office success and the actor's contribution towards this success along with his individual performance as an actor.
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Apart from these actors there were some other actors who are not in the race of conventional leading man but impressed us in different charter roles. Such as:

• Nawazuddin Siddiqui - Badlapur/Manjhi - The Mountain Man/Bajrangi Bhaijaan
• Ayushmann Khurrana -Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• Gulshan Deveiah - Hunterr
• Amitabh Bachchan - Piku
• R. Madhavan - Tanu Weds Manu Returns
• Irrfan Khan - Piku/Talvar
• Deepak Dobriyal - Tanu Weds Manu Returns
• Anil Kapoor - Dil Dhadakne Do/Welcome Back
• Ranvir Shorey - Titli
• Amit Sial - Titli
• Darshan Kumar - NH10
• Kartik Aaryan - Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2
• Sunny Singh Nijjar - Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2

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The actor who failed at the box office in 2015.

1. Emraan Hashmi - once again he failed to impress his fans. He tried to regain his luck once again with his home ground Vishesh films in movies like "Mr.X" and "Hamari Adhuri Kahaani", a thriller and a romantic movie respectively. Both the movies failed at box office very badly.

2. Ranbir Kapoor - He keep delivering back to back flops in 2015. First it was "Roy" in which he had an extended cameo. It was followed by his most ambitious film "Bombay Velvet" which was one of the biggest flop of this year. His last release was "Tamasha" which got comparatively decent feedback but could not became more than average at box office. Although his performance was highly appreciated in "Tamasha".

3. Shahid Kapoor - This year he was in news for his marriage and being a judge on a dance reality show but at the box office he was very much unlucky this year. In 2014 he has revived his career with "Haider" which helped him to bag many awards in 2015. But his only release in 2015, "Shandaar" became one of the biggest box office dud of his career. It definitely damaged his image at ticket windows.

4. Arjun Kapoor - This young rising hero had been proved very much successful in 2014 with back to back success but the good phase did not continued in 2015. This year he had only one release "Tevar" which was completely washed out at the ticket windows.

5.Saif Ali Khan - Badluck keep haunting Saif Ali Khan in 2015 too. In 2015 his only hope was "Phantom" but this film failed at the box office in spite of having good promotion, and successful director. The bad thing was many people blame the leading man Saif for the failure of the film.

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The actors whom we missed in 2015.

Aamir Khan - He was very much in news for his controversial comments on national issues but as an actor we really miss him this year.

Hrithik Roshan - In 2015 he had no release at the box office. Only concession for his fans was the music video of the Honey Singh remix version of Dheere Dheere Se. 

Best Bengali movies of 2015

2015 was a good year for Bengali movies. From last few years the audiences were giving indication that they are no more interested in so called commercial movies which are nothing but a frame to frame copy of South Indian movies. Rather people are more interested in original subjects with good presentation. This year this trend continued even more prominently. From the audiences reaction it was quite clear, people are no more interested in South Indian remakes having mindless subject at the same time there are very few takers for too intellectual movies which are favorites in film festivals. The Bengali movie lovers now loves movies which have original concept with a engaging presentation without compromising with the entertainment quotient.
Here are some of the best Bengali movies of 2015 in order of their release dates. Not all of them were box office success but all were movies which had a good subject and nice presentation.

Ebar Shabor 
It was the first release of 2015. A crime thriller set in today's time based on a novel named

"Rwin". With this movie, Bengali movies get a new on screen sleuth Shabor Dashgupta which was played brilliantly by Shashwata Chatterjee. It was directed by veteran actor Arindam Shil and had an ensemble cast of some very talented actors like Swastika Mukherjee, Abir Chatterjee, Ritwick Chakraborty, Payel Sarkar, Rahul , June Malya,Dipankar Dey, Deboleena Dutta etc. The story was about a murder mystery where a lot of characters were the suspects and each of them have some deep secrets with them. How the detective from Kolkata police crime branch, Shabor Dashgupta, solved the mystery was the story.The music was composed by Vickram Ghosh and it has been used wonderfully in the movie. The technical team was brilliant. Special mention should be given to cinematographer Sirsha Ray for capturing the different locations of Kolkata in such a nice way. The over all impact of the movie was very nice. It got a good start and kept doing well at the ticket windows till the end of the quarter and  successfully completed around successful 100 days in the theaters. 

