Saurabh’s 2014 list
My “favourites” from Indian cinema (yet to see Iyobinte Pusthakam, Njan Steve Lopez, Sulemani Keeda, Burma, Happy Journey etc):-
Favouite Film: Fandry (Marathi); Honourable Mentions: Ankhon Dekhi, Haider, Ugly, Pisaasu (Tamil), Munnariyippu (Malayalam), Jaatishwar (Bengali)
[Hindi films I liked (in no particular order)- Ankhon Dekhi, Haider, Ugly, Highway, Mardaani, Bobby Jasoos, Filmistaan, Queen
Tamil ones I liked- Pisaasu, Saivam, Pannaiyarum Padminiyum, Naan Sigappu Manithan, Madras, Jigarthanda
Malayalam- Munnariyippu, 1983, Ohm Shanthi Oshaana, Bangalore Days
Bengali- Jaatishwar, Chaar, Chotushkone, Buno Haansh
Kannada- Ulidavaru Kandanthe, Ugramm]
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj (Haider); Honourable Mentions: Mysskin (Pisaasu), Nagraj Manjule (Fandry), Rajat Kapoor (Ankhon Dekhi), Anurag Kashyap (Ugly), Venu (Munnariyippu), Srijit Mukherji (Jaatishwar and Chotushkone), Sandip Ray (Chaar)
Actor: Mammootty (Munnariyippu); Honourable Mentions: Somnath Awghade (Fandry), Sanjay Mishra (Ankhon Dekhi), Prosenjit Chatterjee (Jaatishwar), Shahid Kapoor (Haider)
Actress: Tabu (Haider); Honourable Mentions: Kangana Ranaut (Queen), Alia Bhatt (Highway), Aparna Gopinath (Munnariyippu)
Supporting Actor: Bobby Simha (Jigarthanda) and Girish Kulkarni (Ugly); Honourable Mentions: Vineet Singh (Ugly), Radharavi (Pisaasu), Jisshu Sengupta (Jaatishwar), Ali Fazal (Bobby Jasoos), Randeep Hooda (Highway), Tahir Bhasin (Mardaani), Fahadh Faasil (Bangalore Days), Chiranjeet Chakraborty (Chotushkone)
Supporting Actress: Huma Qureshi (Dedh Ishqiya); Honourable mentions: Maya Sarao (Ankhon Dekhi), Parvathy Menon (Bangalore Days)
Story: Rajat Kapoor (Ankhon Dekhi) and Mysskin (Pisaasu); Honourable Mentions: Venu (Munnariyippu), Karthik Subbaraj (Jigarthanda)
Screenplay: Vishal Bhardwaj and Bashrat Peer (Haider); Honourable Mentions: Nagraj Manjule (Fandry), Anurag Kashyap (Ugly), Rajat Kapoor (Ankhon Dekhi), Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi (PK), Rakshit Shetty (Ulidavaru Kandanthe), Srijit Mukherji (Jaatishwar), Pa. Ranjith (Madras)
Cinematography: Pankaj Kumar (Haider) and Nikos Andritsakis (Ugly); Honourable Mentions: Karm Chawla (Ulidavaru Kandanthe), Venu (Munnariyippu), Vikram Amladi (Fandry), Ravee Roy (Pisaasu), Rafey Mehmood (Ankhon Dekhi)
Dialogues: Vishal Bhardwaj (Dedh Ishqiya); Honourable Mentions: Vishal Bhardwaj (Haider)
Music: Vishal Bhardwaj (Haider) and Kabir Suman (Jaatishwar); Honourable Mentions: Ghibran (Thirumanam Ennum Nikkah and Amara Kaviyam), A. R. Rahman (Kaaviya Thalaivan), Shankar Ehsaan Loy (Kill Dil), Sreevalsan J Menon (Swapaanam), Saagar Desai (Ankhon Dekhi), Ajaneesh Loknath (Ulidavaru Kandanthe), Santosh Narayan (Cuckoo and Jigarthanda)
Background Score: Brian McOmber (Ugly); Honourable Mentions: Bijibal (Munnariyippu)
Lyrics: Gulzar (Khul Kabhi To- Haider), Varun Grover (Aaj Laagi Laagi Nayi Dhoop- Ankhon Dekhi), Gaurav Solanki (Papa- Ugly); Honourable Mentions: Gulzar (Baawra- Kill Dil)
Male Playback: Vishal Bhardwaj (Jhelum- Haider), Arijit Singh (Khul Kabhi To- Haider), Kailash Kher (Aaj Laagi Laagi Nayi Dhoop- Ankhon Dekhi); Honourable Mentions: Shankar Mahadevan and Sonu Nigam (Kill Dil- Kill Dil)
Female Playback: Nandini Srikar (Harjaaiyaan- Queen)
Choreography: Sudesh Adhana (Bismil- Haider): Honourable Mentions: Birju Maharaj (Hamari Atariya- Dedh Ishqiya)
SATYAMSHOT 
January 14, 2015 at 6:37 AM
I should have added Shilpa Rao for best female playback.
