The year 2012 has been a box office delight with quite a few block busters from big stars like ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, ‘Rowdy Rathore’ and ‘Agneepath’. However, the year has been unique in itself as many low budget independent cinema with lesser known cast and in many cases with debut directors made a firm footing in the industry securing both box office success and critical acclamation among the movie goers. So, in picking up our favourites, we lay greater stress on off-beat cinema of 2012. Here is our choice of the best from 2012:

Barfi
This film which made to Oscars is about three young people learn that love can neither be defined nor contained by society’s norms of normal and abnormal. Made under the direction of Anurag Basu, the film starred Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D’Cruz in lead roles. The movie tells the story of “Barfi”, a mute and deaf boy in Darjeeling and his relation with two girls, one of whom is autistic. The film has been sent as India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination for the 85th Academy Awards in February 2013. Barfi! also was a box-office success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time in India.

Vicky donor
Directed by Shoojit Sircar, the movie narrates the story of a man who is brought in by an infertility doctor to supply him with his sperm, where he becomes the biggest sperm donor for his clinic. The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Yami Gautam, Annu Kapoor, and Dolly Ahluwalia. Produced by John Abraham, ‘Vicky Donor’ received overwhelmingly positive reviews from various top critics of India. Blessy Chettiar of DNA India rated it with 4 stars and said – “Run to the nearest theatre and surrender yourself to the charm of Vicky and his team. This “Aryaputra” provides only good quality entertainment.”
Kahaani
Kahaani was a thriller directed, co-written and co-produced by Sujoy Ghosh. The film features Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles. Balan portrays the role of Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman in search of her missing husband in the city of Kolkata during the Durga Puja festivities, who is helped in her quest by Satyaki “Rana” Sinha (Chatterjee) and Khan (Siddiqui). Despite a contrived culmination in the climax, this was a taut, gripping, thriller with memorable performances from each member of the unique ensemble. While Vidya held it all together, it was the lesser known faces supporting her, who provided the extra edge. Kahaani released worldwide on 9 March 2012 to major critical acclaim. Critics praised the screenplay, the cinematography and the performances of the lead actors. Word-of-mouth publicity and good critical response paved the way for Kahaani’s commercial success at the box office.

Paan singh tomar
The movie is a biography based on the true story of an athlete Paan Singh Tomar employed by the Indian Army and who won a gold medal at Indian National Games, but was forced to become a notorious bandit. It is directed byTigmanshu Dhulia and produced by UTV Motion Pictures. Irrfan plays the titular role, with Mahie Gill, Vipin Sharma and Nawazuddin Siddiqui portraying supporting roles. Benefiting immensely from an outstanding performance by Irrfan Khan, Tigmanshu Dhulia’s film made a hard-hitting point, and posed difficult questions about how this country treats its sporting heroes. The movie’s runaway success was like a shot-in-the-arm for unconventional cinema.

Gangs of Wasseypur (Part 1 and 2)
Anurag Kashyap successfully weaved in five hours of blood, gore and fun. Packed with smart dialogue, “Gangs of Wasseypur” was an experiment with revenge saga that went right. The grime of the coal mines, the edgy characters and a great ensemble cast meant that audiences left the cinema sated.  It centers around power struggles, politics and vengeance between three crime families. Part one features an ensemble cast with Manoj Bajpai, Richa Chadda, Tigmanshu Dhulia in the major roles and its story spans from the early 1940s to mid 1990s. Part two features an ensemble cast with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Richa Chadda, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Pankaj Tripathi, Raj Kumar Yadav, Huma Qureshi and Zeishan Quadri in the major roles and its story spans from the 1990s to 2009.

The list given above exclusively expresses our personal opinion and is not conclusive or exhaustive. Apart from those mentioned above, movies like ‘OMG! Oh My God’ and ‘English Vinglish’ are strong contenders in the category.

Isha Sharvani, who had to back out of the finals of ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’ due to her elbow injury despite her sure shot chances of winning, is back and how!! The girl is fitter than ever and in the best of her spirits. She looked extremely beautiful and full of life as she walked the ramp for designer James Ferreira on the opening day of the second edition of India Resort Fashion Week in Candolim, Goa. Isha looked completely awe-inspiring in a black halter neck gown with a red stole. She also showed her graceful dance moves in a red swim suit which she teamed with a long chiffon jacket.

