2017 Hindi Movie Awards - Top 10 Movies

Top 10 Movies of 2017 -

1. Dangal - G. (Drama) -
1. For the subtle confluence of Comedy and Drama with patriotism strictly in the backdrop. The moving Daughter - Dad Story with sprinkle of Love, Drama and Comedy.
2. FROM THE FILES - Dangal - 5.0 Stars. G. (Netflix)
   
   Director: Nitesh Tiwari.
   

   Actors: Aamir Khan, Sakshi Tanwar, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Zaira Wasim, Suhani Bhatnagar.

   Trailer - Dangal

   Everyone has already seen this movie, it has earned like a zillion dollars. So I better not waste a lot of time. But this is first 5 Star Movie for this blog in a few quarters. Also a first for Aamir Khan movie in this Blog (not that Aamir was losing sleep about the fact). Lot of firsts in this one.

   
   

   Why I love this movie - 

   1. Easy to drag this movie into Jingoism, it does not do that. Remains plain and simple ... emotional relationship oriented .. tugging at your heart.
   2. Beautiful chemistry between, daughters and Mom. Especially the girls when they are kids and Mom (Sakshi is awesome). The kid fighters are just as big (if not bigger) part of the movie as the adult ones. I think Zaira is the younger Geeta, she is awesome. 
   3. Narration through the awkward cousin is the master stroke. It is hilarious coming from his perspective the entire movie. Whoever thought of that is a genius. 
   4. Keeping Haryanvi accent in check was also good. Too thick an accent would have killed the narration, perfect amount of subtle comedy with sprinkle of tension at the same time is well done. 
   5. My pet peeve of most Aamir movies are their didactic nature, this one has none. No moments where Aamir is teaching us how to.... 
   6. Songs are great! especially "dhakkad" I can't stop it in my head. A great story of a girl in a country and culture that does not give any voice to girls. 

   Go watch it! ohh... yea you already did. 
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2. Bareilly Ki Barfi - G. (Drama / Comedy) -
1. For the perfect script with minute attention to detail to make situational humor. Perfect acting and beautiful ensemble of all ingredients that a masala movie needs.
2. FROM THE FILES - Bareilly Ki Barfi - 5.0 Stars. G. - This Barfi is an entire meal!

   

   
   

   Bareilly Ki Barfi - Trailer

   
   

   Director - Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

   Actors - Kriti Sanon, Ayushman Khurana, Rajkummar Rao.

   
   

   You want to make a movie? Then that's how you do it.

   Because there are so many positives I will start with the negative. The ending is a little underwhelming and dragged. could have edited 15 mins.

   Now the positives or the entire movie. There is something called attention to detail and writing a script and dialogues. Hello India! Bollywood! this is how you do it! Every frame is so well done, I can watch the movie again to see what I missed the first time. Each scene has many subtle jokes and emotions going on. Every dialogue comes from daily life of regular folks and are hilarious! They are not jokes inserted in a scene, these are regular words coming out of the situation! The movie just restores faith in film making. If given enough time and resources to the most important department of film making - Script and dialogues people can do wonders! Last but not the least - Acting. This guy - Pankaj Tripathi as the Dad is awesome and a dad that has never been done before. The Dad is cool and progressive, still the most desi Dad you will ever see. I love you Pankaj sir. Then there is Seema Bhargava as the Mom, she was 'Badki' in Hum Log TV serial of 80s, in case you guys are as old as I am. What an actor, She brings 'real life' on the screen with a dash of humor. This couple probably is the best parent couple I have seen for some time.

   Now to - Husband - Wife Tiwaris. Wife directs and Husband writes (Dangal Director), I can imagine how much fun the couple must have had writing this beautiful script and the pains and retakes they would have done to improvise each scene.

   Lastly - Lead roles, Kriti - now you are an actor, what a cute and confident girl, you have been marked by this blogger as an 'actor' huge responsibility Madam! I won't even start with Rajkummar Rao, are you real? You can flip from acting 'Dud' to 'Stud' in 0.6 seconds?? Come on!! The movie is based in UP as the name suggests so if you were born and brought up in the North it is a must see. 

