If you love Hindi mainstream cinema but are disappointed with the quality of cinema being made in the country right now, and believe that online content has taken over, then this is for you. By the end of this post you might realise that it may have been an underwhelming year at the movies but yet there have been few things that we all need to cherish.
Listing my favourite cinematic moments from the Hindi films that have released in the year 2016.
Airlift
1. At the end of Airlift the tricolour is waved and Vande Mataram sung by KK plays in the background. Now, i’m not the one for jingoism but the way they did it in Airlift, it got me. The build up to this point with the an Argo-ish execution by director Raja Menon was A-class.
Neerja
2. Neerja Bhanot’s mom delivers a speech in the end of the movie. I saw the film first day first show with a half-full auditorium and i can say for sure that almost all of us were in tears when she said the line, ‘meri mamma sey kehna, Pushpa i hate tears’.
Kapoor & Sons
3. The Plumber scene. A plumber is repairing a leak in the house while all the family members are fighting. He becomes a part of the chaos and witnesses the fight between the family members. As his work is completed, he goes and announces that he is done. Rajat Kapoor asks him, ‘kitna hua‘. He says ‘is bure waqt pe jo theek lagey‘. The line was delivered with utmost seriousness but the audience (including me) burst out laughing out of sheer nostalgia. It’s almost as if we all have had this scene play out in life at some point.
Nil Battey Sannata
4. The interview scene with Pankaj Tripathi, Ratna Pathak Shah & Swara Bhaskar is incredible. Imagine a mother wanting to get admitted in the school where her daughter studies.
Udta Punjab
5. At a point in the film Ik Kudi reprise plays in the background and there is a high speed sequence in which Shahid Kapoor’s Tommy fights some goons, and then cycles his way to find Mary Jane played by Alia Bhatt. The build up to this moment by writer Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Chaubey is nothing short of spectacular and the pay-off is a HOOT.
Sultan
6. Many people love the moment when Salman Khan looks at his paunch but for me it is the jag ghoomeya step in the movie. The song itself is one of my favourites of this year, and i think the magic is in the step too. It’s not some extraordinary dance move but the fact that Salman Khan made so much effort and pulled it off with so much élan tells us how serious he is for his craft. In what is perhaps the golden phase of his career, he is the one setting the guidelines for the rest of the industry by working with talented directors and doing content driven films.
Rustom
7. The track between Anang Desai (as the judge) and Kumud Mishra (as the tabloid editor) had me in splits. It seemed out of place in an otherwise serious movie. But in isolation it’s hilarious. Full playing to the gallery and seeti maar stuff. The small town front bencher inside me loved it.
Pink
8. In a moment during the courtroom sequence Mr.Bacchan explains the meaning of consent to Angad Bedi’s character who comes from a typical patriarchal mindset. That was gold.
M.S.Dhoni – The Untold Story
9. Dhoni may not have been the greatest film of the year but it sure had some really fine moments. Sushant Singh Rajput is talking on the landline without a wire and his friend who is visiting him thinks he has gone nuts as his career is not doing anywhere. It turns out to be a prank.
10. Pre-Interval moment when Sushant’s character finally decides to follow his dreams and gets into the running empty train.
Ae Dil hai Mushkil
11. The love in the eyes of Ayan played by Ranbir Kapoor for Anushka Sharma’s Alizeh as she walks around with her friends just before her nikaah. The look that Ranbir Kapoor had in his eyes is what i call the ufff-moment. So is the entire song. I dare say that channa mereya is the best directed song of Karan Johar’s career.
Dangal
12.Geeta played by Fatema Sana Sheikh comes back to her hometown after her stay at NSA where she has been exposed to new methods of wrestling, and she believes that her father’ Mahavir Phogat’s (Aamir Khan) coaching methods are outdated. The father-daughter get into a bout and it turns out to be one hell of a fight.
Sairat
13. The climax where Archie and Parshya’s son Tatya walks back as we follow the footsteps drenched in blood. One of the most powerful and heart wrenching moments at the movies this year. Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat went on to become a classic, and this powerful scene was our take away when we left the theatres.
Dear Zindagi
14. Now, Dear Zindagi may not have been one of the best movies of the year but one particular moment in the film made me smile no end. The point when SRK’s Jehangir khan sits on the chair after Alia’s Kaira walks out and the chair’s creeking sound signify the fact that he may have feelings for her.
Waiting
15. Kaliki : How long have you been married for?
Naseer : 40 years.
Kalik : FUCK!
Naseer: You mean, ‘how wonderful’.
The scene with this dialogue exchange between the two leads who are waiting by the bedside of their respective spouses was truly wonderful.
16. And in case you are wondering about the 16th one, well, i want you to discover that yourself in the criminally underrated and under-watched movie, Buddhia Singh : Born to Run. Had an Aamir Khan backed it, it would have been a sure shot winner at the box office and found its audience.
So yeah, by this point i hope you would want to believe that the year has not been that bad.
Please do comment and tell me your favourite moments/scenes from this year’s movies.
– Navjot Gulati
(PS – I know Sairat should not be in this Hindi film list but i do believe that the film had a greater impact than any of the movies released this year. It’s a film that transcended across language barriers)
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