James Ferreira showcased a complete resort collection that was a mix of swimsuits, sarongs and kaftans at India Resort Fashion Week 2012. The designer used satin and viscose to create an affordable line.

Talking about her fight with her injury and her comeback, Isha Sharvani said: “I was under intense rehabilitation for a long time because of that dislocated elbow, I’m still not fully recovered, and there are things I could do that I can’t seem to do so easily now.”

The four-day long IRFW has a robust line-up of designers and Indian and international disc jockeys. Also noted on the ramp was Shazahn Padamsee who walked for Sushma Patel at India Resort Fashion Week 2012.

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known to pay attention to the minutest details when it comes to carving the look and feel of the characters in his film. Who can forget the immaticulate details with which he portrayed the perfect Gujarati settings in his super hit ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’. Aishwarya Rai was a perfect ten on ten as a Gujarati girl in the film with her looks, clothes and not to forget her perfect ‘Garba’ moves in ‘Dholi Taro’.

The director is currently busy with his next project ‘Ram Leela’ for which he will once again use a Gujarati setting. The film is a modern Romeo Juliet with Ranveer Kapoor in the male lead. For the female lead, Deepika Padukone has been roped in place of Kareena Kapoor.

It is known that Sanjay has asked Deepika to take tips from Ash’s dance moves in ‘Dholi Taro’. As such, Deepika will learn Garba for the film. Deepika is gearing up to play the role of a perfect rural Gujarati girl in the film.

Sanjay even shopped with the designer Anju Modi for the clothes for Deepika’s character and her costumes were sourced from remote areas like Bhoj, Mundra and Mandvi in the Gujarat’s Kutch district. Ranveer Singh has put on a six-pack look for the film.

Shilpa Shetty and husband Raj Kundra surely know how to value good friends and cherish relationships. The couple hosted a special dinner party for Australian spinner Shane Warne and his girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley (British model cum actress) at their Juhu residence. The two of them were in Mumbai after a long time.

Warne is no more a part of Shilpa- Raj’s IPL team Rajasthan Royals, but Shilpa considers him to be a good friend and also a “moral support” for the team. More than that, he remains a good friend of Shilpa and Raj Kundra.

“Great to see @warne888 and @ElizabethHurley at our home, fun evening at home with a few friends:) Food from Cafe 212 was fab even if I say so myself! Yum,” Shilpa Shetty tweeted after the party.

in turn, Hurley too thanked Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra for the dinner tweeting,

“Thank you to @TheShilpaShetty and @TheRajKundra for the most delicious dinner and enchanting cuddle with the Mini Kundra xxxxxx.”

The party was not a very grand affair with only few very close friends and family members. The guests we spotted at the bash were Chunky Pandey with his wife Bhavna Pandey, Suniel Shetty with wife Mana Shetty, Gayatri Joshi with husband Vikas Oberoi and Gautam Singhania and wife Nawaz.

Anubhav Sinha’s forthcoming ‘Gulab Gang’ is much into news as it marks the comeback of Madhuri Dixit in the film industry. The film is inspired by Sampat Pal-led Gulabi Gang in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh, which fights for the rights of women in the region. Directed by Soumik Sen, the shooting of the film will start in December and the first schedule will be shot in Bombay.

Next to Madhuri, the other one time top actress to be roped in by Anubhav is Juhi Chawla and he says that it would be great to see them together for the first time on big screen. “Actually, there were two reasons to cast Juhi Chawla for the film. The very first thing is that it was a creative decision taken by all of us… and we thought it would be great to see two iconic stars – Madhuri and Juhi – together in the film,” says Sinha.

“I couldn’t have pulled off a better cast than the two most iconic female stars, Madhuri and Juhi, together for the first time on Indian screen,” he said adding, “We were working on the looks of the actresses, now we are ready to roll. Since the film is based in rural India, both of them will be seen in a de-glam avatar and will have a rustic look.”

‘Gulab Gang’ also stars Mahie Gill and Shilpa Shukla.

Asin has been a part of many Rs 100 crore club films, including ‘Ghazini’, ‘Ready’, ‘Housefull 2′ and ‘Bol Bachchan’. However, despite quite a few hits, she is yet to get a firm foothold in the industry.

