- Bollywood was going trough a bad phase. A very bad phase. Still if we see the major movies made in that year, they were quite outstanding. But they were probably the only good movies made in that whole year. Here’s my top 5:
5) Saathiya - Shaad Ali’s debut, and what a debut it was. He paired Vivek and Rani together and KABLAM, the pair had a sizzling chemistry. They both gave stunning performances in a hindi remake of Mani’s tamil movie. The music was another briliant factor going for the film. AR Rahman was on top form. However, the screenplay could have been more tighter during the 2nd half. Nonetheless, Saathiya made a massive impact in 2002.
4) Kaante - Sanjay Gupta’s inspired flick from the Reservoir Dogs. While the 2nd half is a copy of the Reservoir Dogs, the first half is a copy of the Usual Suspects. With good music from Anand Raj Anand, Kaante was a slick movie. Excellent performances from all 6 actors, Kaante had a good screenplay, and was gripping.
3) Devdas - Its not number 1. I blame SRK’s overacted performances for that cause, as well as Jackie Shroff’s. It was the 2 ladies who stole the show, Paro and Chandramukhi. Brilliant acting from the two. Devdas was a lavish and expensive fare with out of the world poetic references throughout. The music was also good. The film dragged a bit in the 2nd half. One of the best motion scenes was Paro running towards the main gates in the end, in a white sari.
2) Company - although not a Satya, Company was definetly a fine product from RGV. Super dialogues, good story and screenpay packed with excellent performances listed Company as number 2. Ajay gave a superb performance as the cold hearted don Mallik and Vivek was highly impressive as his sidekick turned enemy. Others also gave good performances.
1) The winner for me was The Legend of Bhagat Singh. This movie had the best dialogues, like any Rajkumar Santoshi flick, flawless performances, like any RKS movie, brilliant execution, like any RKS movie and a brilliant screenplay like any RKS movie. The way the saga unfolds, the brilliantly executed scenes, the mix of commercial cinema with history, and Ajay Devgan’s career best performance made The Legend the number 1 movie. I think Ajay’s performance could well be in the top 10 performances of all time. The music was situational and gelled well with the mood.
Other movies like Raaz were not in the top 5 because, the story was lifted from what lies beneath, and it wasn’t above any of the movies in the list.