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What is your favourite Indian movie?

Bollywood hits are breaking records and entertaining audiences with power-packed performances and music this year

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The year came up with an assortment of films spanning a variety of genres. Piku, Bajrangi Bhaijan, ABCD 2, Margarita With A Straw, NH 10, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Baby, Gabbar Is Back, Dum Lagaake Haisha, Ek Paheli Leela, Badlapur, Dil Dhadakne Do, Shamitabh, etc. are some of the films that created a stir with their novel storylines, star-studded cast and the unique issues they dealt with.
Just when Salman Khan's fans were expecting to see him in another one of his usual action-packed avatars, he stunned everyone with a refined performance as a simpleton with a heart of gold in Bajrangi Bhaijan and hardly has any fight scenes to boast about. Director Kabir Khan takes us through a mesmerising journey of human emotions across India and Pakistan to deliver a sensitive masterpiece that rises above language, religion as well as border politics, and connects all human beings with the powerful thread of love. Salman's compelling charisma in an unusual role, Nawazuddin Siddiqui's outstanding acting and child-artiste Harshaali's angelic innocence tugged our heart and left us misty-eyed. After crossing the Rs250-crore mark in India, Bajrangi Bhaijaan is breaking all records and inching close to the Rs500-crore mark worldwide.
Director Shoojit Sircar turned out to be a man of extraordinary guts. Not only did he choose a strange topic like 'constipation' for his film Piku and proceed to weave a story of a father-daughter relationship around it, he also managed to get a star cast with Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irfaan Khan in it. The natural and humorous dialogues, vividly etched characters and outstanding performances all add up to make it an enjoyable experience.
The Kangna Ranaut-Madhavan starrer Tanu Weds Manu Returns, where she plays a double role with great panache became the first heroine-oriented film to cross the Rs100-crore mark. After her superb performance in Queen last year, she manages to steal our hearts once again. While she is brilliant in both roles, her part as the short-haired Haryanavi athlete with jutting teeth is what proves she is ready to take on any role and give male stars a run for their money.
Kalki Koechlin's brilliant performance in Margarita with a Straw deserves a special mention. In the role of the wheelchair-bound youngster suffering from cerebral palsy she brings a touching sincerity to the character and is ably supported by the seasoned actress Revathy who plays her mother and a newcomer Sayani Gupta.
NH10 takes us on a gripping and gritty ride when a seemingly innocent road trip turns into a nightmare for a young urban couple. Produced by Anushka Sharma, who also plays an acting role, this taut and riveting thriller has some disturbing and violent scenes that highlight inhuman rules for women in villages and brings to light the chilling truth behind such brutality. Deepti Naval's cameo role is brilliant in the film.
Zoya Akhthar's Dil Dhadakne Do takes us on an enjoyable cruise with a dysfunctional family with good performances from the entire cast especially from Shefali Shah and Ranveer Singh. Priyanka Chopra shows a lot of guts to play Ranveer's sister after playing his lover in Gunday last year.
The Varun Dhawan-Shraddha Kapoor starrer ABCD 2 also managed to enter the Rs 100-crore club and had some excellent choreographed dance sequences. It traces the journey of an Indian dance troupe from the backstreets of a Mumbai suburb, their rise to fame, sudden downfall and then their heroic attempt to seek vindication by regaining their lost glory and pride.
Kamal Hassan's younger daughter Akshara Hassan makes her debut in Shamitabh and creditably holds her own, while sharing screen space with none other than Amitabh Bachchan and south Indian superstar Dhanush.
In the role of a con-woman who tricks all would-be grooms and their greedy families, Sonam is perfectly cast in in Dolly ki Doli.
Newcomer Bhumi Pednekar is superb in Dum Lagaake Haisha and proves that to be noticed, size-zero and designer wardrobe are not essential. Ayushmann Khurrana also delivers an endearingly restrained performance in the film.
Badlapur is a thrilling revenge drama laced with superb performances from Varun Dhawan and Nawazuddin Siddique with able support from Huma Qureshi , Radhika Apte, Divya Dutta and Yami Gautam. Akshay Kumar delivered two brilliant films - Baby and Gabbar is Back.  Both showcased him in action-packed avatar and he was in full form.
Baahubali - The Beginning, a Telugu film dubbed in Hindi is a fantasy epic that combines Hollywood's scale of grandeur with an inherently Indian tale of good and evil, using computer-generated imagery to depict ancient kingdoms and bloody wars.
It charmed millions of moviegoers and startled the Indian film industry by crossing the mark of Rs450-crore at the worldwide box office on its third Wednesday. It showed the power of regional films and the kind of competition they can give to Bollywood stars.
After getting rave reviews from critics and fans alike in the Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu versions, the recently released Drishyam starring Ajay Devgn and Tabu is already in the news for its gripping plot and brilliant performances from these two.

