If ?here?s looking at you, big screen? was Calcutta?s favourite one-liner of 2005, it?s time to say, play it again Sam. Calcutta?s cineplexes resembled Rick?s Caf? this year, with crowd crush matching the popularity of the Casablanca haunt. The mall was where most of the action was, but the movies were the real footfall drivers.

From a small gem like Iqbal to a giant squib like Mangal Pandey, Calcuttans clamoured to catch everyone from a newcomer like Shreyas Talpade rolling his arm over to a superstar like Aamir Khan shouting ?Halla bol!?

?The trend of watching movies on the big screen is back in Calcutta, and it has everything to do with the multiplexes which have helped revive the habit,? says Vikas Syal, general manager, INOX (Forum). ?This year, the footfalls at our property have grown by 25 per cent from 2004. And the best thing is that there has always been a buzz by the ticket window, not only around the current releases but also around forthcoming movies.?

If the Elgin Road four-screener was the epicentre of movie-watching, the Salt Lake and Swabhumi plexes did enough business for Mumbai biggie Fame to make a beeline for Hiland Park. By the last month of the year, there were 16 plex screens for Calcutta to choose from.

So, Metro on Sunday turns the page and picks the Top 10 movies of 2005, purely on the basis of ticket sales or ?admits? (the figures in brackets) at INOX (Forum), INOX (City Centre) and 89 Cinemas (Swabhumi).

Black (121,580)

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee

Top draw: Acting and emotions

Cityspeak: ?One of the most important aspects of Black is watching the performance of Amitabh Bachchan. I have always found him to be a very dramatic actor who has never really been given the right kind of roles . In Black, a big actor like him finally got a role that suited him. Also, Sanjay achieved the middle-of-the-road cinema, a blend between commercial viability and sensibility. It had a lovely ensemble cast. And I thought Black explored the sexual relationship between a man and a girl beautifully. It?s one of the best kissing scenes I have ever seen.? ? Anjan Dutt (film-maker and musician)

Parineeta (108,858)

Director: Pradeep Sarkar

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Sanjay Dutt, Raima Sen, Sabyasachi Chakraborty

Top draw: Bengali connection

Cityspeak: ?I had seen the original Parineeta and liked it but this new version completely blew me away. The storytelling was very smooth and despite essentially being a love story, it had an element of suspense. What I liked most was the way the period was created ? not very old, not very new (Saif singing Elvis Presley). The performances were very good and the music was another high point. Kaisi paheli is a personal favourite, especially with Rekha dancing to it? ? Surajit Chatterjee (lead singer, Bhoomi)

No Entry (108,234)

Director: Anees Bazmee

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, Esha Deol, Celina Jaitley

Top draw: Corny and horny

Cityspeak: ?The concept of a ?no entry? board is so fascinating and is applicable to us Indians only. Literate or illiterate, rich or poor, we invariably have a fixation of going the other way. So the movie works for me where this man wants to have some fun by throwing caution to the wind. Don?t we men all face this dilemma? Some go astray, the lucky ones stay back. I also really enjoyed the slapstick humour. After a hard day?s work if I have to watch a movie, I will keep my brains out of the theatre and just chill out. So I would recommend No Entry to everybody? ? Mir (anchor and actor)

Salaam Namaste (93,138)

Director: Siddharth Anand

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta

Top draw: The cool factor

Cityspeak: ?It?s light and a bit silly, so it worked great for a break. I ran away from office to watch it and I enjoyed the break. The great music and Saif?s ?women rock? kind of wardrobe were the best things about the movie. I really liked it? ? Kiran Uttam Ghosh (fashion designer)

Bunty Aur Babli (89,561)

Director: Shaad Ali

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Amitabh Bachchan

Top draw: Bachchan bonanza

Cityspeak: ?It?s a very young and energetic movie. The pace of the film is very fast and consistently so. And it?s very funny? I kept laughing throughout the film... Great music and even the background score works for me. It?s great to watch Abhishek and Amitabh together, especially in Kajra re. The overall package rocks; total paisa vasool? ? Sidharth Pansari, managing director, Crossword bookstore

Waqt (83,059)

Director: Vipul Shah

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra

Top draw: Family ties

Cityspeak: ?Despite it being a family drama, Waqt has some very nice comedy. Amitabh Bachchan, of course, is great and carries the film on his shoulders. The storyline may not be that strong, but the way it was told made all the difference. The music was also very soothing, especially the song Miraksam? ? Sreshthaa Paul (model)

Sarkar (70,586)

Director: Ram Gopal Varma

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Kay Kay Menon

Top draw: Corelone in Mumbai

Cityspeak: ?I found the film very dark and internalised. It had a very innovative way of characterisation through close-ups. You could easily get into the characters? minds. And it has this tremendous sense of tension, which was consistent throughout the movie? ? Bikram Ghosh (musician and actor)

Mangal Pandey (65,138)

Director: Ketan Mehta

Cast: Aamir Khan, Tobey Stephens, Rani Mukherjee

Top draw: Aamir, Aamir, Aamir

Cityspeak: ?For those of us who grew up watching Aamir Khan play the college kid in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar to actually seeing him play a freedom fighter like Mangal Pandey was a great experience. He not only looked the part but performed beautifully. Also, the friendship between Aamir and Tobey was a lovely concept? ? Naveen Pai (restaurateur)

Garam Masala (61,378)

Director: Priyadarshan

Cast: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Paresh Rawal

Top draw: Hot bods

Cityspeak: ?It was very enjoyable to say the least, even though I expected a touch more from someone like Priyadarshan. Also because Akshay Kumar and John Abraham were coming together for the first time? ? Tota Roy Chowdhury (actor)

Dus (57,743)

Director: Anubhav Sinha

Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Zayed Khan, Suniel Shetty, Shilpa Shetty, Dia Mirza

Top draw: Dus bahane...

Cityspeak: ?For a Hindi movie, normally always about chor-police, to have members of the bomb disposal and anti-terrorist squads as heroes was quite refreshing. It was very Hollywoodish and totally new-age. The music totally rocked with the title track having hip-hop flavours, Deedar de with the West-Asian feel and a great wedding song like Chham se. Then you have stars like Abhishek, Zayed and Sanjay in the same movie. A great package? ? Girish (DJ)

TOLLYWOOD TOPPERS

Juddha: Action thriller, starring Mithun Chakraborty, Jeet, Debasree Roy and Koel Mullick. Having completed 15 weeks, it’s the biggest grosser of the year. The box office collections have crossed Rs 3 crore.

Devi: Mythological, starring Jisshu Sengupta and Rachana Banerjee. The Swapan Saha film had a budget of around Rs 1 crore. Earnings have been Rs 25-30 lakh more than that.

Shubhadrishti: Inspired by Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, starring Jeet and Koel Mullick. Directed by Probhat Roy, it has completed 50 days and is on track to be the year’s second biggest grosser.

Special mention: Antarmahal

The Rituparno Ghosh film starring Jackie, Soha, Abhishek and Roopa was the most loved and the most hated Bengali film of the year. Dark, disturbing and distinguished.