   
   

   What's the movie about? It's about Bareilly ki Barfi. Go watch it if you did not do so yet.
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3. Badrinath Ki Dulhania - G. (RomCom) -
1. Similar to 'Bareilly' above. More of a  pure romantic movie.  
2. Badrinath Ki Dulhania - 4.0 Stars. G. (YouTube Movies.)
   Director: Shashank Khaitan.
   Actors: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sahil Vaid.
   

   Trailer - Badrinath Ki Dulhania

   Another sequel (to Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania) but unlike others this is well done. Again like most movies nowadays, Female lead (Alia) is a better actor than male lead (Varun Dhawan). Varun plays a small town North Indian character in a fashion typical of Mumbai kid playing a north Indian caricatured character, the way Mumbai kids see north Indians, not what they actually are. But that is small detail that can be ignored. 

   The movie is kind of a modern Raja Babu, with Varun playing a sadak chap illiterate and Alia a smart career oriented girl. The movie does address ills of dowry system but still keeping a main stream Bollywood movie feel to it. Jhansi (Varun) to Kota (Alia) is well done, at least the movie is set partly in india and characters are indian unlike most love stories that are placed in overseas locales. 

   The love story blossoms as twists an turns happen in love story, though the theme of the movie never waivers from Love. Director has deftly handled lot of things and still keeping 'love' at the center. 
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4. Hindi Medium - G. (Drama / Comedy) -
1. Story of all Middle class people, focusing on schools more than necessary. A real issue presented in a very entertaining way.
2. FROM THE FLIES - Hindi Medium - 4.5 Stars. G. (Netflix - only on DVD)Story of the entire world's middle class.
   
   
   

   Hindi Medium - Trailer

   Director - Saket Chaudhary.

   Actors: Irrfan Khan, Saba Qamar, Deepak Dobriyal.          

   A well made movie, though a copy of the Malayalam movie but still it takes a lot to bring a movie to life in another language. This is what movie making is all about. Take a leaf out of every person's life and show it back to them and people laugh when they see themselves in some one else. Parents trying to get their daughter in the best school and going overboard with it. Simple plot but very well executed. It does go a little over the top but it all serves the cause of keeping a topic light and humorous that is anything but a joke in most households.

   couple of clichés did take some sheen off the movie. The husband being more grounded and logical and wife being the diva and completely unpractical and unrealistic. This cliché has been pushed into every male dominated society which bugs me. Though Saba took the cake with her superb portrayal of a wife who wants to best for her daughter. The theme line of the movie is hers - when she equates every failure will drive their daughter to drugs! Though the best actor goes to Mr Deepak Dobriyal as the poor good at neighbor. He can make you laugh and cry in a few seconds. What an actor! Watch it!
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5. Jagga Jasoos - G. (Musical / Adventure) -
1. First complete musical with entertaining Spy story with backdrop of a strong Dad-Son bond.
2.  FROM THE FILES - Jagga Jasoos - 4.5 Stars. G. - Now this is a musical comical jasoos I can root for.

   
   

   

   
   

   Jagga Jasoos - Trailer

   
   

   Director - Anurag Basu

   Actors - Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Saswata Chatterjee

   
   

   Huge warning - Probably this is a little too off the grid for you. It is a through and through musical. There are no regular dialogues everything is a song. So be careful.

   I am fan of people who know what they are doing but they do it anyway, because that's what they want to do. Mr Anurag Basu knew he is not targeting a huge commercial success, but this is something that would have given him a ton of satisfaction. Another first in hindi movies. You know how hindi films are called 'musicals' sorry they are not. They are movies with songs put at various intervals for no reason. Then there is Jagga Jasoos. It is a first musical and it is also a first comic - movie. The entire film is like a Jagga Jasoos comic we are reading as a kid. what a beautiful and creative way to present it.

   Once you accept these 2 realities in the movie - musical and a comic. This is immensely fun ride. You don't want the songs to end, and you want to pay attention on each and every line that is written beautifully. The comic just flows from one case to another. It starts off with an unrelated story about Jagga's school a murder mystery (could have been edited out) and then shifts to the real plot about beautiful emotional story of father-son duo and quest of the son to look for his father and on the way he un-earths a lot of mysteries.

