Flicks Which Clicked: Top movies of 2012

Year 2012 can roughly be called the year of experiment for the Hindi film fraternity. We saw a mixed breed of Bollywood movies hitting the theaters. Issues such as autism, infertility, honor killing, commercialization of religion, were also braved by the directors. While some made a lasting impression on the minds of the viewers, some fell flat and bombed at the box-office.

The year also saw the acting debut of Boney Kapoor's son-Arjun Kapoor, television actor Ayushmann Khurana, Sunny Leone, Farah Khan, Ileana D'Cruz, and the comeback of the yesteryear beauty-Sridevi. Anurag Basu's 'Barfi' also made its way to the most-coveted Academy Award nominations.

The DQ Channels brings to you the 12 chartbuster movies which enthralled the audiences in the year 2012.

1. Agneepath

2. Vickey Donor

3. Ishaqzaade

4. Gangs Of Wasseypur

5. Kahani

6. Ek Tha Tiger

7. Barfi

8. Heroine

9. OMG: Oh My God!

10. English Vinglish

11. Talaash

12. Jab Tak Hai Jaan

So, pick your favorites from the list and share your opinion with us.

Agneepath: The justified remake

The year was opened with the much-awaited remake starring Hritik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, and Rishi Kapoor, in pivotal roles. The Karan Johar offering was obviously expected to live up to standards of the original cult starring Amitabh Bachchan as the angry young man Vijay Dinanath Chauhan.

The movie begins in the hamlet of Mandwa and then moves to Mumbai. Hrithik as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan wants to take revenge for the murder of his father by drug lord Kancha played by Sanjay Dutt. On the way he meets Rauf Lala, essayed by Rishi Kapoor, who becomes his godfather in crime. He grows up with girl-next-door Kaali (Priyanka Chopra) who eventually becomes his lover.

The remake with a fresh approach to the basic backdrop, although scored high on direction, acting, screenplay and music, it somewhere lost on the plot which turned to be not boring but unnecessarily stretched. However, that too was ignored as Sanju Baba as the mighty and scary Kaancha Cheena, and hottie Katrina Kaif as chikni chameli, did the much required trick for the flick.

The action sequences of the film were also its strength, however they seemed extremely violent and raging at times. To sum it up, the film proved to be a decent tribute and a perfect entertainer for a movie buff.

Vickey Donor: Ayushmann's spermastic performance!

This came as a sweet surprise to the audiences when John Abraham donned the producer's cap and produced one of the superhit films of 2012-Vickey Donor. Starring television actor Ayushmann Khurrana, Yami Gautam and Annu Kapoor the film turned out to be a box-office favorite because of its unique storyline is based on the concept of sperm donation and infertility.

The film also got a thumbs up from critics and audience because of the impeccable acting of the leading stars of the movie. Ayushmann did exceptionally well in his character of a typical Delhi boy, considering it was his debut on large screen. Yami too did her best in portraying the role of a young divorced woman who keeps herself busy with work. But Annu Kapoor scored a perfect 10 when it came to essaying the role of Dr Baldev Chaddha, an fertility expert. The entire movie revolves around the main storyline and never do one feel that the movie has lost its track.

Another highlight of the movie was its heart warming music. Tracks like "Rum Whisky" and "Mar Jayian" were the most loved songs of the movie; but the most favored song turned out to be "Pani Da Rang" which deserves a special mention as it has been rendered by none other than the protagonist of the movie- Ayushmann Khurrana.

Overall the movie had everything one needs to create a box-office hit and Shoojit Sircar surely deserves a pat on his back for his marvelous direction.

Ishaqzaade: A tough love story

Newcomers Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra impressed with their acting prowess. The film was hugely entertaining, complemented by good music. Shot in the shanty towns of Lucknow, the plot revolves around two opposition political parties, the Chauhan's and the Qureshi's. Completely anti the families cannot stand each other a bit. Things get worse when the younger generation falls in love with each other. What follows is a series of hot confrontations and violent shoot-outs of revenge between the families.