Recently, the actress was in Santorini in Greece recently for a holiday with her family. She was at a tourist spot without makeup and an international fashion photographer, not recognizing her and still finding her face extremely photogenic and European-looking, requested her to pose for him. Asin was delightfully surprised to receive compliments for her looks and she did pose for him without revealing her real identity and that too without charging anything.

Asin had started her film career with Malayalam film ‘Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka’ in 2001. She will be seen next with Akshay Kumar in ‘Khiladi 786’. The fans appreciated her chemistry with Akshay Kumar in ‘Housefull 2′. The fans of Akshay Kumar and Asin are waiting for December 7, 2012, when ‘Khiladi 786′ will hit the screens.

For the past two years, gossip columns have been abuzz about romantic linkup between Siddhartha Roy Kapoor and Vidya Balan. Siddharth is the CEO of UTV Motion Pictures and has been married twice before. Though Vidya never actually denied that she had marriage in mind, she refused to comment on when she was set to tie the knots with her boyfriend.

However, a little birdie informs that the wedding date has been fixed for December 14 and the duo has asked their close friends to keep themselves free between December 11 and 14. Vidya hails from South India and Siddhartha is a Punjabi. So, whether the wedding will be in a South Indian style or a Punjabi one, that is still to be known.

Both the sides are busy with the wedding preparations which will supposedly be a private affair with only family members and very close friends from the industry. The functions will kick start on December 11 with a Sangeet function.

Vidya Balan Wedding

One look at her and you are left amazed by her charm and persona even at the age of 49. Talking about Sridevi, who made her comeback with critically acclaimed ‘English Vinglish’, the lady is in no mood to sit back after her success. She has done a photo shoot with ace lensman Dabboo Ratnani and the result is amazing.

Camera is just a toy for Sridevi who has been playing with it since the tendr age of six when she made an appearance in ‘Kandan Karunai’. At the age of 12, she had her first brush with Bollywood in ‘Julie’ (1975). Her first adult role was of Selvi in Tamil film ‘Moondru Mudichu’ (1976). South industry gave her the first Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Tamil) in ‘Meendum Kokila’. As for Bollywood, ‘Sadma’ fetched her critical acclaim while ‘Himmatwala’ made her a household name. With a row of hits, Sri soon became the reiging actress by 1993, along with Madhuri Dixit. Sridevi married film producer Boney Kapoor in 1996, and left films after ‘Judaai’ (1997).

She made a remarkable comeback with ‘English Vinglish’ and also recently gifted her hubby Boney Kapoor a sleek and swanky Porsche’s SUV, the Cayenne Diesel, celebrating the success of her movie. Though her photo shoot gives us a hint of what she has in mind, Sridevi says she’s only interested in doing roles that challenge her.

Aamir Khan’s shower scene in ‘Ghajini’ was a crucial one for the story and the success of the film. Moving on similar lines, the actor has a shower scene in his forthcoming ‘Talaash’ which will play a pivotal part in the flick. The scene takes Inspector Shekhawat (played by Aamir Khan) to the root of the problem that he fights against. The scene was a one-take shot taken in a flat that belongs to hairstylist Avan Contractor’s mother.

Aamir Khan who is very choosy about his films says that he chose to do this film because he was drawn to the script which is both thrilling and emotional.

“For me, it was the script. When I was listening to the script, I was very stressed and tense as I could not predict what is going to happen (in the story). So I found the story very exciting,” said Aamir.

“It’s not only a drama and suspense, but also a very emotional story. We all love someone or the other, who is close to us – our parents, our children, husband or wife, or lover. We are always scared of losing them,” he added.

Directed by Reema Kagti, Talaash also stars Rani Mukherji and Kareena Kapoor. It hits the screens on November 30.

Aamir Talaash

Bollywood celebs went hopping from one party to another as Amitabh Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty, Ekta Kapoor and Ameesha Patel hosted them for their friends and well-wishers. On Tuesday night, Bachchan household celebrated Aaradhya’s first Diwali in a grand manner with the entire Bollywood clan turning up to convey their greetings to the family. The same night, Shilpa Shetty and hubby Raj Kundra, too, played hosts at their home. Ameesha Patel also invited her friends over at her place for a round of taash and some festivities.

