Aniruddha Guha picks the top 10 movies of 2011

Each year, Bollywood comes up with films that move you and ones that you'd not even want to be paid to watch. Aniruddha Guha picks some of the best films of the year.

10. Dirty Picture
Vidya Balan. That’s what makes The Dirty Picture a must-watch. Unabashed and daring in her portrayal of southern siren Silk Smitha, Balan charted territories Hindi film heroines stay away from usually. The film had its flaws (the second-half meandered into pointless sub-plots), but it’s still a great watch, thanks to some good dialogue-baazi, courtesy Rajat Aroraa, great performances by Balan, Naseeruddin Shah and Emraan Hashmi, and two good numbers, ‘Ohh La La’ and the Tamil song, ‘Nakka Mukka’. The Dirty Picture, number 10 on this list, is the crowd-pleaser of the lot.

9. No One Killed Jessica
Rajkumar Gupta’s cinematic telling of the Jessica Lal murder case gave Hindi film audiences a chance to bite into a rare well made life-inspired drama (we needn’t look far, RGV botched up the Neeraj Grover murder case in his Not A Love Story this year). Gupta, while keeping the essence of the event intact, made NOKJ a compelling watch, and gave us an unlikely hero - Rani Mukherjee.

8. I Am Kalam
I Am Kalam, for me, was the surprise package of the year. The first I heard of it was when child actor Harsh Mayar won a National award for it. However, I wasn’t still prepared to be blown away by Nila Madhab Panda’s moving tale of a boy who works at a roadside dhaba in Rajasthan, but yearns to be educated. Chances are you haven’t watched the film yet. Source it from where you can and give it a look. You won’t be disappointed.

7. 7 Khoon Maaf
Contrary to some very contrasting opinions about the film, 7 Khoon Maaf was one of my favourite films this year. Daringly different from what most other filmmakers have to offer, Vishal Bhardwaj chose not to take the safe route in his fifth feature film. The strange tale of Sussana Johaness, who killed her six husbands one after the other, the dark and trippy film may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but is brilliant in its own way. Thank you Bhardwaj for not opting to make Kaminey 2 instead.

6. Rockstar
Ranbir Kapoor delivered what will probably go down as a career-defining performance in Imtiaz Ali’s modern adaptation of Heer Ranjha (the filmmaker says the influence was unintentional.) In spite of Nargis Fakhri in the worst debut imaginable for a lead actor (she was so bad, Ranbir came out looking even better), Rahman’s soulful music and Ali’s dexterity at handling a slightly complex subject made Rockstar immensely enjoyable. Again, not a film lapped up by everyone, Rockstar did get a lot of cinema enthusiasts talking though.

5. Dhobi Ghat
Kiran Rao’s debut film worked for its myriad characters, and the presentation of Mumbai in a manner hitherto unseen. A different kind of cinematic exercise than what we are used to in our films - more character-driven than plot - Rao drew us into the world of her characters, leaving us curious bystanders wanting to know how their stories unfolded. Yasmin the Muslim girl from a small-town discovering Mumbai was my favourite of the lot. Gustavo Santaolalla’s lilting score was among the best of the year.

4. Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster
Tigmanshu Dhulia, having shown tremendous potential in his debut film, Haasil, delivered and how. His modern take on Bimal Mitra’s novel Shaheb Bibi Golam was riveting, to say the least. In Jimmy Shergill and Randeep Hooda, Dhulia got two strong lead actors both of whom played off each other’s contrasting personalities beautifully. The film, though, was a real benchmark in dialogue writing in contemporary Hindi cinema - entertaining, but with depth. The Dirty Picture’s dialogues may have won over the front-benchers, but SBAG was the film with the best dialogues in 2011.

3. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Zoya Akhtar can now claim to have made a truly memorable road film, a rarity in our movies. The beauty of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara wasn’t in its story, but in the little moments Zoya managed to capture deftly. With three good actors in the lead, Abhay Deol being the pick among them, Zoya transported us to Spain in a journey that proved to be life-altering for her characters. The film reminded me of Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, and is probably the one you’ll enjoy re-watching the most in the list.

2. Delhi Belly
Delhi Belly, easily, was the most entertaining film of 2011. Also, contrary to other Bollywood success stories, this film saw the writer getting the maximum adulation after release. Akshat Varma wrote what is probably the most irreverent film in recent times, breaking a number of stereotypes along the way. With some really enjoyable dialogues (‘Sir, londry’), a song that became the anthem of the year (‘Bhaag DK Bose’) and some great performance by Kunaal Roy Kapur and Poorna Jagannathan, DB was a hell lot of fun.

1. Stanley Ka Dabba
Stanley Ka Dabba is a real cinematic triumph. Amole Gupte shot the film with school kids over weekends on a Canon 7D and with minimal fuss and budget. But it had soul, and touched you in a way few films do. Gupte, who had written the stirring yet slightly over-the-top Taare Zameen Par, kept the hyperbole minimum, letting his heartwarming story take over instead. Simple yet brilliant, Stanley Ka Dabba was the knockout film of the year. And very easily, the best.