The rugged Parma Chauhan (Arjun Kapoor) and the bubbly romp, Zoya Qureshi (Parineeti Chopra), made for a great pairing. Parma, in a bid to prove his worth to his grandfather, tricks Zoya into marrying him in a secret way. He later circulates the wedding pictures to defame the Qureshi's who, as a consequence, lose elections to Chauhan's.

However, as a pledge to his dying mother, Parma stands by Zoya, who was disowned by her family. While the two became inseparable lovers, their rival families chalked plans of killing them. Having failed in their attempts to get accepted together, they choose to end their lives on their own rather than getting killed by their parents.

Overall, the film clicked well with most of the audience. No expensive clothes, no show-off, only power-packed performances. There was everything to keep one thrilled: a passionate love story, drama, music (some hot numbers by the sultry Gauhar Khan), and action. The film comes alive with the honed acting skills of the newcomers. Director Habib Faisal has attempted to sensitize people towards the evil of Honor Killing, that is still executed in some sections of our society.

Gangs Of Wasseypur-Anurag ne Keh ke liya

2012 saw a variety in the films released. And talking of variety one can not miss the Anurag Kashyap's directed adult/crime/thriller-Gangs Of Wasseypur. The movie was released in two parts and each part was equally applauded. The film has got a robust star cast of experienced and new actors including; Jaideep Ahlawat, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Manoj Bajpai, Richa Chadda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Reemma Sen, Huma Qureshi, etc.

The story revolves around power struggles, politics and vengeance between three crime families. In the first part, the story spans from the early 1940s to mid 1990s; and in the second part the story spans from the 1990s to 2009.

The film mainly draws its story from the real life gang wars that took place in the region of Dhanbad, Jharkhand. Keeping in mind the long duration of the movie; 320 minutes to be precise, Anurag Kashyap made it a point to add his creativity in the story and weaved the characters carefully. However the director somewhere failed to project a clear picture of the various characters and the outcome was confused audiences trying to understand relations between the various characters in the movie.

Performance wise, all characters of the movie have done a brilliant job. Starting from Jaideep Ahlawat, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Manoj Bajpai, Richa Chadda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui; to Reemma Sen, Huma Qureshi, etc, everyone has done their best in the movie. While Manoj Bajpai excelled in his role of Sardar Khan, who lives with the thought of taking revenge from Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia), for killing his father; Richa Chadda did full justice to her role of Sardar Khan's wife-Nagma Khatoon. Nawazuddin Siddiqui also gave a brilliant performance as Faizal (Sardar Khan's second son) and the protagonist of Wasseypur II. Overall, the movie was a delight to watch for people who loves hatke movies and all I can say is Anurag Kashyap ne 'keh ke liya' audience ka pyaar!.

Kahani: A must-watch

Following the much-aprecaited The Dirt Picture, actor Vidya Balan climbed high on success graph with yet another powerful performance Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani.

The story revolves around a London-based software engineer Vidya Bagchi, played by Balan, who arrives in dusty and clustered Kolkata to find her missing husband, Arnab Bagchi. The film then unravels a series of interesting sequences while the pregnant lady finds her husband. And, despite the interesting story, which keeps you hooked, what turned out to be the major high-point of the film was its climax, where it was revealed that Vidya was actually not pregnant in the film.

With a subtle music and not-so-known faces, Kahaani scored high at the ticket window solely on its strong storyline and impressive performances by Vidya Balan, Saswata Chatterjee as Bob Biswas, or Parambrata Chattopadhyay as the cop, among others.

To sum it up, the small budget thriller again proved that it does not take big names or money to make a successful film.

Ek Tha Tiger: Salman on a High

This Khan is on a tremendous high and delivering hits one after another. Salman and Katrina starrer Ek Tha Tiger put the box-office on fire with their sizzling chemistry and some widely acclaimed action sequences directed by ace Hollywood stunt director, Conrad Palmisano.

Director Kabir Khan ambtious spy thriller cum romantic story saw Salman khan playing the role of a secret agent. Katrina looked not just beautiful but fitted into her role well. The film was shot in Ireland, Turkey, Iraq, India and Cuba featuring some of the very picturesque locales.The music which has a lot of Arabic influences add to the experience of watching Salman in action.

