Bollywood Oscars

THE BEST OF HINDI CINEMA IN A YEAR HIT BY COVID-19

THE number of Bollywood films released in 2020 plummeted and many were forced to premiere straight onto streaming sites, but that shouldn’t stop us from celebrating the best Hindi cinema had to offer during a troubled time hampered by Covid-19.

With that in mind, Eastern Eye looked back across perhaps the most unique year for Bollywood in the modern era and selected the best it had to offer, with a nominees short list and a winner.

BEST FILM

Chhapaak Panga Thappad Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior Serious Men

With 2019’s best Bollywood film Article 15, director Anubhav Sinha highlighted a social issue. He did that again with Thappad, which placed domestic violence at the heart of an engaging film. The powerful drama showed less could be more in the story of a housewife who decides to take a stand.

BEST ACTRESS

Kangana Ranaut ( Panga)

Deepika Padukone ( Chhapaak)

Saiyami Kher ( Choked)

Taapsee Pannu ( Thappad)

Vidya Balan ( Shakuntala Devi)

Deepika Padukone has established herself as the queen of commercial Hindi cinema and with Chhapaak showed once again how much of an incredible actress she is. She was unrecognisable in the demanding role of an acid attack victim and brings out every ounce of emotion from her character.

BEST ANTAGONIST

Pankaj Tripathi ( Ludo) Saif Ali Khan ( Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior)

Kunal Khemu ( Malang)

Pavail Gulati ( Thappad)

Rahul Bose ( Bulbbul)

Comedy-drama Ludo had a big star cast and the performance by Pankaj Tripathi towered above all. His villainous character is the connecting point for the various stories and lights up every scene he is in. His multi-layered performance reinforces his position as one of India’s finest actors.

BEST DIRECTOR

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari ( Panga)

Anubhav Sinha ( Thappad)

Meghna Gulzar ( Chhapaak)

Anu Menon ( Shakuntala Devi)

Honey Trehan ( Raat Akeli Hai)

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari reinforced her reputation with Panga. Her third film gave a new spin to the traditional sports drama and told the uplifting story of a housewife who decides to resume her kabbadi career. She brings out real emotion in the heart-warming story with cross-generational appeal.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Pankaj Tripathi ( Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl)

Vikrant Massey ( Chhapaak)

Gajraj Rao ( Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan)

Santosh Juvekar ( Bhonsle)

Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub Khan ( Chhalaang)

The performance that won most hearts in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl was that of Pankaj Tripathi as the supportive father. The perfect performer once again added a backbone to a film and showed just why he is the most in-demand actor to play supporting roles in commercial films.

BEST BOLLYWOOD NEWCOMER

Aditya Rawal ( Bamfaad) Alaya Furniturewala ( Jawaani

Jaaneman)

Lydian Nadhaswaram ( Atkan Chatkan)

Shalini Pandey ( Bamfaad)

Aakshath Das ( Serious Men)

Alaya Furniturewala seems to have inherited the acting talent of her legendary grandfather Kabir Bedi and delivered a winning debut in Jawaani Jaaneman. She held her own opposite Saif Ali Khan with a strong performance of a young woman who reconnects with her wayward long-lost father.

BEST ACTOR

Ajay Devgn ( Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior)

Amitabh Bachchan ( Gulabo Sitabo)

Nawazuddin Siddiqui ( Serious Men)

Rajkummar Rao ( Chhalaang)

Abhishek Bachchan ( Ludo)

Nawazuddin Siddiqui added to his haul of winning projects on Netflix with stand-out 2020 movies Raat Akeli Hai and Serious Men. He was particularly brilliant in surprise success Serious Men, a story inspired by a real incident of a devoted family man who attempts an audacious con.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Tabu ( Jawaani Jaaneman)

Shweta Tripathi ( Cargo)

Sanya Malhotra ( Shakuntala Devi & Ludo)

Fatima Sana Shaikh ( Ludo)

Richa Chadha ( Panga)

Sanya Malhotra added a spark to two contrasting projects with sterling supporting roles. She plays the daughter battling with her mother in Shakuntala Devi and a woman trying to get a sex tape removed from the web in Ludo. Both roles showed off her impressive range and give her a double win.

BEST SOUNDTRACK Love Aaj Kal Dil Bechara Khuda Haafiz Atkan Chatkan Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan

Overall, it was a terrible year for Bollywood music, but there were some rays of musical lights and surprisingly, the brightest of these appeared in action drama Khuda Haafiz. The superb songs composed by Mithoon were all good, had world-class singers in fine form and repeat value.