A

Animal

In a year which had so many films to talk about, Animal’s deeply polarising theme and template ensured it remained a part of (almost) everyone’s conversation. Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s look at fractured filial ties through the lens of toxic relationships, misogyny and intense violence, found favour with many but also left many others extremely uncomfortable. A splendid Ranbir Kapoor and the superb background music scored, with Animal hitting bullseye at the box office.

+Arijit Singh
The magical voice from Jiaganj continued his dominance in Bollywood, delivering hits as varied as Jhoome jo Pathaan to O bedardaya, Mera aasmaan jal gaya to Jai Shri Ram, Leke Prabhu ka naam to Lutt putt gaya.

BBarbenheimer

The biggest movie event of the year, decade and century belonged to Barbie and Oppenheimer that decided to storm into theatres on the same Friday — July 21. That not only brought on a tussle for screens and eyeballs worldwide, but also gave rise to the portmanteau ‘Barbenheimer’, which quickly became a cultural phenomenon.

+ Bengali in Bolly
Two prominent hits of the year had Bengalis, specifically Chatterjees, at the forefront. While the unsubtly named Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway had Rani Mukerji delving deep into the psychology of a mother whose children are taken away from her in a foreign land, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani had the Chatterjees, led by Alia Bhatt and her now-viral saris, clashing culturally with the Randhawas, including Ranveer Singh as Rocky, and eventually making peace. Durga Puja to Dola re dola, Saraswati Puja to Rabindranath Tagore, we saw it all in both these films.

CChandler Bing

The world lost a piece of its childhood (and adulthood) with the sudden passing of Matthew Perry who brought alive the sarcastically delicious Chandler Bing in Friends. We all mourned the loss, especially when hit with the fact that we wouldn’t hear: “I’m not great at advice. Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?” from the man ever again.

DDeols

Year 2023 undoubtedly belonged to the Deols. While Sunny roared back with Gadar 2, released 22 years after Gadar and took over the box office for weeks, Animal proved to be the latest chapter in Bobby’s resurgence. And then there was dad Dharmendra in that delightful role in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, cutely locking lips at age 87.

EElephant Whisperers

India scored big at the Academy Awards this year. Along with RRR winning for the crowd-pleasing Naatu naatu, The Elephant Whisperers — a heartwarming Netflix documentary about the bond between an elderly tribal couple and an orphaned baby elephant — won director Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Guneet Monga an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film, making it the first Indian film to win an Academy Award in that category.

FFather and son

While Animal’s extreme look at a problematic father-son equation found some fans, the more entertaining and paisa-vasool filial relationship on screen came in the form of Jawan’s father and son, with both roles being played by Shah Rukh Khan. And when dad Vikram Rathore roared: “Bete ko haath laga ne se pehle baap se baat kar”, the real-to-reel resonance wasn’t lost on us.

GGulmohar

A heartwarming piece of cinema which looked at increasingly frayed relationships even as a family shifts houses, felt instantly relatable and deeply personal, with sensitive acts from Sharmila Tagore and Manoj Bajpayee taking Gulmohar up several
notches.

HHorror

Hollywood witnessed a resurgence of horror with perhaps a record number of films in the genre. Psychological, slasher, surrealist comedy horror, found footage, post-apocalyptic, monster, sci-fi, zombie, Kaiju, body... this year had it all, with many of them leaving a mark.

IInternational Emmy

Vir Das made India proud on the International Emmy stage, beating out strong contenders to bring back home the golden trophy for Best Comedy for his Netflix special Vir Das: Landing.

+ Indian Idol Relegated to being more of a scripted drama than a talent show over the last few years, Indian Idol got its mojo back, bringing in better singers, more talent and three eye-on-the-target (read: non-dramatic, non-weepy) judges in the form of Kumar Sanu, Shreya Ghoshal and Vishal Dadlani.

J Ja mal k udu

Instagram reels to wedding playlists, there is no escaping it. Bobby Deol’s (very late) entry in Animal was made all the more special by the infectious beats of the Iranian folk song Jamal kudu, which has quickly gone viral with everyone dancing to it this party season, with or without a glass on their heads.

K: Kaala Paani & Kohrra

The year belonged to Netflix, which among many other things, delivered two outstanding Hindi originals in the form of Kaala Paani and Kohrra. While the former was an incisive look at how human psychology changes in the face of fear and chaos, the latter was an emotional social drama masquerading as a police procedural. Both made for compelling viewing and we are rooting for Season 2.

L: Lady Killer fiasco

November saw a film quietly release in a few theatres and then get yanked off within a few days. A little digging told us that made on a medium budget and starring Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar, The Ladykiller was released as an incomplete film which had run aground because of various factors. Everyone associated with the film, including the actors, disowned it, leaving it high and dry and a rare film which most in the audience did not even know existed.