Here is Papa from Ugly- lovely lyrics
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January 14, 2015 at 8:06 AM
A useful list, especially for those of us, and I really mean myself, who haven’t seen very much this year.
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January 16, 2015 at 1:54 AM
GF: Thanks much. I wish that you could say something on Munnariyippu and Swapaanam as and when you see them.
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January 14, 2015 at 8:09 AM
a great list saurabh. There’s no much to catch up on Bollywood this year. You always have these hidden gems that no one cares much about. Glad to see you raking up some good regional films too.
Btw, this song was superb. Probably the best lyrics i heard this year along with the ones in Dedh Ishqiya
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January 16, 2015 at 2:24 PM
Tony: Thanks much.Which are the recent films you saw and liked?
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January 14, 2015 at 10:03 AM
Saurabh, great list. You really have excellent variety in your viewing- thanks for highlighting all these hidden gems that we may not have heard of otherwise.
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January 14, 2015 at 10:13 AM
I second that..
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January 14, 2015 at 11:31 AM
Yeah, you’re an inspiration — when you aren’t making me go green with envy! All this and you keep up with graphic novels too…
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January 16, 2015 at 2:18 PM
Q: Haha, thanks (BTW, I left a comment on the Haider piece on your blog sometime back). But really of late I haven’t been able to read too many graphic novels/comics. The one I did like a lot was Simian- not sure if you have read it, but it’s a retelling of Ramayana through Hanuman’s POV. Worth a read especially for the art-work.
And on Snowpiercer, I am sure the DVD must be out becuase I downloaded the BluRay print (though this was from the Korean official BluRay version early last year). And I am not sure if you are away but the film is adapted from a bFrench graphic novel (which I haven’t read).
And with the World Cup on the horizon, is there a chance of you doing a cricket piece in the near future?! I hope you do.
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January 16, 2015 at 2:28 PM
Satyam: Thanks as always for making this into a separate post, though really this was just a list more than anything else
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January 16, 2015 at 2:04 PM
CG: Thanks. BTW that Sify link was helpful. Now go see Munnariyippu 🙂 .
BTW that Sify link you posted was really helpful- the Jayasuriya film and its poster looks really intriguing, had no clue about it. Also great to see that Ann Augustine is back. Fahadh also has Haram (with Radhika Apte..and I think these two will make a fine pair); I hope though that he now decides to move towards something bigger (perhaps Iyobinte Pusthakam was a step in that direction). From Mammootty’s lineup I am excited about Salim Ahamed’s Pathemari- haven’t seen the director’s last film with Mammootty, but I did like Adaminte Makan Abu. And even Fireman look interesting. The other film I am really waiting for is Ennu Ninte Moideen, a period love story with Prithvi and more importantly Parvathy in the lead
BTW I would whole heartedly recommend 1983- it’s a little gem nicely held together by Nivin’s performance (and as a cricket buff it was a joy to watch this) who is turning out to be the Malayali actor (among the young ones) I enjoy watching the most after Fahadh and Prithvi. Also “Ohm Shanthi Oshaana” which is the kind of a decently entertaining urban, youthful entertainer (for the want of a better word) which Bollywood unsuccessfully tries to make every year – this one was sold as a chick flick/rom-com, but is actually a coming-of-age story more wrapped in a rom-com. I saw this with my sister and enjoyed this immensely. And Nazriya is too cute.
Incidentally thanks much for the Kaiyoppu recommendation. I am not sure if that kind of a climax (it came out of the left field) was required, but till then the film was all aces. And really enjoyed Mammootty here though I still think Munariyippu (both the film and the performance are better). Also want to see Nanadanam which you recommended.