Open Tee Bioscope
Famous Bengali band Chandrabindoo's member Anindya Chattopadhyay wore the director's hat for the first time with the movie "Open Tee Bioscope". It was his own tribute to his

childhood memories , the memories of the mid 90's, the memories of para culture. It was a story of a teenager boy Fowara (Played wonderfully by Riddhi Sen), his childhood memories with his friends, his first love, how he became a part of the local para. The story was very heart touching focusing some very strong relationships like a relationship between a son and his mother, a relationship between a coach and his disciple. Moreover the favorite sports of Bengali culture football was also a part of the story. The whole cast had done wonderful job lead by Riddhi Sen, Sudipta Chakraborty, Rajatava Dutta, Ambarish Bhattacharya, Kaushik Sen and all the kids in Fowara's gang. The technical team had done an extraordinary job to recreate the 90's era authentically. As a director of course Anindya did a very good job. The music composed by Upal Sengupta and Shantanu Moitra was superhit. Box office performance wise also this film did very good. It did a good business from its first week and continued its success completing around 100 successful days. 

Chhotoder Chhabi
Master story teller Kaushik Ganguly came  back with yet another different story about the

life of some dwarfs who used to work as joker and entertainers in circus. He used to present their life beyond our regular thinking , he presented them as human beings. They are not just jokers , they have their own life, own emotions, own ambitions. The casting was a vital part for the movie as the most of the actors had to be dwarfs as per story's demand and at the same time they had to be good actors who can carry off the story on their shoulders. And as a extremely talented director , Kaushik Ganguly made this tough job possible by casting very good actors Dulal Sarkar and Deblina Roy as the leading pair. This movie got very good response at many National and International film festival. In one film festival Dulal Sarkar bagged the best actor award too. It also got the National award for best movie on social issues. Unfortunately the box office fate of the movie was not so good probably because of the lack of popular stars and the too much depressing tone of the story.

Nirbaak

"Nirbaak" , directed by Srijit Mukherjee was the most experimental film from the director so far. It was about four love stories connected together with a common theme of silence. The film got a good opening because of the expectations but after watching it, audience had mixed reaction. Some people liked the experimental step taken by the director while others were disappointed from this. On the final run though film got good response from critics but at the box office it did not performed well specially comparing to the previous success record of the director. The performances by Anjan Dutta, Ritwick Chakraborty , Jishu Sengupta and Susmita Sen were appreciated very much.




Belasheshe

"Belasheshe" was yet another gem from the director duo Shiboprasad Mukherjee and

Nandita Roy. Just like their previous films there was no big stars rather the story was the main hero of the film. The story was an unconventional tale about the bonding of post marital relationship. It was a mix of humor and emotion that touched the heart of critics and audiences. In the lead role Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta did a wonderful job. In the supporting cast Kharaj Mukherjee and Rituparna Sengupta were quite impressive.
Overall the positive feedback worked really well for the film and it became a winner at the box office. It run in theater almost till the end of the year and with a successful run of around 200 days it became the biggest hit of the year.

Kadambori

"Kadambori" had been directed by Suman Ghosh featuring very talented Konkona Sensharma in the Title role. This movie was a period piece based on the controversial relationship between Rabindranath Tagore and his sister-in-law Kadambori Devi. The movie was quite authentic in its presentation and the performance by Konkona Sensharma was too good.  In the main lead Parambrata Chatterjee was not that effective as Rabindranath Tagore, but Kaushik Sen was very much impressive as Kadombari's husband.All these worked for this film and it became average hit at the box office.


Asha Jaoar Majhe

"Asha Jaoar Majhe" was a film directed by debutante director Aditya Vikram Sengupta. It  featured very talented Ritwick Chakraborty and Basabdutta Chatterjee. It was a film that got good response at many film festivals and also have been loved by every critics. This film won several awards in different categories at different International film festivals. It was story revolving around a couple struggling to sustain in their relationship in an urban lifestyle. 
But unfortunately this film did not got a proper commercial release and could not became a box office winner. it could have been done better if it would have been promoted and released in a better way.

Nirbashito

"Nirbashito" was the directorial debut of talented actress Churni Ganguly. This movie was loosely based on the life of the controversial

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin. Although it was  not a typical biopic rather it had focused on the loneliness and pain of the author once she was banished from her own country, own people and own literature. The movie was very well made and Churni ganguly has done a wonderful job as a director as well as a leading actress too. The film was highly appreciated at film festivals but the commercial fate of this movie was not so good.



