The year 2006 has made history in Bollywood. With a continuous flow of movies burning up the box office and producing astronomical numbers, it’s certainly time to rejoice. However, expectations were sky high and certain stars failed to live up to the tremendous hype, forcing us to shake our heads in shame. Below, BollySpice reflects on a rocking year, particularly the not-so-rocking performances.
5. Rani Mukherjee in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was by far the largest extravaganza this year. With a stellar cast and Karan Johar behind the wheel, it was pitted to become an all time blockbuster. After an earth-shattering 2005, Rani Mukherjee truly became the rani (queen) of Bollywood. However with KANK, the crown was snatched away as she drowned herself, and audiences, in never-ending tears. It’s not that Rani delivered a bad performance in KANK, but certainly more was expected of someone who can clearly do better. Soaked in melodrama and tears, Rani Mukherjee’s Maya didn’t evoke any sympathy whatsoever, just annoyance. Unfortunately Rani was forced to take the brunt of a poorly written character and her performance began to get tedious after the thousandth tear. Even after a passionate night with SRK, Rani had a tear in her eye. I’m sure audiences are getting tired of rhona-dhona (crying-filled) Rani. She needs to re-invent herself and start doing a larger variety of roles. She obviously has unbelievable talent; she just needs to showcase it better.
4. Priyanka Chopra in Krrish
Undoubtedly one of the most successful films this year, India’s first superhero Krrish swiftly landed into the hearts of millions this year, masked and caped. Obviously Hrithik stole the show, as he’s credited with the title role, but Priyanka Chopra as the female lead exhaustively and utterly let us down in this flick. The keenly anticipated and fresh Hrithik-Priyanka pairing failed to create any sparks – forget setting the screen on fire. Priyanka wasn’t given much scope in the first place, but she couldn’t even do justice to the little she had. She was bland, dull, and vapid. Seriously, I had to hold my eyelids open every time she came on screen. Her lines sounded absolutely forced, not to mention irritating. All I could do was close my eyes and think back to Preity Zinta in Koi Mil Gaya. Sadly, Priyanka was just one massive yawn.
3. Preity Zinta in Jaan-e-Mann
Since its inception, Jaan-e-Mann was making waves and this Diwali release was strongly poised to become the family flick of the year. Unfortunately it turned out to be old wine wrapped in a new bottle and emerged with an unwelcome flop tag. I have to say, I expected better choice from Preity Zinta. No matter what movie she’s in, she always plays her role well, but in JEM Preity was a let-down in totality. No doubt she looked ravishing, but the signature Zinta bindaas (energy) just didn’t seem to be there and the usual Preity never came alive. One can’t even call it a subdued performance – it was simply boring. I hate to say it, but when you walk out of the theatre you almost forget Preity was in the film. Sorry Preity, you definitely weren’t the jaan (darling) of Jaan-e-Mann.
2. Abhishek Bachchan in Dhoom 2
Probably the most stylish film of the year, Dhoom 2 was a hit from the word go. Hot bods, great action, and sizzling chemistry; Dhoom 2 was the epitome of a masala flick. At the end of the day, Hrithik walked away with bountiful praise, Aishwarya was lauded for her new image, Bipasha sizzled in her bikini and even Uday Chopra provided laughs. Abhishek Bachchan was the only one that wasn’t “back in action”. Even though Dhoom resurrected his career, Abhishek was lifeless and a complete bore in D:2, sticking out like a sore thumb. Not that his character was exciting to begin with, but Abhishek really could have smiled once or twice. Not to mention, he could have lost that little belly he had goin’ on there – it was just no match for Hrithik’s six-pack, even Uday’s for that matter. After stealing the show in KANK, expectations were sky high for Abhishek, and with D2, they came crashing down.
1. Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
After Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham, and Kal Ho Naa Ho, expectations were through the roof because of the winning SRK-Karan Johar combo. Even though this was a different role and a different type of film for both, SRK didn’t seem to recreate the magic. Yes, his character was supposed to be disliked. But his performance wasn’t. Instead of coming across as a bitter and disgruntled man, SRK was just annoying and stupid. There were some scenes where he excelled, but overall King Khan was disappointing. Do lopsided eyebrows, quivering lips and st-stut-stuttering ring a bell? In previous movies it was easy to overlook any flaws in his performance simply because he was so charming, but in KANK the flaws are scabs just itching for you to pick at them. There was constant hamming and SRK’s over the top acting made you laugh instead of cry. We can easily say alvida (goodbye) to this performance!
Of course, expectations aren’t always fair, but they’re human. Unfortunately these stars ended up falling flat on their faces with forgettable and sometimes annoying performances. However, most of them had another performance to salvage these ones at some other point in the year. Here’s to hoping for an even brighter and fantastic 2007!