   
   

   This is out and out Ranbir Kapoor movie, some things only Ranbir can do. Who else can look a character straight out of a comic and look incredibly cute with that hair style? Katrina! she has been my punching bag for some time as a non actor. I let her free from my criticism, you do good Kat.

   
   

   Look for songs like Question Mark! well. And Yes, I know you will come back and tell me how bad my reviews are, because you did not like it. But I don't care because you need to grow up and appreciate 'creative' when you see it.
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6. Waiting - PG13 (Hospital Drama) -
1. Life when it hits you in all it's cruel beauty. Waiting for results in a Hospital presented in a beautiful simple way.
2. FROM THE FILES - Waiting - 4.5 Stars. PG-13.
   Director: Anu Menon.
   Actors: Naseeruddin Shah, Kalki Koachlin, Rajat Kapoor.
   
   Trailer - Waiting
   
   

   This Blogger has a rule - If Rajat Kapoor is in a movie, it is going to be excellent. This movie also proves the rule.

   The movie is about 2 people helplessly waiting in hospital as their significant other is battling for their lives. Sounds pretty sad, but it is not. It is a masterpiece with nuances on coping with trauma and just life in general. Beautifully executed, and some great performances by 2 great actors. Kalki is very weird in her body language and sometimes she gets weird roles. But what an actor she is! Rajat Kapoor is also awesome as the doctor dealing with patients and more importantly with relatives. Naseer Bhai is motivated to play this role, and does not sleep walk the role, like he sometimes does in non descript movies.
   Go watch it. 
3.  
7. Newton - PG. (Realistic Drama) -
1. Being righteous is good in thought, if someone starts putting it in action, it is trouble. Rajkummar Rao all the way.
2. FROM THE FILES - Newton - 4.0 Stars. G. - Though you are a Nutan, but you have a Newton in you.
   
   Newton - Trailer
   

   
   

   Director - Amit Masurkar.

   Actors - Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi.

   
   

   It is well documented my love for this kid - Rajkummar Rao. I don't know if he has any flaw, maybe that he puts one additional 'm' to his name than needed. This perfectly offbeat film is about Newton (Nutan) who wants to change the system, the young guy wants to make a difference, do something with his life. Everyone can identify with him. We call have a 'Nutan' is us. He becomes an election officer who is there for the love of his job. He will make sure elections are held in a meaningless constituency when no one cares, but Mr Newton cares, because if you do something do it right! Hence ensues hilarious, and still painful elections. And Mr Pankaj Tripathi is in it too. Go watch it!
3.  
8. Michael - R. (Drama / Weird) -
1. Michael has problems and the head is a place lot of problems reside.
2. FROM THE FILES - Michael - 4.0 Stars. R. YouTube Movies
   Director: Ribhu Dasgupta
   Actors: Naseeruddin Shah
   
   Trailer - Michael
   

   
   

   This is a typical Anurag Kashyap Genre (He is the producer it seems) where a movie goes from unstable to weird to whacky.... at the end. If you want to attempt it, have a open mind. Michael a police officer is manipulated into shooting at a peaceful crowd resulting in a kid's death. That incidence haunts him and he completely loses it. He can't come out of the trauma. Rest is all a blurry recollection of reality and imagination of his mind. As he takes us on his confused ride into life after a life changing event. Michael stumbles and stumbles more trying to protect his own 12 year old and himself .... from himself.
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9. Lipstick under my Burkha - R. (Social Drama)
1. Women from all walks of life prove they are just humans, nothing more nothing less, there is nothing you can do about it.
2. FROM THE FILES - Lipstick Under my Burkha - 4.0 Stars. R. - Conservative's worst nightmare

    

   

   
   

   Lipstick Under My Burkha - Trailer

   
   

   Director - Alankrita Shrivastava

   Actors - Ratna Pathak, Konkana Sen Sharma

   
   

   Another brilliant movie for you. Another warning - This is in the 'artsy' genre if you are looking for 'Bollywood style' movie, then stay away. Now for rest of you - I can't believe how good some movies are written, this movie is beautifully directed and written. Lives women from all walks of life have everything in common because .... you guessed it, because they are women. Beautifully portrayed through narration of a sleazy novel being read by Ratna Pathak. A aging Mom may have sexual fantasies and may like sleazy novels, that it self is pretty fresh thought. These are regular girls with all sorts of flaws but they want to be left alone and enjoy there flaws! Just like other people. Well done, go watch it.
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10. Bank Chor - G. (Comedy)
1. A stupid silly comedy.
2. FROM THE FILES - Bank Chor: 4.0 Stars. G. Stupidity sometimes is perfectly OK.
   