The film was declared an "All-time Blockbuster" and is the most successful film of Yash Raj's Films. The film went on to become the second bollywood film to gross over 300 crore (US$54.6 million) worldwide behind only 3 Idiots thus becoming the second highest grossing Bollywood film of all time. Salman Khan is currently creating ripples at the box-office.

Ek Tha Tiger just added to Salman's phenomenal success rate. With Dabagg 2 lined up for release soon, Salman is on a high like never before.

Barfi: A Sweet Story Said Sensitively

Written and directed by Anurag Basu, this romantic comedy kept the audience in good spirits as well as proved to be touching since it portrayed the differently abled with sensitivity and humour. It tells the story of "Barfi", a mute and deaf boy in Darjeeling, West Bengal and his relation with two girls, one of whom is autistic. The film starred Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz in lead roles

Made on a budget of 30 crore (5.46 million), the film was sent as India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination for the 85th Academy Awards to be held in February 2013. Basu later announced that he planned an English language version of the film.

The film was praised for showing positive portrayal of the differently abled in films. Ranbir as the deaf and mute boy stole the show with his brilliant comic timing. This was touted as Priyanka's best performance till date with her absolutely brilliant portryal of an autistic girl. The newcomer, Ileana Dcuz, in a smaller yet substantial role touched many hearts.

The music and background score of the film composed by Pritam had some great tracks which are still topping the charts. This Barfi was definitely very sweet!

Heroine: Kareena in a new avatar

Perhaps, this was the most over-hyped movie of the year. One, because it promised oodles of masala being a Madhur Bhandarkar film, who also rolled out the glossy Fashion, and two, because the role was enacted by A-list actress Kareena Kapoor. The 'high-on-glam' film depicted the intense life of a Bollywood heroine and the pros and cons that come with it. Madhur could not have gone wrong with Kareena for the movie, who is the actual reigning 'heroine' of Bollywood.

Although a treat for those who admire Kareena, who no doubt looked ravishing and performed splendidly, Heroine was a clumsy overdose of controversies and scandals, all crammed up scene after scene. The oh so loud movie keeps serving you doses of depression with its sleazy sequences of behind-the-camera life of a star, and the sad downfall that follows suit.

The audience is hit hard with the tone of the movie, which exhibits a dark life that accompanies an apparently tempting stardom. All this is enough to really turn off your mood by the end.

All-in-all, the shocking Bollywood expose didn't get down too well with the audience, and the film fared averagely at the box-office. Bhandarkar's gamble to redo a Fashion and cash in on the popularity of Kareena, didn't bore him sweet fruits this time.

OMG: Oh My God!-Paresh, Akshay does it again!

What can you expect from the superhit, tried and tested pairing of two powerhouse performers; ofcourse a hell lot of entertainment. And Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal did just that in the movie OMG: Oh My God! Directed by Umesh Shukla and co-produced by Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal this movie is based on a Gujarati play called Kanji Virudh Kanji, and with a plot similar to that of an Australian film The Man Who Sued God.

The characters of the movie were chosen appropriately and each character had a noticeable amount of role to play in the movie. OMG deals with a sensitive storyline with Paresh Rawal doing justice to his role of an atheist, who doesn't believe in the existence of God. Akshay Kumar also excelled in his role of Lord Krishna who comes to rescue Kanjilal (Paresh Rawal) when he faces trouble due to his allegations on God. The total duration of the movie was just 130 minutes and never for a minute do one feel that that the film has lost its spirit and the film revolves around the main storyline of the film.

Mithun Chakraborthy essayed the role of a priest Leeladhar Swamy and successfully manages to keep the audiences engaged. The film manages to draw one's attention to the misuse and commercialization of religion, and the movie was a brave blend of satire, fable and fantasy.

Made on a budget of 20 crore, the film received positive response from critics and audience upon release. Box Office India declared the film a Superhit after its three week run.

English Vinglish: Sridevi's classic comeback

Hailed by critics as a 'must-watch', English Vinglish won global acclaims. Eminent actress Sridevi made a dashing comeback after 15 years for writer-filmmaker Gauri Shinde's debut production. Her classic enactment of a Maharashtrian housewife who struggles with her weak English was worth a watch.