Wednesday saw another round of celebrations, when Ekta Kapoor, along with her brother Tusshar and her parents Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor, threw a lavish party for her guests from film and television industry.

Kangana Ranaut, Sunny Leone with husband Daniel Weber, Imran Khan with his wife, Ameesha Patel, Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra, Mandira Bedi, Tusshar Kapoor and Kritika Kamra were spotted at the party.

This Diwali bash was certainly a memorable experience for Sunny Leone! She wrote on Twitter: “I learned a lot in this last trip about India, Diwali, the Bollywood industry and the people. Sad to leave more this trip then any other.”

Deepika Padukone is using her private space on Twitter to promote Race 2 and to launch fist look of cast of the movie. With 2.5 million twitter followers, Deepika is using her digital popularity to launch the first look of all the actors featuring in the film including her own poster.

Apart from her first look, Deepika also unveiled the first look of Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham and Jacqueline. The look of all the actors assures that the movie is going to be pretty high on the glam quotient.

Jacqueline looks quite stylish and spunky in her new haircut in Race 2 which bears close resemblance to Angelina Jolie’s chic hair cut in the movie Salt. Till now Jacqueline has not been seen in fringes in any of her films. This Sri Lankan beauty will be seen sporting leather jeggings, and sleeveless to bra tops in the film.

Giving Jacqueline and Deepika close competition is Ameesha Patel on the first look poster. The girl has worked pretty hard on her body and looks superbly glamorous with knotted top and sexy sunglasses.

The film will have the girls doing hi-octane stunts in the film. As for Deepika Padukone, who is being claimed as the ‘Indian Bond Girl’ after the film, director Abbas states, ”Deepika will easily be one of the hottest action babes in Bollywood”

Produced by Tips, the action thriller RACE 2, starring Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandez, Anil Kapoor and Ameesha Patel is scheduled to release 25th January, 2013.

The entire Bollywood clan turned up at ‘Jalsa’ on Nov. 13, 2012, as Aishwarya, Abhishek along with Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan threw a grand party to celebrate Aaradhya’s first Diwali.

On his Facebook page, Amitabh Bachchan wrote:
“Great Diwali with relatives and close friends … quieter and sound controlled, which worked magically ..played the ‘shugun’, gave bonuses to staff, firing up the firecrackers, intelligently ..
And then to receive guests, play the shagun ka cards and listen in to new and comforting music …”

Playing perfect hosts were Aishwarya Rai looking pretty in a deep pink anarkali with gold embroidery and Abhishek attired in a white and green striped silk kurta. Big B looked handsome as ever in a stunning red silk kurta with silver work.

Attending the party were Shahrukh Khan, Farhan Akhtar, R Balki, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu, Tusshar Kapoor, Karan Johar and the stunning Deepika Pudukone, among other celebrities. Also spotted at the Diwali bash were Sonam Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Farhan Akhtar, Kirron Kher, Prachi Desai, Dino Morea, Manoj Bajpai, Arjun Kapoor, Asin, Arjun Rampal, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Sunil Shetty, Gauri Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Tabu, Raveena Tandon, Manish Malhotra, Kunal Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Tusshar Kapoor and several others.

Since the next day was Children’s Day, mommy Aishwarya and dad Abhishek celebrated the day by donating to the unprivileged children.

Amitabh Bachchan shared on Facebook, “The joy of receiving is nothing compared to the joy of giving .On Deepawali to acknowledge the work of those that work for you, through bonus and gift is true value of the festival.

Abhishek and Aishwarya give presence to ‘Magic Bus’ today an organization that looks and assists into the lives of under privileged children, mostly from slum areas. They donate in the name of Aaradhya to look after 4 children, their needs and vocation and education.

Jaya and I contribute towards other such institutions which work towards such causes .. adopting children and assuring them the basics of life …”

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan wrote in his blog: “I am now in a drunken stupor, unable to keep my senses and my eyes open … I am having to write and respond to those that shower love … I almost dropped over my laptop just now, as my slumber induced brain went dead for a while … this is not good at all …But attending to ShahRukh and Akshay and Deepika and Priety and a host of friends and guests for the celebration of divali, at times saps one of every inch of what the system demands ..nothing that seemed to be incoherent and rude, but just the whole timing of the matter ..”