   
   

   
   Bank Chor - Trailer
   
   Director: Bumpy.
   Stars: Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Rhea Chakraborty.
   
   When you don't have a budget but you still make an awesome silly comedy. Hats off to you. I had no hopes from this one. But it turned out to be pretty good. First check out their hilarious spoof on their own movie.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNzwn-pPrPc
   
   There are 3 Bank Chor who are bad at their job. The 2 additional random actors (Sahil Vaid and Vikram Thapa) with Riteish are hilarious and they are really good. There internal jokes about North (Sahil / Vikram) Vs Mumbai (Riteish) are hilarious if you understand them. Then there is internal internal jokes between Sahil and Vikram about Ghaziabad Vs Faridabad jokes (these cities are next to each other). They are even worse than the north Vs Mumbai jokes. Then there is Vivek Oberoi, I don't think he knows what he is doing - but his one line was - यह जितने बेवकूफ दीखते है। ......... उतने ही है  or something like that. It was hilarious.
   You got to be in the right mind though to take such stupidity. And if that is not enough there is Baba Sehgal in the movie too, who is an after thought as he has no real role.
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11. Honorable Mention - Death in the Gunj 

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Best Actors (Male) -

1. Rajkummar Rao (Bareilly Ki Barfi, Newton, Trapped).
2. Vicky Kaushal (Masaan)
3. Vikrant Massey (Death in the Gunj)
4. Pankuj Tripathi (Bareilly Ki Barfi, Masaan, Newton)
5. Aamir Khan (Dangal)
6. Honorable Mentions - John Abraham (Rocky Handsome), Manoj Bajpayee. (Bhudia Singh - Born to Run), Deepak Dobriyal (Hindi Medium), Naseeruddin Shah (Waiting), Ranbir Kapoor (Jagga Jasoos)

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) - Rajkummar Rao (Bareilly Ki Barfi, Newton).
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) - Pankuj Tripathi (For all 2017 Movies)

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Best Actors (Female) -

1. Kriti Sanon (Bareilly Ki Barfi)
2. Tapsee Pannu (Running Shaadi, Naam Shabana)
3. Fatima Sana Sheikh (Dangal)
4. Richa Chadha (Masaan)
5. Alia Bhatt (Badrinath Ki Dulhania)
6. Honorable Mentions - Swara Bhaskar (Anarkali of Aarah), Aditi Rao Hyderi(Bhoomi), Kalki (Waiting), Deepa Mehta (Midnight's children), Parineeti Chopra (Meri Pyaari Bindu), Zaira Wasim (Dangal), Saba Qamar (Hindi Medium)

 

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) - Kriti Sanon (Bareilly Ki Barfi) / Fatima Sana Sheikh (Dangal)

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Best Director (Nominations) -

1. Neeraj Ghaywan (Masaan)
2. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari (Bareilly Ki Barfi)
3. Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal)
4. Konkana Sen Sharma (Death in the Gunj)
5. Anurag Basu (Jagga Jasoos)
6. Amit Roy (Running Shaadi)
7. Honorable Mentions - Ruchika Oberoi (Island City), Munish Bhardwaj (Moh Maya Money), Alankrtia Shrivastava (Lipstick under my Burkha), Avinash Das (Anarkali of Aarah), Amit Masurkar (Newton), Anu Menon (Waiting), Bumpy (Bank Chor)

 

Best Director - Neeraj Ghaywaan (Masaan)

 

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Worst of the Year -

1. Ajay Devgan (Shivaay, Golmaal Again)
2. Jab Harry Met Sejal - Shah Rukh Khan and Imtiaz Ali.
3. Remo / Jacqueline Fernandez (Flying Jatt)
4. Himesh (Kajraare)
5. Abbas Mastan (Machine)
6. Milan Luthria (Baadshaho)