M: Mona Singh

There has never been any doubt about Mona Singh’s versatility and talent — she slipped on braces and slapped on prosthetics for Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin — much before anyone else here had even heard about it, and in 2023, the actor lent her weight to a few winners, including Kaala Paani and Kafas. Many will agree that her Bulbul Jauhari was the best bit of Made in Heaven S2.

N: Nineteen Seventy One

Year 1971 — particularly the Bangladesh War of Liberation in which India played a prominent part — was the focus of many films, including Pippa, Mujib and Sam Bahadur.

O: Orry

He is the breakout star of the year, someone who is not even a movie star but has carved out a ‘career’ by simply hanging out with them. Orhan Awatramani aka Orry became an overnight Internet sensation and is now the darling of the cameras, whether it is his pout, his quote-a-minute lines like: ‘I live, so I am a liver’ or his phone cases, aping everything from a banana to a lobster.

P: Past Lives

For many, Celine Song’s powerful and poignant directorial debut is one of the best films of the year. In Past Lives, Song looks at old memories and contemporary realities through the meeting of two friends who drifted apart during their childhood. Soulful and sublime, this is a film defined by its silences and its subtle gestures.

Q: Quit

The premiere of her high-stakes web series Citadel made Priyanka Chopra Jonas embark on a big publicity tour. That also prompted her to answer the million-dollar question: why is she not seen in Bollywood films anymore? PC’s shocker while speaking on the Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard: “I was being pushed into a corner in the industry. I had people not casting me for reasons… I had beef with people. I was tired of the politics. I was just like, ‘I need a break.’”

R: Retro

Retro has been big on screen, especially streaming, in the last few years and it made its presence felt more than ever in 2023. Jubilee, set in the fledgling Hindi film industry of the ’50s, set the ball rolling, followed by gangster saga Bambai Meri Jaan, teen drama The Archies, the real-life heroics against the backdrop of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984 in The Railway Men, the crazy, unconventional ’90s world of Guns & Gulaabs and more.

S: Shah Rukh Khan

The year belonged to only one Khan. Staging a comeback almost five years after the debacle of Zero and post battling a few personal issues in the interim, Shah Rukh Khan stormed into cinemas, all guns blazing, with Pathaan and made it a blockbuster. A few months later, Jawan came in with huge hype and became a bigger hit, also managing to spark off conversations. SRK rounded off the year with Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki.

S: Streaming to theatre

In the role of a lawyer who stands up against a godman in a case of sexual assault, Manoj Bajpayee powered the fittingly named Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai, a film that released on OTT but became such a huge talking point that its producer — in what is a first in the Indian streaming space — also gave it a theatrical release in select centres, in what we hope is the first of many such moves.

T: Triptii Dimri

Triptii Dimri delivered standout acts in Laila Majnu, Bulbbul and Qala, but it was a 10-minute role in Animal that brought her global attention and gave her the title of “National Crush”. Today, she is one of Bollywood’s most sought-after young stars.

U: Unusual

‘Unconventional’ was the buzzword this year, whether it was in a film title like Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar or a character like knife-for-hire Chaar Cut Atmaram in Guns & Gulaabs, played with devilish humour by a mullet-sporting Gulshan Devaiah.

V: Vikrant Massey & Vidhu Vinod Chopra

VM and VVC came together to spell a third ‘V’: victory. Coming in from practically nowhere, the modestly budgeted but outstandingly executed 12th Fail — the real-life story of a determined young man who becomes an IAS officer even after failing Class 12 — found resonance and aspiration among the audience. The small big film is one of the big hits of the year.

W: Writers’ strike

It was a long time coming, and in May, writers in Hollywood launched a strike against the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Producers over a labour dispute and the looming threat of AI. Lasting a total of 148 days, the writers also had company in the form of SAG-AFTRA, with many prominent actors joining the writers in the picket fences.

X: X-factor

Among a crowd of second-generation Bollywood actors, the tall and handsome Vedang Raina, who played Reggie Mantle in The Archies, stood out, not only for his Paul Newman-like looks but also for his charm. Even as we write this, a few hundred ‘Vedang Raina’ Instagram fan pages are sprouting up.

Y: YRF Spy Universe

Yash Raj Films made good on its promise of an Avengers-styled spy universe. Salman Khan’s Tiger popped up in Pathaan to help Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan take on the enemy with a few kicks and chops and then follow it up with a conversation on painkillers. Pathaan returned the favour with a scintillating action set piece in Tiger 3, with Hrithik Roshan’s super agent Kabir making an appearance in the film’s post-credits scene. Next, there is War 2, Tiger vs Pathaan, Alia Bhatt as the first female spy in the YRF universe....

Z: Zeenat Aman

Even in her 70s, Zeenat Aman continues to show us how it needs to be done. The yesteryear actress, always considered ahead of her time, made her Instagram debut in February and immediately broke the Internet. Garnering a record number of followers in no time, Zeenat’s unpretentious and unbridled posts continue to find fans. Off-screen, she is back making movies and making heads turn on the catwalks of fashion weeks.

Which word would you add/ replace in this list? Tell t2@abp.in