Teenkahon

Teenkahon was director Bauddhayan Mukherjee's debut movie. It was yet another

festival favorite with a limited box office appeal, but whoever had seen the movie had liked it. It was a combination of three short stories which had covered 100 years of journey of  Bengali culture, language and socio-economic condition of Bengali's. It was movie with three different stories about three different themes of love. All these stories were set in different time frame beginning from pre-independent India to current time. The deatailing to create different time period was awesome, specially the first story which was shot in black & white was very effective to portray rural Bengal of before independence. This movie had some brilliant performances by Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Joy Sengupta, Ashish Vidyarthi and new comers Barshan Shil and Ananya Sen.

Raajkahini

A renowned director Srijit Mukherjee, a huge star cast of very talented actors and actresses,

a heart touching subject and a wonderful presentation all make it a big hit from the very beginning. Once again Srijit Mukherjee proved lucky for Puja release. People loved the story about the freedom fight of a group of women against the male dominated society in the backdrop of India Bangladesh partition. The movie not only get appreciation in Bengal only rather people from Bollywood also recognize the raw talent of the movie. Even there are talks of a Hindi remake of this one. Rituparna Sengupta got lots of acclaim for her leading performance. It became a big hit specially among urban centers.

Byomkesh Bakshy

Director Anjan Dutta came once again with yet another Byomkesh movie but this time with a brand new actor as Byomkesh. It was Jishu Sengupta who had stepped into the shoes of Byomkesh Bakshy. He was joined by Sashwata Chatterjee as Ajit and some television and film veterans who are almost regular in Mr. Dutta's films. This movie once again proved that sleuth films are here to rule Bengali film industry. Jishu Sengupta did a good job as Byomkesh but the story selection was not up to the mark. It was comparatively weaker story than other Byomkesh movies by Anjan Dutta.There was big hype created around the movie specially because the last Byomkesh movie by the same director was a big hit so it got a wonderful opening and completed a successful run of more than 50 days at theaters.

Har Har Byomkesh

So far we have seen only Anjan Dutta's Byomkesh movies in recent past but this time we got a new director narrating the story of Byomkesh on his own way. It was director Arindam Sil.Once gain we got Abir Chatterjee back as byomkesh but this time with a new Satyabati and Ajit which were played by Sohini Sarkar and Ritwick Chakraborty. This movie got a fresh look and treatment with the scenic beauty of varanasi as the backdrop of the story. The locations Varanasi and the North-Indian classical music in background also made us nostalgic about "Joy Baba Felunath". The casting of non bengali but bengali speaking actors in supporting role also gave the film a fresh look. It opened very well at the box office and doing good business till the end of the year.


Apart from these movies there were few other movies too which were good but could not not make it to the list of best of 2015.Such As
Bheetu, Nataker Mato, Anubrato Bhalo Achho, Ek Nadir Galpo, Shesher Kabita, Arshinanagr, Abby Sen.


As per commercial success here are some Box Office Hits of 2015

1. Belashsese 
2. Ebar Shabor
3. Open-Tee-Bioscope
4. Byomkesh Bakshy
5. Rajkahini
6. Sudhu Tomari Janno
7. Katmundu
8. Besh Korechhi Prem Korechhi

Box Office update of Bollywood movies in 2015

2015 was not that good for Bollywood in terms of business. It had one 300cr ,one 200cr movie and only four other 100cr movies, which is very less compared to last few years. Among the big stars no one could bring much business except for Salman Khan. There was no movies from Amir Khan and Hrithik Roshan which was also a reason for such cold response at ticket windows. But one good thing was in spite of having lesser big releases some small movies performed really well. The year was clearly divided in two halves where the first half was mostly ruled by small budget films with strong content, the second half saw more bigger movies in terms of production cost and star power. For obvious reasons the second half was better in terms of Box office business.

Here are the top 10 grosser of 2015 as per the business done in India.

Apart from these movies there some really small budget movies which actually did very well at the box office and gained much profit. Such movies are.
 

