2012 has had a strange start to it as far as movies are concerned. Typically the convention is that very few big banner movies are released in the first half of the year so that they can cash in on the summer box office. With the advent of the IPL it has only helped diminish the few who did release their films during the first half. But this year was different because there were several anticipated big banner films that were released before July and whats more is that they did well in terms of business.
The year started with Abbas-Mustan's Players. An official remake to 'The Italian Job', Players failed to set the box office ringing. It failed to capture the essence of the original and was a scene to scene remake which made it quite an uninteresting watch. The action was uninspiring especially after seeing movies like Don and Ra.one the previous year. Following suit in the remakes brigade was Karan Malhotra's Agneepath. Although some feared that this movie would mar the memories of the old classic, it proved out to be quite the winner. A remolded character sketch of the famous Vijay Deenanath Chauhan only helped the films cause. It made you forget the original and accept it as a new film. Hrithik's performance and the music was the highlight of the movie.
Then came a movie which showed great promise in its promos, Gali Gali Chor hai. But like a bad diwali firework it wiped out even before starting. Akshaye Khanna and Annu Kapoor's valiant effort could not save the poor screenplay. K Jo in a very unlike K Jo fashion came up with another release in the space of 2 weeks, Ek Main aur Ek Tu staring a new jodi of Imran and Kareena. A brisk rom-com which definitely had its moments. The highlight of the movie was Kareena's acting, the super ending and Amit Trivedi's music. Then came the reel to real love story Tere Naal Love ho gaya. Aptly synchronized to release in the month of their wedding, the movie did open to a decent response. But failed to keep momentum due to a mundane script and screenplay.
March was a mixed bag. It started with yet another rom com, London Paris New York. Although it had decent performances and a decent musical score, it failed to make an impact. The character sketches were far too weak and uninvolved in each other in my opinion. Then came Paan Singh Tomar which was a very captivating film. Irfan Khan delivered a brilliant performance. As it was a true story it had a disturbing attribute to it which is why people shied away from it I guess. The film of the year in my opinion was released on 9th March. Kahaani not only boasted of a wonderful script screenplay and direction but also of a stellar performance by Vidya Balan. It definitely has to be one of the finer thrillers to have come out in recent times. March also saw the release of Saif's magnum opus project Agent Vinod. Although it had its moments of brilliance, director Sriram Raghavan failed to recreate the magic of his previous films. Too many twists in the tale brought its downfall in my opinion.
Housefull 2 aptly released on April Fool's weekend. This was a loud comedy that raked in moolah like no tomorrow. Personally I hated this movie, but it turned out to be quite the audience favorite. April also saw the 'chupa rustam of 2012', Vicky Donor. This small budget John Abraham production had a wonderful script and screenplay by Juhi Chaturvedi and was directed by Shoojit Sircar. Impactful performances by Annu Kapoor and Ayushman Khurana only strengthened the movies cause. The star studded Tezz soon followed in the theatres. It boasted of some slick action but failed to keep the audience hooked on and turned out to be not so profitable.
In the month of May, IPL was at its peak. So very few A grade movies tried their luck at the box office. Karisma Kapoor marked her return with Dangerous Ishq. I have not seen the film to comment on it but from the promos it had a very 90s look and feel to it. Then came one of the most anticipated films of 2012, Ishaqzaade. The look was very fresh with new actors. The film was below par in my opinion. I never felt the connect between the lead characters of the movie. Parineeti's acting was the highlight of the movie for me. RGV was back with a star studded venture, Department. The movie was marred with controversies with Sanjay and Ramu badmouthing each other. The movie had bizarre camera angles to say the least which drove away many a spectators. The only shining spot in this flick was Amitabh Bachhan.
The much anticipated Rowdy Rathore released as soon as the IPL was over. By now the song 'chinta ta chita chita' was a rage. Again personally I did not like this movie at all but it is the biggest earner of the year so far. Another of the LYBAH (Leave your brains at home) comedy. The next to release was Shanghai. Supposedly, this was Dibakar Banerjee's best work. But I beg to differ. I found the movie too predictable. Somehow it dod not work for me. Maybe it was the hype around it. Ferrari ki Sawari released as small film since it had no big stars to boast about. But Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani and the screenplay stood tall to give this movie its much deserved success. It stuck to telling a simple tale of a simple man and that it where it won the race in my opinion. The week after that was followed by Teri Meri Kahani and Gangs of Wasseypur. Kunal Kohli's Teri Meri Kahani had nothing new to offer. To add to its misery, bad promos and bad writing prevented this movie from using its starcast's full potential.My personal top 5 of this year are as follows.
1) Kahaani
2) Agneepath
3) Vicky Donor
4) Ferrari Ki Sawari
5) Ek mai aur ek tu
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