52nd Filmfare awards nominations announced

What comes as the biggest surprise to me today, after having seen the ad for the declaration of nominations for the 52nd annual Filmfare awards, wasn’t so much about some of the nominations, but on the fact that the ad appeared on the second last page of my favorite newspaper, TOI. A far cry from the days when the same ad was awaited with huge aplomb, and appeared on the 3rd or the 5th, max the 7th page’s bottoms half. Maybe the people at TOI, have accepted the glitz and glamour of other (non-descript) award shows, which are aired on numerous channels like regular shows, to be more than that of their own baby. But I love Filmfare awards, not just because they are the oldest, and have true golden moments of our past filmy era associated with them, but also because I have virtually grown up feeding on stories of our Bollywood, in all its highs and lows in what else but the number 1 Indian film magazine, Filmfare. The black lady will be haunting many names printed in that ad, till she goes to one of them, eluding others and telling them, better luck next time. For it’s a cliché quote today from the mouth of any of our stars today “… but I always wanted to win a Filmfare award.” Why not? So many of them have grown up watching them, and desiring to be up there, being felicitated with the same lady, which was wrapped in a handkerchief once, to be presented to Lata Mangeshkar, as she refused to accept a ‘nude’ figure!



And now, let’s discuss the nominations. In the BEST FILM category, Omkara is missing. Worse: Dhoom: 2 is listed. Worst: it’s at the top in the list, but that’s for the alphabetical placing. Not that I didn’t like the movie, it had my favorite Ash and Hrithik, sizzling onscreen like no1 else. But where was the story, to even think about getting it nominated in the best film category? Then we have Don. SRK rules; again in the next nomination Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. And then we have someone, whose success story is a part of IIM syllabi today, our first true superhero: Krrish. If SRK rules, Hrithik rocks. But the next two nominations are, I think the most deserving to win this award: Lage Raho Munnabhai, and Rang De Basanti. And I guess the effect these two movies had on the nation is testimony enough for the fact that every1 will vouch for 1 of these to bag the award. It feels awkward to see D:2 to be listed in the same category as these 2, and to top it all, Omkara is missing. What the hell???



Next we have the BEST DIRECTOR. Karan Johar for KANK, I guess stands little chance, so does Sanjay Gadhvi for D:2, and even Rakesh Roshan for Krrish, though the way he told and sold his story makes him deserving enough to win him an award by NDTV profit! Lol! The real fight would be starting with Rakeysh Mehra for RDB, though it was very disappointing to hear that the movie that sent the nation into a tizzy wasn’t short listed in the best foreign language film category by the academy awards’ panel. What Do I call it? THEIR LOSS! Fighter number 2 is definitely Rajkumar Hirani for LRM. This dude, if I may call him, rejected more number of scripts for the sequel than you and I can think of. Success, especially of this form, doesn’t come easy my dear! And then, there is Vishal Bhardwaj, whose Omkara has to be seen to be believed. The way he crafted the story, etched in modern times, was wow. Mind your cell phones dear ones; it might just destroy your life. P.S: it has nothing to do with my not owning a cell till now.

It is, but obvious, that now you must have got an idea as to whom all might be featured in the following nominations. In the BEST ACTOR IN a LEADING ROLE (MALE) category, Aamir Khan leads the way for RDB. And ardent Filmfare readers with strong memories must be remembering that Aamir doesn’t give a shit to awards, Filmfare or any other, as he thinks they aren’t fair. Who cares if he is the strongest contender this year? Ajay Devgan is missing from the list. Sigh!!! Can someone point out what’s so wrong with Omkara? But next we have our golden boy, Hrithik, with two nominations, for Krrish and D: 2. Mr. H, the now doting father of a certain Hrehaan named cutie pie, has won 4 Filmfares till now, twice in sets of 2 each, which methinks is an inadvertent tribute to his perfection. Then there is our very own Sanju baba, for LRM, for whom we so wish that he be left alone now after suffering for 13 years in the blasts case. It indeed is the irony of life that his best movie is about Gandhigiri, and he himself is linked with an act of violence. Wah ri kismat! Some people speculated that SRK had kept a secretary to keep himself updated about the moves of a certain Roshan guy, 7 years back, when he made his fantabolous debut. Duh-uh! He is giving equal competition to Hrithik today, with his performances in Don as well as KANK, both nominated here. Need we say more?



