Bollywood Roundtable 2012: Hosted by MK

Bollywood Roundtable 2012: Hosted by MK

This is exciting, since this is my first guest post. Even better doing it on my friend's blog.
The one thing that is common about my friends and me is our love for movies and the fact that we follow Rajeev Masand for his reviews. I thought a "Bollywood Round Table 2012"(Masand inspired) would be the best way to express our love for Indian Cinema.
The roundtable features 4 friends including "Been" himself on what we thought about Bollywood in 2012 and what we look forward to in 2013.

What was your favorite movie of 2012?
MK: I am on the fence between Barfi and Kahaani.....
Been (B): Talaash. A tough pick given the number of amazing movies we witnessed this year, nonetheless....for the overall package...i'd hand this to Talaash...good job Excel Ent., A productions and Reema Kagti!
Abhijit Sovani (AS): Wow what a tough question. I don't remember another year with that many good movies that we had this year. While Shanghai, Vicky Donor, Kahaani, gangs, Paan Singh, English Vinglish, Barfi were truly beautiful movies, I have to go with Talaash, as nothing satisfies me more than going into a movie with huge expectations and coming out with the satisfaction level having exceeded that initial expectation. Talaash was one such movie
Rohith D'Souza (RD): 2012 saw some great movies. With great difficulty I will have to go give Gangs of Wasseypur 2nd Place. Talaash for me was more than a movie and was my favorite in 2012.

Who was your favorite actor/ actress of 2012?
MK: Ranbir/Vidya or Priyanka
B: Ranbir/Vidya or Priyanka
AS: It has to be Ranbir hands down. He did not have a single dialogue damn it and his range of expressions seems limitless. He is exceeding his own high standards and even Aamir Khan quoted on Rajeev Masand's show that he wanted to learn from his performance. For actresses it has to be Vidya, Priyanka and Sridevi.
RD: Irrfan Khan offers us a reminder of his blazing versatility in Paan Singh Tomar. Best Actress is none other than V(B)idya Balan in Kahaani.

Which movie/ actor surprised you the most?
MK: Vicky Donor hands down. And so did "Oh My God", which proves that good movies do not need big budgets just a good story.
B: Movie: Vicky Donor - didnt expect anything from this in fact thought it'd be yet another sleazy comedy but what a movie!
Actor: Nawazuddin....what an actor! First time appreciated him in Kahaani, loved him in GoW and then absolute respect Talaash.
AS: Oh so many surprises! If I have to chose someone it has to be Sridevi. Yea, Nawazuddin is there but I had read about Masand singing his praises before watching his performances so not surprised by what I saw. But Sridevi after all these years completely caught me off guard with how good she was.
RD: Emraan Hashmi in Shanghai. He pulled off a great performance to my surprise.

Which movie /actor disappointed you the most and why?
MK: Cocktail- I think the movie would do better being one of those K serials. Utter Rubbish!
B: Movie: Agent Vinod - Promising premise, great director, talented actors but the script and editing slacked big time. Actor: Saif Ali Khan - His performance in cocktail was just too bad, add to it that he produced such a lose scripted movie!!
AS: Thanks to Masand I can't think of a movie where I went in with some expectations and got disappointed. Maybe that's cos I didn't watch agent Vinod or Cocktail :-) 
RD: Having directed great movies like Johnny Gaddaar & Ek Hasina Thi, Sriram Raghavan in Agent Vinod was a big disappointment.

What would you want to see in Bollywood in 2013?
MK: I honestly wish some directors would stop thinking the audience has no brains. Movies with rich stories and performances. Agree with B focus on script and not nonsense.
B: Movies with focus on scripts, performance rich and mature characterizations - eg. Vicky Donor, Talaash, GoW, Kahaani. And some slick entertainers too like Ek Tha Tiger (only that according to me was good entertainment in 2012 and JTHJ to an extent)
AS: Yes continued focus on good scripts. And I want to see the return of good comedies. Like besides Vicky Donor did we have a genuine good comedy ? Much to my peers unwarranted chastising, I did watch Houseful 2 and which I thought had its moments but was still a bad movie. I want the next Andaz Apna Apna and I know the talent is there but the problem is that public accepts anything for entertainment and the producers are more than happy to oblige. Hey more than 100 Crores, they are businessman after all. That's why I want directors who can produce both a beautiful product and rake in the mooolah and I am happy that such directors are there!  
RD: More movies based on true stories (Can’t wait for Bhaag Milkha

What is the one trend you would wish would stop in Bollywood?
MK: Item numbers and the so called "slap stick" comedy. Both are useless and actresses need to learn to act than be cheap bar girls.
B: Definitely item songs! It's enuff! And song sequences. Songs sequences should be done like how it was done in Dil Chahta Hai or Talaash.
AS: Agree with MK for so called "slap stick" comedies. They turn out more of "slap in my face" comedies. However one thing I have noticed is that even the worst of such movies have some funny scenes. If only there were presented in a well connected way throughout the movie giving us a beautiful product. These movies are more like a bad cake where you just enjoy eating the cherry! We want the whole cake to be good damn it!! 
RD: I think songs should be only situational or a background score like the one we had in Life In A Metro... Don't like actors lip sinking to great songs sung by amazing artist....

Final words: Well I guess in the end what we all want are good movies that know how to entertain and satisfy the soul. 2012, was one of the best years in Bollywood indeed; with amazing stories and performances. I would like to thank B, AS and RD for their views and some clear Masand fanfare there from AS. 

MK blogs on her lifestyle blog mklivinlovin