Abhishek Bachchan

● He rounded off the decade better than he began it. After a disappointing response to his debut film Refugee, Abhishek had a slew of duds for the next few years. With Yuva (2004) his luck turned and he was hitting the high notes with Bunty aur Babli, Sarkar, Dus and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. Guru and Dostana consolidated his position as a viable star. But no one sees him as zooming to the top three.

Verdict: Huff, puff, and sometimes there.

Kareena Kapoor

● She gave (by one count) 13 flops in a row. But then her fortunes picked up with films such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Chameli, Dev and Omkara. With Jab We Met, she zoomed to the top 3 female star bracket. Kapoor continues to be the Queen Bee among the A-list heroines but the question is whether her career will take a backseat when she marries beau Saif Ali Khan.

Verdict: Looks set to rule for a few years more.

Amitabh Bachchan

● Reinvention is the name of the game with Bachchan Senior. In 2000 he resurrected his career by anchoring the TV quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati which went on to become a mega hit. In the following years, Bachchan took on challenging roles in films such as Baghban, Viruddh, Chini Kum, Sarkar, Nishabd, Black and, most recently, Paa, where he plays a young boy afflicted with an ageing disease. He was lucky that the decade saw the emergence of stories about older men.

Verdict: Unstoppable.

Preity Zinta

● The year 2000 saw the cute-hyphen-Zinta turn out her big solo success with Kya Kehna, which was about an unwed teen mom who wants to keep her baby. Zinta was up there for the better part of the decade with successes such as Dil Chahta Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho, Koi Mil Gaya, Salaam Namaste and Veer Zara. But of late her career has nosedived. Her relationship with industrialist Ness Wadia ended this year. She continues to be involved with her IPL team, but her acting stars appear to be on the wane.

Verdict: Future tense.

Rani Mukherjee

● The aati kya Khandala girl of the 1990s zoomed into the Bollywood power lists in the early part of the last decade with a steady stream of critical and commercial hits such as Hum Tum, Yuva, Saathiya, Bunty aur Babli, Black and others. But she ended the decade with a string of turkeys (Laga Chunari Mein Daag, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic and Dil Bole Hadippa). Some believe her single-minded devotion to the Yash Raj Films banner proved to be her undoing. She is now doing a few TV reality shows.

Verdict: Writing’s on the wall.

Akshay Kumar

● The decade began with his first turn at comedy: Hera Pheri was a runaway hit and it sparked a super successful spell as he did comedy, action and anti-hero roles with equal elan and delivered back to back hits, including Namastey London, Welcome and Singh is Kinng. Yet the decade has ended in a bit of disaster for him with flops like Chandni Chowk to China, 8x10 Tasveer, Blue and De Dana Dan. But he is going great guns on television with his reality show Fear Factor, now in its second season.

Verdict: Down, but unlikely to be out just yet.

Govinda

● The king of the masses began the decade on a bad note with a series of flops like Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai, Shikari, Beti No. 1, to name a few. But the end of this decade saw him strike gold with Partner. With a string of releases like Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai, Run Bhola Run, Ab Dilli Door Nahi and Raavan lined up for 2010, it seems like Govinda is not going to leave without a fight.

Verdict: Like it or not, it’s fadeout time.

Anil Kapoor

● His first production Badhai Ho Badhai bombed. But he bounced back to produce critically acclaimed films like My Wife’s Murder and Gandhi — My Father and he continued to act in films like Pukar, Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hain, Tashan and Race. But it took a Slumdog Millionaire to transport him from the national to the international stage. Kapoor will soon be seen starring in 24, an American TV series.

Verdict: Likely to stay in the race.

A.R. Rahman

● He won two Oscars for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song for the film Slumdog Millionaire, topping off a decade of continued success both at home and abroad. He began the decade by composing refreshing music for films like Zubeida, Lagaan, Swades, Guru and Rang de Basanti, and also scored the music for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End musical Bombay Dreams. This is one man who certainly ended the decade on a high note.

Verdict: Will scale greater heights.

Sunidhi Chauhan

● She lent her voice to all the hit flicks of the decade, exhibiting her vocal prowess in such superhit numbers as Beedi Jalaeyle (Omkara), Dhoom Machale (Dhoom) and Dance Pe Chance Marley (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi). Often referred to as the Asha Bhonsle of today, her biggest asset is versatility. In 2007, she was hired by Microsoft to be the voice of the Windows Vista Song Wow is now.

Verdict: Her oomph-laden voice will continue to rule Bollywood’s music.