Best Hindi Movies of 2012

Here’s a me-too list, my take on the best Hindi movies released In 2012, in order of preference. I stress on released because there were quite a few unreleased works like Kshay, Supremen of Malegaon etc. which I haven’t included.

Gangs of Wasseypur-1 (Anurag Kashyap): The sort of movie that you need to watch multiple times to really appreciate its brilliance. Almost everything was perfect about this Anurag Kashyap masterpiece, except perhaps the needless voyeurism exploring Reema Sen’s body. The first half hour that depicted the history of Wasseypur was a lesson in story telling. A remarkably authentic setting, an apt musical score, and brilliant performances by Manoj Vajpai, Richa Chaddha, Tigamanshu Dhulia and the entire cast made for a memorable cinematic experience.

Paan Singh Tomar (Tigmanshu Dhuliya): In what was a good sign for Hindi Cinema, PST actually ended up being one of the most successful films on the box office for the year. The director Tigmanshu Dhuliya and the actors, led by a terrific Irfan Khan, captured the Bundelkhand setting and dialect to perfection. Lesser known actors, including an impressive Mahie Gill and Brijendra Kala as the diffident journalist, and an engaging screenplay made sure that PST was appreciated by a wide variety of movie-goers.

Vicky Donor (Shoojit Sircar): In Vicky Donor, Indian Cinema unearthed one of the most talented performers of recent years, Ayushman Khurana. An excellent depiction of the quirks of the city of Delhi, Vicky Donor was ably supported by some mellifluous music. Yami Gautam was a refreshing change from the typical plastic caricatures that play female leads in Hindi Cinema. Dolly Ahluwalia, playing Vicky’s mother, was a revelation.

Shanghai (Dibakar Bannerjee): A brave work, delving into the genre of political thrillers, largely unexplored in Hindi Cinema. Inspired by Costas Gavras’ Z, Shanghai did more than adequate justice to the original. Competent performances by Imran Hashmi and Abhay Deol were overshadowed by the brilliant depiction of an unscrupulous bureaucrat by Farooq Shaikh.

Gangs of Wasseypur-2 (Anurag Kashyap): Paled in comparison to GOW-1, but was nonetheless a great work. Highlights were brilliant performances by unknown actors like zeeshan quadric, Vipin Sharma etc. and some tongue-in-cheek humour.

Luv Shuv Te Chicken Khurana (Sameer Shrama): A feel-good movie, redolent of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s works. Huma Quraishi was the stand-out performer, more so for the departure from her earlier portrayal of a feisty Bihari girl in GOW-2. Equally impressive was the endearing Titu played to perfection by Rajesh Sharma. Probably a more capable actor than Kunal Kapoor could have helped.

Jalpari-The Desert Mermaid (Nila Madhab Panda): Following his earlier ‘I am Kalam’, the director made another brave movie, tackling the sensitive issue of female infanticide without being preachy and melodramatic. Notable were the excellent performances of the child actors.

English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde): The first and only time Sridevi looks beautiful and actually acts well, English Vinglish used a simple premise to come up with a reasonable depiction of the archetypal Indian homemaker. Thankfully, it stayed away from the stereotypes characteristic of such works.

Oh My God (Umesh Shukla): This movie touched upon the controversial subject of religion with a fair bit of equanimity, but only to a certain extent. Probably scared that a negative portrayal might result in a backlash, the director chose to introduce some needless diversions, and by the end of it, it suffered from over-cautiousness and populism.

Makkhi (S S Rajamouli): This was a Telugu movie dubbed in Hindi helped by some good special effects, not exactly matching Hollywood standards but still miles ahead of what we are accustomed to in Indian Cinema. There was nothing great about the script or the performances, just the fact that it was so different made it worth viewing.

Kahaani (Sujoy Ghosh): An excellent performance by Vidya Balan and an engaging script made Kahaani a watchable movie.

Barfi (Anurag Basu): In spite of the best efforts of Priyanka Chopra to destroy it, Barfi survived simply because of the performance of Ranbir Kapoor and the standout music score of the year. Ileana D’Cruz was one of the prettiest faces to adorn the screen in a long time, and in comparison with the dreadful caricaturish performance of Priyanka Chopra, was considerably better.

Some other movies that might have made it to my list had I watched them Gattu, Forest, Dabang-2, to name a few.