Shashi Godbole, played by Sridevi, is projected as an ideal homemaker: kind, soft, and down to earth. She quietly performs her daily chores, including her business-cum-hobby of making ladoos, which are relished by everyone in the locality. Taken for granted by her family, Shashi is constantly ridiculed by her english-savvy convent-going teenaged daughter and her executive husband, for her inability to speak and understand English. She is considered good for only making laddos. Poor Shashi feels low, but quite conscious of the 'modern' world around her she cannot match up with.

However, she harbors a steely resolve somewhere within, which takes off when she lands in New York for her niece's marriage. A golden chance to learn English in 4 weeks hits upon her, which she readily grabs without telling anyone. The English classroom is set with a pleasing gent teacher and varied nationals. The interactive classroom scenes enthralled the viewers and tickled funny bones too. Shashi was recognized as an entrepreneur, praised for her intelligence, and loved for being a nice soul, all what she craved for back home. Filled with confidence, she does wonders for herself. All are in for a surprise on the wedding day, when she delivers a beautiful English speech for her niece.

The film has an emotional core, and left many, including Amitabh Bachchan who has a short cameo in the movie, moist eyed. An invoking subject line, amusing characters, pleasant picturization, and 'Sridevi magic', all worked to the success of the movie.

Talash: The Aamir Khan Starrer Does it Yet Again

An Aamir Khan starrer always creates hype and much anticipation and Talaash was no exception. Released recently, the story revolves around a police officer, Surjan Singh Shekhawat played by Aamir Khan, who investigates the mysterious death of a film star, Armaan Kapoor (Vivan Bhatena) while trying to investigate the case, Shekhawat meets a sex worker Rosie (Kareena Kapoor), who helps him fight his psychological problems and also helps him with the case. Rani Mukherji plays the cop's wife with as ease and subtlety giving her character depth.

A psychological thriller, Talaash written by Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar kept the audience hooked through out. Karrena's first movie post her wedding kept the expectations high and her fans were not disappointed by her unmatched charm and a brilliant performance.

A very soothing music score by by Ram Sampath with lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar, made this film a great watch. Talaash has emerged among the top three bollywood movies in terms of overseas box-office collections in 2012. According to estimates, Talaash is likely to do a business of Rs 90 crore business at the domestic box-office, riding on its strong showing at the multiplexes.

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Jab Tak Hai Jaan: Sheer treat for SRK fans

The movie marked the re-entry of late filmmaker Yash Chopra, who brought romance live on the screen, in the world of direction. No wonder, the movie was one of the much-awaited films of 2012. The love saga, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, talked about true love, sacrifice and separation. The movie starts off with Samar Anand (SRK), an expert in the bomb disposal squad of the Indian Army, who saves the life of Akira Rai's (Anushka Sharma) life, a Discovery Channel intern. She gets to read his dairy and the movie goes to a flash back.

Samar is a struggling immigrant in London. He meets and falls for Meera Thappar (Katrina Kaif), who plays a rich NRI who is already engaged. Samar meets with a fatal accident, on the day when he decides to meet Meera's parents. The incident leaves superstitious Meera in shock as she believes herslef to be unlucky for him. So, she promises to Jesus to never see Samar again just to assure that his life is not at stake. And, she leaves him. This is where the film loses the connect with the audience. The fact that Meera leaves her love only for superstition was something that was difficult to digest for the audience.

However, destiny brings Samar and Meera together again after ten long years. And this time again after Samar meets with another fatal accident which causes him amnesia! So, Meera comes back to save him and when Samar recalls his memory again, Meera realizes that God kept Samar alive for ten years not because she was not with him, but for her. However, the film lacked on storyline, SRK's power-packed performance saved it. Anushka also performed well, however Katrina could be better in expressions to match up to the Yash Raj's heroines.

With average music score, and exotic locales, the film did not turn out to be like other Yash Chopra epic love stories like Silsila, Chandani, Lamhe, Dil Toh Pagal Hai, or Veer-Zaara. However, despite its flaws, the movie was a sheer treat for all SRK fans, as it turned out to be one of the highest grossers of 2012.