There were some movies which had big budget, big production values and big stars as well but still those movies could not live up to the expectation and became Big Flops of 2015. Such as:

• Bombay Velvet
• Shandaar
• Roy
• Phantom
• Shamitabh
• Jazzba
• All Is Well

On this note we are saying Good Bye to 2015 , hoping for much better 2016 for Bollywood.

A quick update of Bengali movies in the Fourth quarter of 2015

For Bengali movies the fourth quarter of 2015 was the best quarter of this year , it has four Durga puja hits and two Christmas hits.

Lets have a month-wise recap of the fourth quarter.

October

October is the month of Durga Puja vacations and probably the best season for a Bengali movie release  and this October it the golden time for Bengali movies when five movies released on a same day which was the Friday before Puja and among these five four movies were big hits. 

Raajkahini

A renowned director Srijit Mukherjee, a huge star cast of very talented actors and actresses,

a heart touching subject and a wonderful presentation all make it a big hit from the very beginning. Once again Srijit Mukherjee proved lucky for Puja release. People loved the story about the freedom fight of a group of women against the male dominated society in the backdrop of India Bangladesh partition. The movie not only get appreciation in Bengal only rather people from Bollywood also recognize the raw talent of the movie. Even there are talks of a Hindi remake of this one. Rituparna Sengupta got lots of acclaim for her leading performance. It became a big hit specially among urban centers.

Byomkesh Bakshy

Director Anjan Dutta came once again with yet another Byomkesh movie but this time with a brand new actor as Byomkesh. It was Jishu Sengupta who had stepped into the shoes of Byomkesh Bakshy. He was joined by Sashwata Chatterjee as Ajit and some television and film veterans who are almost regular in Mr. Dutta's films. This movie once again proved that sleuth films are here to rule Bengali film industry. Jishu Sengupta did a good job as Byomkesh but the story selection was not up to the mark. It was comparatively weaker story than other Byomkesh movies by Anjan Dutta.There was big hype created around the movie specially because the last Byomkesh movie by the same director was a big hit so it got a wonderful opening and completed a successful run of more than 50 days at theaters.

Katmundu

So far director Raj Chakraborty had a reputaion of a successful film maker of South India remakes only but with Katmundu he proved that he can make a successful film with original script too provided the script is good. Katmundu was a situational comedy with some really funny moments and an wonderful comic act by Rudraneel Ghosh. It was a story about three guys and their adventures in Kathmandu in a holiday. The scenic beauty of Kathmandu had been captured really well with the soulful music by Anupam Roy in the background, which was also a big hit. this movie did well not only at multiplexes rather it worked in small centers too for its simple and funny story. Now there are talks of its sequel too.


Sudhu Tomari Janno

It was a South India remake but director Birsha Dasgupta had made the film in a more subtle unlike any mainstream commercial masala movie. There was no item songs in foreign locations or any unnecessary action sequences just to add masala in the film. All these help the movie to do a better business among urban audiences too. Other factor for its success was definitely superstar Dev in the leading role. Dev was struggling to make it a big hit in commercial zone for his last few releases but with this one he once again proved he has a huge fan base. It was a big hit specially in small centers. The performances by Shrabanti and Mimi was also got good response. The music by Arindam was also very popular specially the song "Egiye De"

November

There was no particular big release in November as the month was mostly dominated by the last month's Puja releases. The only big release of this month was Director Atanu Ghosh's Abby Sen featuring Abir Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Priyanka Sarkar and Chiranjeet Chakraborty in the lead roles. It was a story about time travel so there was a nostalgic trip to 80's Calcutta. It was a good film with a potential to be an average earner but it did not get a perfect release mostly because of the pressure of all four Puja releases it git lesser number of shows and could not reach out to a larger section of audiences. The acting done by Abir Chatterjee had been highly appreciated.



December

After Durga Puja vacations, the month of December is yet another favorite season for Bengali film producers as there are holiday seasons for Christmas and New year.
There were two big releases in consecutive weeks, both were from Venkatesh films.

Har Har Byomkesh

So far we have seen only Anjan Dutta's Byomkesh movies in recent past but this time we got a new director narrating the story of Byomkesh on his own way. It was director Arindam Sil.Once gain we got Abir Chatterjee back as byomkesh but this time with a new Satyabati and Ajit which were played by Sohini Sarkar and Ritwick Chakraborty. This movie got a fresh look and treatment with the scenic beauty of varanasi as the backdrop of the story. The locations Varanasi and the North-Indian classical music in background also made us nostalgic about "Joy Baba Felunath". The casting of non bengali but bengali speaking actors in supporting role also gave the film a fresh look. It opened very well at the box office and doing good business till the end of the year.

