Tollywood 2010

Aarekti Premer Galpo

The best is saved for the last, they say, and we couldn’t agree more. Kaushik Ganguly’s Aarekti Premer Galpo drew the curtains on Tolly 2010 with his frank and sensitive look at a gay man’s world. Rituparno Ghosh’s acting debut as a homosexual filmmaker — playing a cross-dressing jatra artiste in a parallel track — is the boldest in Tollywood memory. With a story closely mirroring reality, the Chokher Bali director helped Kaushik turn Aarekti Premer Galpo into just another love story — and much more.

SOUNDTRACK

amake amar moto...

iTunes, ring tones, caller tunes... Amake amar moto is on the playlist of 20- to 60-year-olds. The man who put that song on our lips is a certain Anupam Roy from Bangalore. Fresh melody, fresh lyrics. His soundtrack for Srijit Mukherjee’s Autograph — along with some soulful compositions by Debojyoti Mishra — was music to our ears. Melody to Music World struggled to keep pace as stocks fell short within the first two weeks of the album launch. Shreya Ghoshal’s Chol Rastay and Rupam Islam’s Benche Thakar Gaan were the other standouts.

Khokababu

Khokababu in red shoes has gone places — from Mitra-Prachi-Indira to discs. The popular Bengali rhyme set to tune by Rishi-Samidh for Shedin Dekha Hoyechhilo and powered by Dev has caught on with the party people, near and far. “The song has a rockish feel and the rhythm is very catchy. We knew the listeners would have an instant connect. I have even got messages from Bangladesh,” says Samidh. Last heard, Alimuddin Street was plotting to pinch Khokababu’s red shoes in the run -up to the polls.

Bomkesh Bakshi

He flirted with a bar singer and cooed into his wife’s ear, played with pistols and nailed the killer after a cat-and-mouse game. We had fun watching Bomkesh Bakshi because Bomkesh Bakshi had fun cracking the jigsaw puzzle of greed and debauchery, money and murder. Because Abir Chatterjee had the looks and charisma to pull off a Seventies’ sleuth in dhuti-punjabi and thick-framed glasses. Director Anjan Dutt had his biggest hit, which mopped up more than Rs 3 crore after a nine-week sweep at the plexes and standalones.

Moner Manush

Prosenjit mouthing ceeti-taali dialogues is good. Prosenjit beating up baddies is better. Prosenjit playing a philandering husband is heart-rending. Prosenjit playing a lonely star is as heart-rending. But Prosenjit playing Lalan Fakir? Well, he did — not just play, but live the role. With restrained acting, a nomad’s body language and carefree spirit, Prosenjit became the footloose mystic in Goutam Ghose’s Moner Manush. He strummed the ektara, did the Baul hop and sang with a wantonness seldom seen in an actor. The director-actor duo brought home the Golden Peacock for best film from the 41st International Film Festival of India in Goa.

Dui Prithibi

Getting Jeet and Dev to do a two-hero film was a casting coup. On top of that, director Raj Chakraborty got Koel Mallick to play Jeet’s love interest and Barkha Bisht Sengupta to shake her booty to an item number. The film scored high on the style scale and higher in slick cinematography. Jeet Gannguli’s foot-tapping tracks made up for the rest. Following a six-week run in the city, Dui Prithibi grossed a few crores to the delight of producer Shree Venkatesh Films.

Autograph

Released on Ashtami (October 15) and still running at Fame South City where the lone morning show is still pulling in a better crowd than most Bolly films. Need we say more about just how much we loved Srijit Mukherjee’s ‘Nayak revisited’? We loved watching Prosenjit the hero strip his stardom to reveal Prosenjit the man. Indraneil Sengupta played the perfect foil. Soulful music — from Anupam and Debojyoti — did the rest.

Gorosthanay Sabdhaan

Come winter and Feluda packs his bags to follow a mystery trail criss-crossing India and beyond. This winter though, he chose to stay put at home and explore Calcutta. From the Anglo-Indian strip on Ripon Street to the photography studio Bourne & Shepherd to the South Park Street Cemetery, Feluda took us on a know-your-city trip with Jatayu and a new Topshe in Gorosthanay Sabdhaan. Sharing his yen for adventure, Feluda fans flocked to the South Park Street Cemetery in droves; some even went looking for the fictitious Thomas Godwin’s grave!

AWARDS

ANANDALOK PURASKAR

The 2010 edition of Anandalok Puraskar shone bright with the lovey-dovey Bachchan couple lighting up the front row. AbAsh went up on stage to accept their awards (both for Raavan) — he in a black jacket and she in an emerald green sari — and thank Calcutta for all the support.

P.S: No show on the city’s celeb calendar was complete without Mir. He even got Abhishek to kiss Aishwarya’s hand in jest!

STAR ANANDA SHERA BANGALI

It was a freeze-frame moment when Sharmila Tagore received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Soumitra Chatterjee at the STAR Ananda Shera Bangali Awards. As the young-couple-in-love Aparna and Apu, the two had begun their celluloid journey together in Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar five decades ago.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

JEET’S COMEBACK

The industry wrote him off in 2009 after Hashi Khushi Club joined a spate of Jeet flops. A year later, the man got back on his feet with a love story. Saat Pake Bandha didn’t do much other than register his return. But the next film, Wanted, put him back where he belonged — the big league of action heroes. Fans and filmmakers ‘wanted’ him back. More action — and more box-office moolah — followed with Josh and Dui Prithibi.

So, what worked for Jeet the action hero? A lean mean look and that hint of arrogance. Also, his style. Those Aviators look very cool on him!

SHRABANTI: IN DEMAND

She’s the bubbly girl next-door of Tollywood. The one with a pretty pout whom heroes like to take home to their moms. She teamed up with Jeet, Dev and Soham to deliver three box-office toppers — Amanush, Josh and Wanted. Her fourth — Shedin Dekha Hoyechhilo — with Dev also looks set on the same success trail. Her count of four films is the highest for any lead actress this year. Shrabanti has arrived, post-marriage and motherhood, and she’s here to stay.

THE RISE OF PAOLI DAM

Paoli has a no-holds-barred attitude that makes her hot property in Tollywood. In the three releases she has had this year, Paoli combined performance with passion — from Tara to Banshiwala (where she did a daring liplock with Shayan Munshi) to Moner Manush. “I can go to any extent for a role. I have no inhibitions at all,” she had told t2. With “15 films” in five years, her climb to the top has been one of the fastest in recent times. 2011 will surely see more of Paoli power — the bouquet of releases includes Mushroom, Atas Kancher Niche, Uro Choti Express, Bangla Banchao...