Some films worked in 2004, some bombed. But what eventually remained at the end of the year was a handful of scenes ? some for their brilliant execution and subtle outcome and some for their shady mise-en-scene and superficial effectuality. Here are our best and worst scenes of Bolly, Holly and Tolly 2004.
 |
| Shah Rukh and Preity: As good as it gets |
They were two of the most awaited films of the year ? Yash Chopra?s Veer-Zaara and Ashutosh Gowariker?s Swades. While the two met with contrasting fates at the box-office, they were punctuated with some magical moments.
In a scene in Veer-Zaara, Preity Zinta?s mother (Kirron Kher) meets Shah Rukh Khan, pleading with him to leave her daughter. SRK agrees, with logic similar to the one he gave Farida Jalal in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.
Kher asks: ?Kya tumhare desh (India) ka har beta tumhare jaisa hai?? SRK at his teary best replies: ?Yeh to nahin pata, lekin har maa aapke jaisi hai.?
Taaliyan, taaliyan!
The court sequence in Veer-Zaara was laughable though, with Rani crossing all legal limits by reaching late and keeping the Pakistani judge waiting. Closer home in Aitraaz, Kareena?s arguments ? with a voice centre message as the mainstay of her pleading ? didn?t inspire anyone except the judge. Though both judges gave favourable verdicts, there was little for the audience in the much-hyped court scenes.
Halfway through Swades, Shah Rukh meets a farmer in the neighbouring village of Charanpur to get the rent for Gayatri?s land. The farmer (a non-actor facing the camera for the first time) describes his dues to the NASA scientist. The words come straight from the heart leaving Mohan teary-eyed and transformed.
Hulchul might have been one of the biggest hits of the year, but the last mangalsutra scene is farcical to say the least. The chaotic comedy championed by Kundan Shah in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and Raj Kumar Santoshi in Andaz Apna Apna is a big downer here as the scene looks out of place and forced for belly laughter.
 |
| Ocean’s Twelve: A few bars above |
Great special effects and a unique human touch that made it one of the rare comics-to-film translation successes. That was the magic of Spider-Man 2. The restaurant scene where Peter Parker?s spider sense guides him to a final-moment rescue of Mary Jane, was extra special.
The couple is engaged in conversation when suddenly Parker realises something is very wrong. Things turn slow-mo a second later as our hero grabs Jane and dives, just as a car comes hurtling inside the restaurant, throwing a million shards of glass in all directions with Dr Octopus emerging propped up menacingly on his artificial arms.
Ocean?s Twelve might have been weak on plot, but it was full of punch, packed with laugh-out-loud dialogue. The breath-taker is the Julia Roberts-Bruce Willis meeting.
Julia?s Tess Ocean decides to masquerade as the famous actress Julia Roberts to pull off a heist. Willis, playing himself, sees her and is fooled. She meets him, and Tess is bowled over. (?I love you,? she gushes).
Gurinder Chadha?s take on Pride & Prejudice would make any lover of the Jane Austen classic squirm. But what stands out as a nonsensical bastardisation is the main song of the film Show me the way to love. Watching Aishwarya Rai and lifeless lover (Martin Henderson) lip-sync sweet nothings on a beach just as a gospel choir suddenly surfaces out of nowhere was a blow to the Liz-Darcy reluctant romance.
 |
| Hothat Neerar Jonyo: But why? |
Here?s the Tolly take. In Iti Srikanto, a pensive Kamallata pours out her grief to Srikanto, then gets up slowly to return to her vaishnab akhra. As the morning sunshine pierces through a thicket of trees, Soha Ali Khan in pristine white sari winds her way along a dusty brick-red path covered with dry leaves. Adil (Srikanto) just watches her fade into the distance...
If that was a little bit of magic, there was a fair share of the mundane as well. In Hothat Neerar Jonyo, as Bikram Ghosh strums his guitar, starlet Tina tries to do a seduction act on him. Her crawl towards him to kick up the oomph factor appeared to be as excruciating for reluctant stud boy Bikram as it was for the audience. In fact, the Subrata Sen film was an education in how not to handle so-called sexy scenes.