Arshinagar

it was the first ever Bengali adaptation of  Shakespeare's classic "Romeo and Juliet". It was

an experimental film made by Aparna Sen, where the story telling style was much influenced from theater acting which gave the film a different look and feel.It featured commercial film stars Dev and Rittika as lead along with Jishu Sengupta and a lot of other talented actors including Waheeda Rehman. The movie was quite experimental on its own so it may be considered as one brave attempt but it had very lesser commercial appeal. The film did not get a good opening at the box office. Although it is still running in theaters and its final box office performance is yet to be evaluated.

Best Films of Q4 2015

• Rajkahini
• Har Har Byomkesh

Best Directors of Q4 2015

• Srijit Mukherjee - Rajkahini
• Arindam Shil - Har Har Byomkesh
• Aparna Sen - Arshinagar

Top Performers of Q4 2015:

Actors:

• Abir Chatterjee - Abby Sen/Har Har Byomkesh
• Shaswata Chatterjee - Rajkahini/Byomkesh Bakshy/Katmundu
• Koushik Sen - Rajkahini/Byomkesh Bakshy
• Harsh Chhaya - Har Har Byomkesh
• Rudraneel Ghosh - Katmundu
• Jishu Sengupta - Byomkesh Bakshy/Rajkahini/Arshinagar

Actresses:

• Rituparna Sengupta - Rajkahini
• Shrabanti - Sudhu Tomari Janno
• Parno Mitra - Rajkahini
• Mimi Chakraborty - Sudhu Tomari Janno
• Sohini Sarkar - Har Har Byomkesh

A Quick update of Bollywood in the 4th Quarter of 2015

The last quarter of 2015 was much better in terms of box office business compared to the rest of the year. There was two 200cr films, one 100cr hit, one average hit and two sleeper hits with comparatively new cast.

Lets have a quick month wise recap of the Hindi movies in fourth quarter of 2015.

October

The month of October begins with Akshay Kumar starer "Singh Is Bling", a comedy directed

by Prabhudeva. Just like other three quarters Akshay Kumar delivered yet another average hit with a collection near about 90cr. It was his fourth consecutive success for this year. Another movie which was released on the same day was "Talwar" , a fictionalized story based on a true event. It was a hard hitting realistic film with wonderful script and superb performances by Irrfan and others. This film did well as per its budget and commercial perspective and earned around 22cr which is more than expected for such a movie with lesser commercial appeal. 

The biggest surprise hit of this month was "Pyaar Ka Punchnama2". It was almost similar to its prequel, a guys film told with guys point of view. It took an average opening but due to good word of mouth publicity and some fine comic performances by the lead actors it became popular among youth audiences very rapidly and earn around 62cr in its lifetime business. Considering its small budget it can be easily said a super hit.

This month also witnessed two big flops one was Aishwarya Rai Bachhan's comeback movie "Jazzba", another one was director Vikas"Queen"Bahal's "Shaandaar" featuring Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. It was Alia's first flop of her career.

November

This was the month of Diwali and this Diwali the talk of the town was #PremIsBack. This

Diwali the big release was Salman Khan starer "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo" directed by Sooraj Barjatya. Like any other Rajshri Production film it was also about family bonding and moral values and Salman Khan played a character which is very different from his Action hero image. But no matter what type of film it is or whatever character Salman is playing when it is a Salman Khan starer it is bound to get a big opening and the same happened with this movie too.It got big opening day collection of 40.32cr and entered in 100cr club withing first weekend. The first week collection went to around 172cr. Although later the collections dropped which was quite obvious as it was not that kind of film to connect with Salman fans.  As a result its lifetime collections remained limited to 207cr.

The other big release of this month was Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone starer "Tamashaa" directed by Imtiaz Ali. It was once again a complicated tale of human relationships with wonderful performances by the leading pair. It got a good opening and earn 52cr in its first week,but as the director had given quite unusual treatment to the film which created disappointment for some people who found it a bit boring. Which affected the collections after first weekend. Finally it earned around 62cr in its lifetime.




