LIST: Best Films Of The Decade

At the outset I admit I haven’t watched all the films released in this decade. But since I don’t think I’ve missed any of the significant ones, will dare to continue. This is not a chronological list -– either in terms of release dates or of ranking. It certainly isn’t based on box-office performance or on any other generalised parameters. These are just the handful of films made between 2000 and 2010 that I have enjoyed watching for various reasons. I may even have missed a few important ones. But the logic is, if they didn’t pop up at the top of the head, they may not have had a lasting impact.

1. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005): Three friends graduate from college in the early ‘70s. The wealthiest, Siddharth, is guided by his idealism to join the Naxalite movement, Geeta marries an upwardly mobile civil servant while carrying on her old affair with Siddharth, and Vikram smooth-talks and bribes his way to riches, determined to leave behind the disadvantages of his lower-middle class, small-town upbringing and the principles of his Gandhian father. Siddharth’s romanticism is crushed by the heavy blows of the state machinery; Vikram’s ill-gotten wealth can’t save him from being reduced to a vegetable. It’s Geeta who stays true to herself and refuses to follow Siddharth to London, choosing to live in a village and nurse Vikram instead. Sudhir Mishra’s elegy on a lost generation is likely to remain close to my heart for a long time to come.

2. Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006): If one had to pick one ‘film of the decade’, I’d probably pick this one. It’s entertainment at its best in a package that’s so endearing, it’s impossible not to fall in love with it. Putting the words of Mahatma Gandhi in the mouth of a dumb gangster like Munnabhai was a stroke of genius. Raju Hirani and Abhijat Joshi’s screenplay is singular in its sophistication. It makes you laugh and cry and reflect on life all at once without seeming didactic. There’s a touch of irony too, for no one but a madman with a ‘chemical imbalance’ would endorse Gandhi’s idealism in these ‘shining’ times. Gandhigiri caught on as a slogan (if only for a while) and perhaps Munnabhai’s reel-life transformation facilitated Sanjay Dutt’s early release on bail in August 2007.

3. Dor (2006): The only Hindi film I’ve watched in recent memory which tackles the theme of an unusual friendship between two women from different worlds who are thrown together due to a twist of fate. The free-spirited Zeenat travels from Himachal Pradesh to Rajasthan to seek out the newly widowed Meera to persuade her to pardon her husband’s death sentence. Zeenat helps Meera reclaim her life and in a romantic (albeit unrealistic) ending, the two women take off on a train after Meera signs the letter of pardon. It took a man (Nagesh Kukunoor) to look at life through a woman’s eyes and give the Hindi film heroine a modern voice.

4. Taare Zameen Par (2007): This one’s for Darsheel Safary’s livewire performance. A child actor takes centre-stage on screen after a long time and carries the film on his tiny shoulders. Despite the preachy narrative, it’s an enjoyable ride – the little boy is never short of pranks and by the end of the film, we’re all rooting for him to emerge winner at the drawing competition and fulfill our quashed aspirations by proxy. Aamir Khan’s directorial debut also highlights the role that perceptive teachers can play in transforming children’s lives.

5. Main Hoon Na (2004): Farah Khan loves mainstream Hindi cinema and it shows in her first film. Here’s the ultimate tribute to Bollywood potboilers of yesteryear. Brothers Ram and Lakshman are separated at birth, one a brave army officer, the other a wayward college boy who refuses to grow up. The army officer must straighten things out with the brother and step-mother, rescue the country from the clutches of the evil villain, and serenade the chiffon-clad heroine all at once and in style too. SRK’s in prime form and Sushmita Sen sizzles like never before.

6. Dil Chahta Hai (2001): Farhan Akhtar made a film about his own life and friends and it turned into a cult hit. Aamir Khan was at his least inhibited as the spoilt and arrogant Akash but Saif Ali Khan stole the show as the indecisive Sameer who falls in love over and over again and with the same passion. Personally, I wish Farhan had done better justice to his heroines. It would have been a path-breaking film if Akshaye Khanna and Dimple Kapadia got together in the end, and Preity Zinta snubbed both Aamir and Ayub Khan to stay single. But Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music rocked and the witty dialogues, smooth narrative (barring the end, of course) and cool production design gave the film a fresh urbane touch. Above all, ‘DCH’ changed the way Bollywood films looked forever.

7. Maqbool (2003): The finest gangster movie since ‘Satya’, Vishal Bharadwaj’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ is a master-class in screenplay, dialogue, acting, cinematography and direction. Rarely do all the key elements in a Hindi film fall into place so perfectly that the narrative literally sucks you into its world. It was perfect casting too – Irrfan as the introverted but ambitious protagonist, Tabu as Nimmi, the woman who drives Maqbool to murder his own boss Abbaji (Pankaj Kapur, sensational) and Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri as Purohit and Pandit, the corrupt cops who embody the witches of ‘Macbeth’, plotting and scheming to manipulate the balance of power in the Mumbai underworld. The film had a dark, portentous look, which complemented the grim theme perfectly.

8. Rang De Basanti (2006): There are valid arguments to be made against the radical climax of this trend-setter, but it effectively brought the frustrations of middle-class India to the fore. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s band of boys led by Aamir Khan discovers idealism through the sacrifice of Bhagat Singh and his associates who took to violence in their fight against the British rule. DJ and friends choose a similar path to avenge the death of their fighter-pilot friend. Admittedly, such sensationalism isn’t necessarily virtuous. But it was still heartening to watch the youth fight for a cause and sacrifice their lives in process.

9. Johnny Gaddar (2007): This one’s a personal favourite. An authentic noir film that acknowledges its debt to James Hadley Chase novels and Vijay Anand’s cinema. The most admirable thing about Shriram Raghavan’s thriller is that the viewers know who the traitor in the pack of robbers is right from the start, and yet, the suspense doesn’t flag till the end. Cinematography, music and editing work cohesively to lend pace and polish to this entertaining caper.

10. Dev D (2009): Definitely my pick of 2009, Anurag Kashyap’s audacious interpretation of Devdas turned all sorts of Bollywood formulae on their head. The gutless alcoholic hero (played with a lot of heart by Abhay Deol) is nothing like the larger-than-life protagonist of Bimal Roy’s or Sanjay Bhansali’s ‘Devdas’. The setting changes from romantic 19th century Bengal to rugged 21st century Punjab. The heroines speak and act their minds like never before. The hero loses himself in a drug-induced haze in the shady streets of Delhi, but manages to redeem himself in the end. Amit Trivedi’s fantastic musical score and Kashyap’s psychedelic vision are sublime and ‘Dev D’ is a stirring cinematic experience.

Comments

[Harsh]

Ofcourse its a personal list, but 'Main Hoon Na' can definitely be replaced by 'manorama six feet under'...a stylish, diferent and surprisingly slow thriller