Music scene

The year 2015 so far has been an excellent one with some outstanding tracks. Starting from Badlapur and Roy in the beginning of the year up to the recently released Bajrangi Bhaijan, the songs covered various genres.
The music directors with maximum chartbusters to their credit were the duo Sachin-Jigar followed by Pritam, Jeet Ganguly, Ankit Tiwari and Amaal Mallik.
Some of the top songs of the year were Meet Bros Anjjan's Punjabi superhit Chittiyan Kalayiyaan ve (Kanika Kapoor), Suraj Dooba Hai Yaaron (Aditi Singh Sharma and Arijit Singh), Tu Hai Ke Nahi (Ankit Tiwari), Bezubaan (Vishal Dadlani and Anushka Manchanda), Jeena Jeena (Atif Aslam), Jee Karda (Divya Kumar), Judaai (Arijit and Rekha Bharadwaj), Khamoshiyaan (Arijit Singh), Tu Jo Mila (KK), Bhar Do Jholi (Adnan Sami), Zindagi Kuchh to Bata (Zubin Nautiyal), Banno Tera Swagger Laage Sexy (Brijesh Shandllya and Swati Sharma), Tu jo Hain (Ankit Tiwari), and Chil Gaye Naina (Kanika Kapoor).

Upcoming releases

Akshay Kumar has two films lined up - an action drama Brothers based on mixed martial arts with Siddharth Malhotra playing his brother, and a comedy Singh is Bling, directed by Prabhudeva. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan makes a comeback with director Sanjay Gupta's thriller Jazba in which she teams up with Irfaan Khan and Shabana Azmi.  Director Rohit Shetty's Dilwale will see the magical pairing of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol once again. The film also stars Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon.
Shahid Kapoor pairs up with Alia Bhatt to form a fresh romantic pair in Shaandaar directed by Vikas Behl. Katti Batti is a romantic comedy about live-in relationships and stars Kangna Ranaut and Imran Khan in the lead role.
Calendar Girls, directed by Madhur Bhandarkar is the story of five girls and their emotional journey of struggle and courage in the glamorous world of modelling and fashion. Tamasha, an upcoming romantic film directed by Imtiaz Ali, stars Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in lead roles. After the debacle of both Roy and Bombay Velvet, Ranbir is pinning his hopes on this one.
Salman Khan will be seen in a double role in Sooraj Bharjatya's Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and Sonam Kapoor is the lead opposite him. Saif Khan will pair up with Katrina Kaif in Kabir Khan's next venture Phantom, which promises to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
Ketan Mehta's biopic Manjhi - The Mountain Man tells an incredible story of a poor labourer Dashrath Manjhi, who took 22 years to single-handedly carve a path out of a mountain in the Gehlour hills, Bihar, to lay a road. The brilliant actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui will play the lead.
The end of the year will see a major release - Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum-opus Bajirao Mastani, starring Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone-Priyanka Chopra. The plot is based on the life of Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I, his first and second wives, Kashibai and Mastani, respectively. Director Neeraj Vora comes up with the laugh-riot Hera Pheri 3, the third instalment of the series. Shot extensively in Las Vegas, Dubai, Macau and Mumbai, the film retains Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty but Akshay Kumar has been replaced by John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan.
All in all, the second half has an exciting mix of stories to offer.