And now, let’s welcome the damsels of Bollywood. In the nominations for the BEST ACTOR IN a LEADING ROLE (FEMALE) category, the first name appears out of sync. My favorite, Ash, has been nominated for D:2. Hello? She hardly got a chance to act. In my opinion, it would have been better had she been nominated for her worst movie, Umrao Jaan, coz no matter how sickly J.P. Dutta handled and ruined it, she did prove her mettle in it. Javed Akhtar was right in insisting on her being taken as the lead, for she truly acted very well. Watch her mujras in it, perfect to the t. Aaaahhh!! Bipasha. She has been rightly nominated for Corporate. The intelligent former Gladrags supermodel did prove herself once again in one of her finest performances in this Madhur Bhandarkar caper. The lady who “came back”, Kajol is here too, for Fanaa of course. How we wish, we could see her in more movies. I so not like Kareena Kapoor, nominated for Omkara. If only they had omitted her nomination here, and added Ajay in the male lead category. Wonder why my favorite scribe, Subhash K. Jha, is so mesmerized by her? And another strong contender is Rani Mukerjee, for what else but KANK.



In the BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (MALE) category, Abhishek Bachchan, and Amitabh Bachchan, have both got the nomination for KANK. But I guess Big B, is the leading way ahead of others, who are John Abraham for Baabul, Kunal Kapoor for RDB, and Sidhharth, who recently spilt-up with his wife, for RDB again. Till Mr. Bachchan’s riveting performance came by, every1 thought that either Kunal or Sidhharth would surely bag this award, if no one else.



But the fight is far more intense in the BEST ACTOR IN a SUPPORTING ROLE (FEMALE) category. Kirron Kher, who exploited her Jatt Sikh background to the hilt, while playing the Punjabi mom to DJ in RDB, leads the nominations, not just alphabetically, but in the memories of her viewers too. The next contender, I guess, comes closest to her, as far as her performance goes, for she is none other than Konkona Sen Sharma, nominated for Omkara, where she acted like she was the actually a native from those badlands. Preity Zinta comes next, for her no-nonsense attitude in KANK. Following her is Rekha for what else but Krrish. And lastly we have Soha Ali Khan, for her beautiful and natural portrayal of Sonia in RDB. The lady finally managed to put her act forward in the best way possible. But then, she had Rakeysh Mehra directing her, so how could she go wrong?



Next is my favorite category: BEST ACTOR IN A COMIC ROLE. These are the guys everyone looks up to, especially when they are in a mess, or when they just wanna have those elusive chunks of laughter that washes away the pain like nothing else. And to start with, we have the strongest nomination in Arshad Warsi. Circuit actually went ahead of his Munnabhai days, because his role was clearly made to be more than what he had done earlier, all thanks to Mr. Hirani for rejecting those scripts which would just have reduced our leads to stereotyped and repeated blabbermouths. Next we have Chunkey Pandey for Apna Sapna Money Money, but once again the list is goofed up, because Riteish Deshmukh’s cross-dressing act doesn’t find a place here, no matter how many people just start laughing when they see him performing some “shokh adaas” with his eyes in the movie. And now we have Babubhai Paresh Rawal, giving some competition to Arshad, for his unforgettable Jai Maharashtra in Phir Hera Pheri. Close on their heels are Sharman Joshi, and Tushhar Kapoor, both having been nominated for Golmaal. Tusshar was really impressive with his dumb act. The laugh riot didn’t have a story once again, but you didn’t care as much as you did in D:2. Wonder what Mr. Sanjay Gadhvi is gonna do with D:3 and SRK in the lead. Whatever you do, plz don’t reduce chotta B’s role to a boring, crooked and no-fun character as you did in the latest installment. Coz we have seen him enough, and wouldn’t like him to be wasted, especially after having seen what Mani Ratnam made him do in Guru.


The BEST ACTOR IN A NEGATIVE ROLE nominations this year feature no ladies. Wonder why such roles are written so less for Bollywood bombshells. If you must have noticed, they were missing from the previous category too. Anyways, Boman Irani leads the pack, for LRM. Truly, no words can pay justice to his acting skills. Emraan Hashmi has been nominated for Gangster. But one notch higher can be thought of as the act by John Abraham in Zinda, which was very mean. Next comes Naseeruddin Shah for Krrish. But all these will be put aside when the last nomination here is seen, that of Saif Ali Khan for Omkara. He rocked and shocked you as Langda Tyagi.