December

The month of December began with small film called "Hate Story3", trade analysts hardly had any big expectation with this non starers, but surprisingly it got a huge opening of 9cr and recovered its budget in just two days. Later on its kept on doing good business with its only USP that was adult content. In its lifetime it earned 50cr which is really huge for such a small film.

After this Bollywood got its biggest Friday and biggest clash of this year which was Shahrukh

Khan's "Dilwale" and Sanjay Leela Bhanshali directed "Bajirao Mastaani". People had expectations from both the movies and both had the potential to be big hits on their own way . So obviously these two movies got good openings and did good enough business at the box office. As predicted "Dilwale" got better opening than "Bajirao Mastaani" but the opening for both films were lesser than expected and it happened because the screens got divided in this face off. From the very first day people loved "Bajirao Mastaani" and on the other hand the response was not so good for "Dilwale". It showed in the box office collection of the movies. "Dilwale" did better business but only for first weekend because of the advance bookings. From the first Monday, collection started being better for "Bajirao Mastaani" and after 12 days finally "Bajirao mastaani" beat the business of "Dilwale". In final run both the movies became winners at box office with more than 130cr.

On a whole the last quarter have provided some good movies and good amount of money at the box office. We hope next year will be even better.

Best Films of Q4 2015

• Talvar
• Titli
• Bajirao Mastaani

Top Performers of Q4 2015:

Actors:

• Irrfan Khan - Talvar
• Randeep Hooda - Main Aur Charles
• Ranbir Kapoor - Tamasha
• Shahrukh Khan - Dilwale
• Ranveer Singh - Bajirao Mastaani
• Neeraj Kabi - Talvar
• Adil Hussain - Main Aur Charles
• Kartik Aaryan - Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2
• Sunny Singh Nijjar - Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2
• Ranvir Shorey - Titli
• Amit Sial - Titli

Actresses:

• Deepika Padukone - Tamasha
• Konkona Sensharma - Talvar
• Lara Dutta - Singh Is Bling
• Deepika Padukone - Bajirao Mastaani
• Priyanka Chopra - Bajiraao Mastaani
• Kajol - Dilwale

Top Songs of Q4 2015:

• Sharabi - Pyaar Ka Punchnama2
• Gulaabo - Shaandaar
• Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Aaj Unse, Prem Leela - Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
• Matargashti, Agar Tum Saath Ho, Heer - Tamashaa
• Wajah Tum Hi Ho, Tumhe Apna Banane Ka Junun - Hate Story3
• Gerua, Janam Janam - Dilwale
• Deewani Mastaani, Pinga - Bajirao Mastaani

Review of Bengali film Har Har Byomkesh

Last winter during Christmas vacation we had three consecutive big hits in Tollywood , "Badshahi Angti", "Byomkesh Fire Elo" and "Ebar Shabor". This winter Venkatesh films have came with a new movie "Har Har Byomkesh" taking ingredients  from all those three movies, Director of "Ebar Shabor" Arindam Shil, the leading actor of all those movies Abir Chatterjee , the story is based on detective Byomkesh Bakshi and just like "Badshahi Angti" here too the backdrop is an ancient city of Uttar Pradesh with heritage and culture. Although the original story was based in Patna but here the location has been shifted to Varanasi which have given the film a better look and feel as the city with abundance of cultural heritage playing a character itself. Also not to forget Varanasi and detective story have a nostalgic connection in all Bengali's heart, thanks to the great Satyajit Ray. While watching the allies of Varanasi and the classical music in background you are bound to be nostalgic about "Joy Baba Felunath", even in the climax there is a fantastic tribute to the classic by the director himself in a guest appearance.

The story is an adaptation of Sharadindu Bandopadhyay's story "Banhi Patang". The movie

begins with Byomkesh's(Abir Chatterjee) trip to Varanasi with his wife Satyabati(Sohini Sarkar) and friend Ajit(Ritwick Chakraborty). In Varanasi they received the hostage of local Police Inspector Purandar Pandey(Harsh Chhaya). Almost without any intention they get involved in a murder case of a local rich zamindar Dipnarayan Singh (Adil Hussain). Singh was a very rich and powerful personality. He had almost forcefully married a girl Shakuntala (Nusrat Jehan) who was half of his age. They don't have any child but have a nephew and his wife in his family. Also there are some other family friends like some doctors and other local rich brats. Among the family and friend circle many people have motive to kill Singh. Everyone is in the circle of doubt but how Byomkesh will find the truth that is the story.