And Mili looks good-
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January 16, 2015 at 3:59 PM
Saurabh, thanks to your list, I did get my hands on the Munariyippu DVD- now just need to find the time to sit down and watch it. I did watch both 1983 and Ohm Shanthi Oshaana and enjoyed both tremendously. Although Ohm was Nazriya’s film, Nivin stood out extremely well for a supporting role. 2014 was definitely his year with 1983, Bangalore Days and Ohm Shanthi- will be interesting to see his followup.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Kaiyoppu- agree with you on the climax, but all round it was still a very thoughtful movie.
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January 14, 2015 at 10:16 AM
Annkhon Dekhi, for me was the best of last year by a distance..in fact, the best since 2013’s Ship of Theseus.
A scene where Babuji (Sanjay Mishra) breaks into tears (won’t reveal why) is such a brilliant scene. One could feel every emotion that babuji was or wasn’t feeling.
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January 14, 2015 at 11:25 AM
Great to see films from all languages represented. Feel sad that lack of time made me miss films like Bangalore Diary and Passassu which I could have otherwise caught in theatres in Bengaluru. From among the films I have seen , agree with most of your citations except two. Aamir Khan needs to be among the best actors. Shahid was good, but that was a kind of role which would make any decent performance look so much more. PK was tough. So was Anthony / Kushal Hazra of Jaatishwar, and yes Prosenjit did a great job. Talking of Srijit’s two films, I agree with Jaatishwar but not Chatuskone. The three individual films, ‘ Serial Killer’. ‘ Yes Smoking’ and ‘ Reverse Planchette’ were good, but not the fourth one, the punch line, involving Parambrata. It was a gimmick that didn’t quite work this time. All that spouting of Dylan Thomas with a gun pointed at your head was childish and ridiculous in the extreme. Glad to see Vishal Bharadwaj’s haunting Jhelum being appreciated. And Kabir Suman dida fantastic job in Jaatishwar too. Glad also to see Tabu being recognized as the female lead. It is a landmark performance.
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January 16, 2015 at 2:27 PM
Utkal: Thanks. Aamir for PK was an oversight. Will talk about CHotushkone later.
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January 14, 2015 at 7:49 PM
Wow, an eclectic list.
You are a true movie buff.
Haven’t heard of half the films watched even fewer from your list.
A little surprise to see Queen and Highway rated so highly. Admirable attempts but find both a little overrated. Queen more so.
Wish I could overcome my ‘cheap nationalism’ and watch Haider.
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January 16, 2015 at 1:43 PM
Rajen: Sir, thanks much. And I wasn’t really “rating” films here (though I do believe that Queen is very overrated even if Kangana deserves all the praise), merely listing down films which I liked or enjoyed the most.
And I don’t think there is anything called as “cheap nationalism”, you really don’t have to be apologetic about it. That being said you should still check out Haider, if you do find something offensive in it then you can always criticise it.
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January 15, 2015 at 3:18 AM
Hi Saurabh: That was comprehensive and covering many languages as well..I’am very glad that you watched :Kannada- Ulidavaru Kandanthe, Ugramm..I thought nobody in this forum would have watched those..I’am not sure if you have watched kannada movie ‘lucia’..Looking at your list, you will like this as well..BTW I always follow your recommendations ..Thanks to you I got to watch Ankhon Dekhi and Tamil movie-Pandiya Naadu . Also immensely liked -Soodhu Kavvum
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January 16, 2015 at 1:36 PM
Rajesh:
“BTW I always follow your recommendations”-
LOL, it’s a little scary to think that someone would follow my recommendations ( 🙂 ), but thank you. And I am glad that you saw Pandiya Nadu
I have seen very few Kannada films (I have seen Lucia and enjoyed it a lot…I like the director’s earlier Lifeu Ishtene as well, a really charming coming of age film). I also checked out Edegarike- think this was an interesting attempt. Then there are 3 classics which I have seen- Vamsa Vruksha, Samskara and Grahana.
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January 15, 2015 at 8:30 AM
The most successful film PK.
Best actor AK.
Most popular Actor SK.
Best actress Madhuri for Dedh Ishquiya.
Best music ?
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January 17, 2015 at 1:50 AM
IMO Shaan Rehman deserves a mention for the music of Ohm Shanthi Oshana. Mounum Cherum Neram must be one of the best romantic track I have heard for a long time.
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