With some great movies, latka jhatka dance sequences, foot tapping and soul stirring numbers, 2010, the year recorded some new trends and interesting fads. So we thought we will take you through some of the things we thought were fancy, some that were absurd and some that were Over the Top.

Small Budgets, Big Money : Against popular opinion, small Budget cinema made more money that multi starrers and big banner films. It was Dibakar Bannerjee’s LSD that opened a big bank account from small budget films. Made on a small budget of less than 3 crores, LSD was the first movie to be shot in digital format. But that wasn’t all. LSD was by far the first film with all unknown actors that smiled its way to the box office(LSD). Others movies that followed suit were Sanjay Puran Singh’s Lahore, Tere Bin Laden, Phas Gaye Re Obama and the coveted India’s entry to the Oscars, Peepli Live.  Some of the movies became reality checks while others brought in rib cracking moments.

Big Money, Big Losses: But if the small ones were winning the big ones were losing. The most touted films bit the dust in 2010. The first one was Salman Khan’s Veer. No amount of fan following and stardom could help make the film any money. Then came Farhan Akhtar’s Karthik calling Karthik. Based on schizophrenia the movie went over the head of most viewers. It was vague and abrupt. Viveik Oberoi’s desperate attempt for resurgence failed when the multi crore Prince opened to empty halls. All the stunts and technological razzmatazz couldn’t sail our man to the shore of success. But Oberoi’s bankability was already poor, Hrithik Roshan, the star with an impeccable career graph too couldn’t take off with his Kites that even had the voluptuous firangi actress Barbara Mori. And the woes continued when the new Bachchan couple gave us Raavan, a movie they needed desperately to do well. Neither its great music nor immaculate camerawork along with Mani Ratnam’s expertise could get the couple their much needed hit. Then there was Anjaana Anjaani that got mixed responses. Even though the film had two most promising actors of recent times Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor, it got mixed responses from viewers and got little box office success.  Then came Action Replayy that only had a stellar cast in Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan but also great music and a brand new concept.  The last film to blow the lid off big budget films was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish.  After the debacle called Saawariya, people wanted to tread carefully with Bhansali, but the appealing aesthetics of the film fooled many to booking tickets. But Guzaarish that was also Hrithik and Aishwarya’s only chance of salvaging an image that had been damaged by Kites and Action Replayy bombed at the box office like none other.  Kajol and kareena Kapoor starrer We Are Family that was officially called the Indian version of Stepmom completely failed to impress viewers. It also dispelled the myth that Indian audiences rarely watched Hollywood originals and could be fooled into liking their distant Indian cousins.

In The Middle of Politics: Politics, politicians and political issues became a big focal point this year. While Rann that starred Amitabh Bachchan closely explored the nexus between media houses and politicians, Raajneeti revolved around dynastic politics. The film looked like an eclectic mix of Godfather,  Mahabharata and contemporary Indian politics. Rumours were rife that the movie was actually based on the Gandhi family and that Katrina essayed the role of Sonia Gandhi.  Red Alert on the other hand delved deep into naxalism, its root cause and the methods of operation of the naxalites. Aakrosh that was a scene to scene copy of Mississippi Burning was contemporized and contextualized to suit India. The movie picked up honour killings and gave us a low down of how government machinery behaved with unwarranted high handedness in the remote areas. The movie did well because of some great performances and its topicality.   Knock Out also ripped off Phone booth showed us how a huge chunk of the Indian wealth, siphoned off by Ministers was stacked away in the Swiss banks. 

In Retro Style: Retro was cashed on in a big way this year. Whether it was in terms of costumes, look or overall feel or setting. Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, took us through the Mumbai underworld of the 70s and was said to be based on Haaji Mastan Dawood Ibrahim.  The movie brought into the vintage cars and tapped the flavor of the era with elan. The other film that literally took us back in a time machine was Action Replayy. The film that was based on the 80s brought to the 35 mm vibrant colours, retro hair styles and some great costumes.  The movie starred Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai. While it made no money at the Box office, the music topped charts.

The Year of the Anti-Hero:  2010 was as much a year about the anti-hero as it was about the hero. When Abhishek Bachchan played the villain in Raavan, little did we know that he would be loved much more than the hero of the film. When Ranbir Kapoor who played an unscrupulous politician in Raajneeti  didn’t hurt our eyes at all. The movie did well and Ranbir’s first stint in a somewhat matured role was much admired. We also had a lot of fun with conman Shahid Kapoor and his gang in Badmaash Company. Even though the movie failed, Shahid was liked as the man who fleeced many with the same con act. And ofcourse it will be hard for us to forget Chulbul Pandey or Salman Khan in Dabangg, the high handed cop who liked to have his own way.

3D Galore:  The one thing that we saw in plenty in the year 2010 initially to our fascination and then to our surprise was the use or may I say overuse of 3D and CGI. What started as a trend from last years’s ground breaking Avatar, was taken up by Hollywood in abundance. Alice in Wonderland that had some great actors like Anne Hathaway and Johnny Depp gave us 3D in a brand new avtar. Shrek Forever After too gave us a more enjoyable dose of Fiona and her Ogre. Then ofcourse there were others like Resident Evil, Piranha and Chronicles of Narnia. Then India came out with some impeccable CGI in Ramayana, The Epic. So basically there was a spate of films that one got to watch with the big 3D glasses in theatres.

So 2010 sure seemed like a trend setter in more ways than one. Here’s hoping that there is lot more entertainment action packed for you in the New Year 2011.