The story is not much complex and even before climax there are enough clues to predict the culprit but the narrative style is so nice that you hardly bother to solve the mystery rather you will enjoy the journey with Byomkesh and Ajit with the help of Purandar Pandey and some accidental clues from Satyabati. Here one thing need to said the interaction between Byomkesh , Ajit and Satyabati is very nice and there are few romantic moments between Byomkesh and Satyabati too. Unlike Anjan Dutta's Byomkesh movies here Satyabati is not always ready to shout and fight, here she  is soft spoken and more realistic even when she is angry she doesn't shout rather she choose to protest silently.

Director Arindam Shil has given it a totally different treatment than the Byomkesh movies made by Anjan Dutta. He has recreated the era and feel of Varanasi wonderfully keeping a perfectionist's eye on every detail. The story never feels boring or stretched, the story has been told precisely but still manage to take us for a small trip to the wonderful landscapes of Varanasi. To give the film a rich look , the production house is also very much responsible. The way they have allowed a flexible budget it has enhanced the production values unlike the other Byomkesh movies which look like telefilms for their limited budget.

Abir Chatterjee has already proved he is very efficient as Byomkesh. He has mastered the

character with persistence and now he has became a pro to act in this character. His dialogue delivery and body language is very apt for the character of the Sleuth.
Sohini Sarkar is the best Satyabati played by any other actress so far. She has underplayed her character wonderfully. She is obviously not the central character but she has managed to make her presence felt with her simple yet powerful performance.
Ritwick Chakraborty is a very talented actor but probably his on screen image doesn't goes with the conventional Ajit we know so far. So he has not even tried to act like an intellectual writer rather his Ajit is very refreshing, more jolly and less serious.

One must praise the casting director for choosing the actors for playing different characters

who are mostly from Varanasi so they must talk in Hindi but considering it is Bengali film, they must need to be confident in Bengali too to work smoothly with a Bengali crew. So mostly the actors have been chosen in a such a way who knows both Bengali and Hindi and have acted in Bollywood movies. They don't belong to Tollywood but have Bengali connection. It works really well for the story as well as it has given a fresh look to the film with fresh faces.
Nusrat Jehan has played the character of Shakuntala which is very different from the roles she generally plays in her commercial mainstream movies. One can say she has been relaunched with this movie. She has looked absolutely gorgeous and graceful exactly as per her character's demand. She has acted well too. Hopefully in future she will get more significant roles in Tollywood.
Harsh Chhaya is an wonderful actor. This is his first Bengali movie and he is perfect in this one. Adil Hussain is superb in an extended cameo. The other cast members have given good support.

Among the technical team everyone has done good job. Production design and costumes are very authentic to recreate the era. Cinematographer Soumik Halder has captured Varanasi wonderfully. The editing is sharp and has not wasted any time, it gives it the required pace.

On the musical front, Bickram Ghosh's north Indian classical tunes go perfectly with the period and the setting. Listening to the different soundtracks is, in fact, an experience in its own right. The background score, too, adds to the mystery, waxing and waning with the audience's adrenaline.

Overall it is an engaging thriller which balances story, pace and presentation perfectly. It has some wonderful acting by the lead cast and the trip to Varanasi is an added attraction. Don't miss it, this winter Har Har Bolo.

Review of Bajirao Mastaani

Sanjay Leela Bhanshali's “Bajiraao Mastaani” is an epic love saga of a Hindu maratha warrior Peshoa Bajirao and his second wife Mastaani who was a born out of Hindu father and Muslim mother. Although historians are more interested to present Bajirao as a warrior who had won 40 battles in his life but Mr. Bhanshali was very keen to tell this love story for around 12 years. Finally his dream turns into a reality.
It is a great love story which was beyond any boundary of religion, rituals and politics.It has all the elements of a brand Bhanshali film from larger than life sets to heavy designer clothes to well choreographed song and dance. It is a periodic film set in Maratha in 17th century and of course lots of research has been done to recreate that era but if you closely observe every other Bhanshali movie looks same in look and feel no matter in which era or which region it has been set up. Do you actually remember when the last time Mr. Bhanshali had made a contemporary film.
The story begins with Bajirao (Ranveer Singh) getting crowned as Peshoa once his father

