Aditya Mandhane
The Big Six
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
The nominees are:
Meher Vij – Secret Superstar
Ratna Pathak – Lipstick Under My Burkha
Sadiya Siddiqui – Ajji
Seema Pahwa- Bareily Ki Barfi
Tilotama Shome – A Death In The Gunj
And the winner is: RATNA PATHAK – LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA
In a film that doesn’t shy away from showing the dire state of its protagonists in a bare, no-holds-barred manner, the most challenging role falls in the lap of Ratna Pathak, who plays Usha a.k.a Bhuaji, a revered 55-year old widow who tries to cope with the loneliness in her life through erotic literature and titillating calls with her swimming instructor. Pathak shines as teeters with apprehension on the edge of her desires, and finally takes a nosedive, leading to disastrous consequences at the hands of a nosey society. The gutsiest Bollywood performance of the year.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
The nominees are:
Deepak Dobriyal – Hindi Medium
Pankaj Tripathi – Bareilly Ki Barfi
Pankaj Tripathi – Newton
Raj Arjun – Secret Superstar
Ranvir Shorey – Kadvi Hawa
And the winner is: PANKAJ TRIPATHI – NEWTON
After years of committed performances, Pankaj Tripathi finally rose out of the shadows into the limelight in 2017, where he gave one after another stellar performance. And in ‘Newton’, he gives a compelling performance which trumps all his others, as he plays Assistant Commandant Atma Singh, an army officer who has looked over many an election in many a war-torn part of the country. Newton’s ideological visage encounters its obverse in the caustic, fatalist world-weariness of security officer Atma Singh. Tripathi is a beast, and is here to stay.
BEST ACTRESS
The nominees are:
Kangana Ranaut – Rangoon
Sridevi – Mom
Swara Bhaskar – Anarkali Of Aarah
Vidya Balan – Tumhari Sulu
Zaira Wasim – Secret Superstar
And the winner is: SWARA BHASKAR – ANAARKALI OF AARAH
With a risque central theme of the kind ‘Anaarkali of Aarah’ has, either sleaze or sentimentalism could easily have overtaken substance in this film. But they don’t, thanks to a crackling lead act by Swara Bhaskar, who paints the character of a buxom seducer well aware of the boundaries she allows her audience into with fervour. She is one paan-toting, trash-talking, badass in the most authentic female performance this year. It’s about damn time this lady gets more starring roles.
BEST ACTOR
The nominees are:
Irrfan Khan – Hindi Medium
Rajkummar Rao – Newton
Rajkummar Rao – Trapped
Ranbir Kapoor – Jagga Jasoos
Sanjay Mishra – Kadvi Hawa
And the winner is: SANJAY MISHRA – KADVI HAWA
Drishyam Films ended 2017 with a poignant, gritty, wrenching tale of farmers affected by climate change and acute rainfall – ‘Kadvi Hawa’. And playing the role of an old, blind man named Hedu, who strikes a deal with a debt recovery agent to save his son from a debt trap is the virtuous Sanjay Mishra. It is one of his best, and most heartbreaking performances (and he has given many in recent years), as he stumbles about, aided by a stunted stick, thinking of ways to save his depressed son. The film never gets too in-your-face preachy about global warming, instead opting to show how its impact lingers on people and their lives. And this is made possible by an all-too-humane touch lent to it by Mishra.
BEST DIRECTOR
The nominees are:
Alankrita Shrivastava – Lipstick Under My Burkha
Amit Masurkar – Newton
Konkana Sen Sharma – A Death In The Gunj
Nila Madhab Panda – Kadvi Hawa
Shubhashish Bhutiani – Mukti Bhawan
And the winner is: AMIT MASURKAR – NEWTON
Amit Masurkar, the mind behind 2013’s indie buddy comedy ‘Sulemani Keeda’, creates in ‘Newton’, a film which neither glorifies nor chastises the Indian election framework. It straight-up delves into the minds of its multiple characters on both sides of the debate while also providing an occasional bird’s eye view of things. His film fearlessly explores many of the unsung tribulations and modest triumphs behind every vote collected, even in not-so-conducive environments. The film, always refraining from hasty conclusions, profoundly argues that the faceless system, known to exude an almost robotic diligence, is only as virtuous, reasonable and effective as the humans who implement it.
BEST FILM
The nominees are:
A Death In The Gunj
Kadvi Hawa
Lipstick Under My Burkha
Mukti Bhawan
Newton
And the winner is: LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA
Travel to Hawai Manzil in Bhopal’s crowded alleyways, a building shared by four women who have four interspersing stories. Their plights are different, but the constant backlash and tyranny they face has a universal quality. In ‘Lipstick…’ debutante director Alankrita handles countless taboos deftly, never opting for subtlety (as Indian audiences tend to overlook it) and instead going for a bare look at the dire state of affairs. All the four leading ladies (Ratna Pathak as Usha, Konkana Sen Sharma as Shireen, Aahana Kumra as Leela and Plabita Borthakur as Rihanna) perform their with verve. But the biggest reason ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ needs to be watched doesn’t concern the movie. It concerns my observations of the viewers watching it. Unapologetically bold and opinionated in its treatment of grave woman issues, the film shockingly managed to elicit laughter rather than empathy from quite a chunk of the audience. I even heard a Ye toh hona hi tha (This was bound to happen) from a fellow cinegoer when Shireen’s entrepreneurial exploits are caught by her husband (Mind you. I watched the film in Pune!) Thus, India needs more films like ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’, but I’m unsure of whether we deserve them. This is the film of the year.
That is all I have to offer folks. I know you’ll definitely disagree with some of our choices, so do leave us an angry react and a rant in the comments section; we’re expecting those. But if you ended up liking this whole thing somehow, show it to others and most importantly, watch the films recognised in here. That’s what this entire shenanigan is for. Until next time.
