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if some of them have no traditional “face” value. Finally, Atrangi Re has lived up to its title (Atrangi means strange or weird). Excellence - almost Regardless of commercial performance, however, I would personally rate these alphabetically-listed six mov- ies as the finest films of the year gone by. BellBottom (Directed by Ranjit M. Tewari / Star- ring Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor, Lara Dutta & Huma Qureshi) his was the incisive saga of a 1980s anti-terrorist opera- tion that spanned India and Dubai. The highlight was the script that integrated true stories of several such opera- tions in the 1980s, the reproduction of Dubai airport and its surroundings in Scotland (where the film was shot during the first lockdown) and, of course, a final twist in the last frame. Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (Abhishek Kapoor / Ayush- mann Khurrana & Vaani Kapoor)What seemed like a rou- tine rom-commetamorphosed into a bold story on how a man undergoes a sex-change operation into a woman and battles society to find love. Vaani Kapoor was outstanding in the main role, and Khurrana excelled as well. 83 (Kabir Khan / Ranveer Singh & Deepika Padukone) An involving saga of Indians making history in cricket, the film’s highlights were the “cricketers”’ performances led by Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev, and the one-liners that dotted the script as much as the way cricket and the emotions played out. Rashmi Rocket (Akarsh Khurana / Taapsee Pannu & Priyanshu Painyuli) A routine sports story—albeit fictional—took on a new meaning as the protagonist (remarkable turn by Taapsee Pannu) went all out to fight gender inequality in the field of Indian athletes. Shershaah (Vishnu Varadhan / Sidharth Malhotra & Kiara Advani) Few biopics in Hindi cinema were as rousingly made as this one on Captain Vikram Batra, the glorious martyr in the Kargil conflict. Malhotra achieved what a string of good performances earlier could not for him—stardom! Arguably, the best directed film of the year. Sooryavanshi (Rohit Shetty / Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Ajay Devgn & Ranveer Singh) Highlighting also the power of a multi-hero film that audiences miss after the 2000s era began, this was a Diwali firecracker that exploded big at the b-o. It also showed the way big-screen viewing would now be for the audience—entertainment had to be value for money. Six Best Male Performances Akshay Kumar as Sooryavanshi, Ayushmann Khur- rana in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Ranveer Singh in 83, Sidharth Malhotra as Shershaah, Vicky Kaushal as Sardar Udham and Pankaj Tripathi in Kaagaz led the roster. Six Best Female performances Kajol in Tribhanga, Kangana Ranaut in Thalaivi, Kriti Sanon in Mimi, Sharvari in Bunty Aur Babli 2, Taapsee Pannu as Rashmi Rocket and Vaani Kapoor in Chandi- garh Kare Aashiqui were the “toppers”. Six Best Character Artistes Amitabh Bachchan in Chehre, Ashutosh Rana in Pagglait, Chandan Roy Sanyal in Sanak, Neena Gupta in Sardar Ka Grandson, Raj Arjun in Thalaivi and Ratna Pathak Shah in Hum Do Hamaare Do made up the top six. A close runner-up was Paresh Rawal in Hum Do Hamaare Do. To sum up, 2021 saw a sweeping change in cinema, thanks to the combination of lockdowns with the OTT. It has ushered in the unchangeable future where theatre- watching will be for a specific kind of movie that justi- fies the big money spent on the latest Dolby sound and extraordinary visuals. The niche movies can be watched, at one’s time, at home, thank you. Vaani Kapoor in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui Shahid Kapoor plays a cricketer who returns to the game for his son in Jersey Ranveer Singh in ’83 Allu Arjun in Pushpa: The Rise—Part 1 Ajay Devgn played a real character of Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik in Bhuj: The Pride of India Photo:CourtesySpice PRvia RAjivVijayakar Photo:Universal Communications PRvia RajivVijayakar - C ontinued F rom P age 19 www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know Entertainment News India Times January 07, 2022 22