died. Bajirao was living in his palace in Pune with his widow mother (Tanvi Azmi), his wife Kashibai(Priyanka Chopra) ,his younger brother and other associates. Kashibai was in very much love with her husband and her entire world was limited around him only. In such a situation Bajirao met Mastaani (Deepika Padukone), princess of Bundelkhand ,who had came to Bajirao to seek help to save her kingdom from foreign attacks. Bajirao helped Mastaani and fell in love with her and soon they get married. But the whole family of Bajirao as well as the Hindu society was not ready to accept a Muslim girl as Bajirao' wife. But their love for each other was strong enough to fight the battle against all odds.
The story is based on a novel named "Rau" and some creative liberties have been taken to describe the story.To avoid any controversy, in the beginning of the film it has been

mentioned clearly that it is work of fiction based on some historical facts. There is a heavy reference of Mughal-E-Azam and Jodha Akbar in the story and its presentation. The life of Bajirao as a warrior has been given a bit of importance so you can find historical details of his big wins here and there in the screenplay, but the main focus is definitely the love story between Bajirao and Mastaani and the heartbreak of the other wife Kashibai.
The screenplay is good but the pace is very slow there are so many long scenes where the characters are not even saying any dialogue but just conveying messages through eyes. Even the dialogues are too heavy and melodramatic for current generation. The climax is over dramatic and has been stretched for more than required. There are some unnecessary songs too specially the "Malhaari" song which does not go well with the character of Bajirao. All these factors have added extra length to its running time. But still the film can be enjoyed for its wonderful technical crew behind the screen and of course the superb performances of the cast members on screen.

Sanjay Leela Bhanshali is a director who never compromises with his vision for any commercialization. He has his own signature style to tell a story which is very close to his heart. His observation for every minute detailing is visible in every frame. The way he has narrated the story in a large canvas that is highly commendable. His presentation is almost a poetry in motion.

Ranveer Singh is awesome as the great warrior Peshoa Bajirao. His body language, dialogue

delivery with a Marathi accent suits very well with his character. He is wonderful in war sequences at the same time he is brilliant in emotional scenes too. His physical transformation for this character is also praiseworthy.
Deepika Padukone has looked so gorgeous that anyone will fall in love with her. The big expressive eyes are good enough to convey the passion and pain of her onscreen character Mastaani. She has proved her hard work and dedication to learn new thing in the sword fighting sequences. Also she is marvelous as a dancer in all three songs picturized on her, she has danced exceptionally well.
Together Ranveer and Deepika have a mind blowing chemistry.

The another angle of this love triangle is Kashibai, which has been brilliantly played

by Priyanka Chopra. Although she has comparatively lesser screen time but her character is significant. Her journey from a carefree young wife of an warrior to a mature sensitive wife who is ready to share her husband's love in spite of huge pain, just to make her husband happy. She has showcased her emotions in a nice way that one will definitely feel sympathy for this character. She too has danced very well in the song "Pinga". 
Among the others Tanvi Azmi is effective in a negative role as Bajirao's mother. Others have given ample support.

The technical crew works their best in Mr. Bhanshali's movies. The way works with his technical team that you will find everything in almost perfection whether it is production design, costumes, sound design. The costumes , jewelries and sets are eye caching and luxurious. Cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee has done a superb job to capture this intense drama in magnificent way. The background music is also very much effective to enhance the drama on the screen. Sham Kaushal has designed the war sequences exceptionally well.

Prakash R. Kapadia’s dialogues are among the high points of the film , though for the target audiences only. The dialogues have added a dramatic impact to the film. 

Music is always the soul of a Bhanshali movie and here too he has created soulful music as a composer himself. The songs work really well with the story, specially the songs "Deewani Mastaani" and "Pinga" which are already popular. These two songs has been choreographed brilliantly by Remo D'souza. Another song "Mohe Rand De Lal" has been graced with the superb Kathak dance steps by Pt. Birju Maharaj. Here one thing should be mentioned the two songs "Deewani Mastaani" and "Mohe Rang De Lal" are hugely inspired from "Mughal-E-Azam" songs "Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya" and "Mohe Panghat Pe", we can say its Mr. Bhanshali's tribute to the classic.

Over all it is a film for a selected section of audience only who loves the signature style of Mr. Bhanshali. It is a passionate love story of two souls, of two hearts which beat together and stop together.