In the BEST MUSIC category, who else but A.R. Rahman is leading the way for his compelling score in RDB. Lukka chuppi stirs emotions like nothing else. And it feels so good that none other than Lata Mangeshkar gave it her voice. The rest are impressive, but nowhere near the maestro. Motor mouth Himesh Reshammiya has been nominated for Aksar (last year he won the best male playback Filmfare). Then there is the duo of Jatin-Lalit for Fanaa, which had two of the most memorable tracks of last year “chand sifarish” and “mere haath mein”. Pritam’s music did create some crazy Dhoom last year, so it’s obvious that he has been nominated. Don’s mysterious music earns the trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy their well-deserved nomination. They never fail to impress. They have another nomination for KANK in the same category, though I think it wasn’t as great as their music for KaL Ho Na Ho. Whose missing? Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara again. But “beedi” and “namak issq ka” won’t be forgotten anytime soon, awards or no awards.



But I am really happy to see the first nomination in the BEST LYRICS category, which is none other than Gulzar for “beedi jalaile” from Omkara. And to think of it, he said he writes crap these days. Who better to give him competition than Javed Akhtar, with two nominations with the same movie, KANK, for its tracks “mitwa” and the title song? Though I felt they weren’t as fresh as “beedi”. Once again, the next contender is giving these two stalwarts fair competition with two nominations. Prasoon Joshi is here for his “chand sifarish” from Fanaa, and “rubaroo” from RDB. Yup, he deserves as much a place in here as any1 else. These songs just grow on you, every time you listen to them.



In the BEST PLAYBACK (MALE) category, Atif Aslam has been nominated, for the most soul-stirring composition of 2006: “tere bin” from Bas Ek Pal. The song, was half featured in the music video, and it’s other half is as powerful in lyrics and singing, as was the rest. Download it, if you haven’t till now. This guy is ready to be slapped by Ashaji, but right now Himesh Reshammiya will be counting his chances for winning this trophy for “jhalak dikhlaja” from Aksar. And I don’t recall a duo having been nominated in this category in 52 years of Filmfare’s past (forgive me if there has been such a nomination): Shaan and Kailash Kher have been nominated in the same line, for “chand sifarish” from Fanaa. Wow! Why did Sonu Nigam become Sonu Niigaam, he was as popular as anyone. Anyways, he is the next nominee for the title track of KANK. And following him is another first-time contender, Zubin for his powerhouse performance in the song “ya ali” from Gangster. I wonder who’ll win…ha!



And in the last category, BEST PLAYBACK (FEMALE), it is anybody’s guess as to who’ll win. Alka Yagnik is right at the top for “kabhi alvida na kehna”. And next is the girl who was discovered by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, as the voice of his Paro. The girl who gave a new dimension to every man’s fantasies with her “jaadu hai nasha hai” in Jism: Shreya Ghoshal has been nominated for “pal pal” from LRM. But no brownie points for guessing who is here today with the maximum nominations. That’s 3, for Sunidhi Chauhan. The first one is for “aa aa aashiqui mein teri” from China Town. The third is “soniye” from Aksar. Wonder why I left the second and hopped on to her third nomination? Coz you know, I know, and every1 knows that it’s “beedi” from Omkara which is her second nomination and virtually the best of the best she has delivered. So, now you know.



And I am waiting for the most-awaited night of the Hindi Film Industry, like all those millions who have it in the back of their minds, that this is the most incredible awards show. Coz no matter if an IIFA takes place in the most picturesque lands of the world, or if the National Awards are gonna put the government stamp on some1’s performance, it’s the Goregaon’s Police Lines grounds, that will be host to the most enthralling experience for any1 who has remotely felt the adrenaline rush that one gets by watching Filmfare awards show. What will the stage look like this year? Who will be hosting it? Who all will perform? Who will get away with the Lifetime Achievement award?And who will be the big winners? Keep waiting… you’ll know pretty soon. It isn’t for nothing that they call it the Indian Oscars.

- simranjeet singh pnaich.