We’ve never had 26 films worth talking about in a single year in a very long time. 2007 has yielded a rich harvest for Hindi cinema. While rating them, not only the primary function of Indian cinema - that it has to entertain a diverse audience - is taken into account but also factors such as intention of the filmmaker, originality, repeat viewing and fatigue, quality of writing, inventiveness of story-telling, devices employed, scale of production and star appeal.

No.1 Chak De India

The girls are amazing. Because Jaideep Sahni has written a script that combines girlpower, women’s liberation and the importance of team-spirit in a convincing underdog drama with authentic sporting action, gorgeously shot. Near flawless but for the predictability associated with the sports genre.

No.2 Taare Zameen Par
Films are where reality meets fantasy and no other film in a long while has walked these two worlds at the same time, often blurring the lines associated with the distinctively different genres while also tripling as an effective social commentary. No Indian film has ever captured childhood like this before

No.3 Om Shanti Om

Has there been a more irreverent film in the history of Indian cinema? One that does not take anything, including itself, seriously while paying tribute to an era of implausible plots, melodrama and revenge themes. Just by sheer quantity of laughs and goofs and quality of style and choreogcinema raphy, Om Shanti Om, despite the silly twist in the tale towards the climax, is a colourful musical that celebrates cinema.

No.4 Jab We Met

This is Dilwale Dulhaniya’s sequel in spirit. If Dilwale tried to define Indian-ness by procuring parental consent for love, Jab We Met goes deeper into the heartland of the country and tries to understand relationships in the context of a highly self-centric India where love blurs right and wrong.

No.5 Johnny Gaddaar

Here comes a quality suspense caper after ages. What’s more, it’s slick and stylish. It’s a rollercoaster of a mind-game. Never has a tribute film been this exciting with all the cheeky referencing. Not only is it unpredictable, it also has a brilliant ensemble cast. Also, because it has Dharam Paaji show us what a fantastic actor he is even today.

The Others

No.6 Namastey London – A surprisingly endearing Katrina-Akshay romantic comedy

No.7 Bheja Fry – But for Vinay Pathak’s brilliance, a shameless rip-off

No.8 Partner – Govinda-Salman work their magic in this remake of Hitch

No. 9 Dhamaal - is a Bollywood film directed by Indra Kumar and starring Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Aashish Chaudhary, Arshad Warsi and Javed Jaffrey.

No.10 Salaam-e-Ishq – This mushy overdose worked for Valentine’s Day

No.11 Apne – This boxing drama has Dharam Paaji’s heart

No.12 Saawariya – Strictly for world-class cinematography and some of the music

No.13 Dil Dosti Etc – A daring gutsy anti-thesis to Dil Chahta Hai

No.14 Aaja Nachle – For Madhuri Dixit alone.

No.15 Ek Chalis Ki Last Local – A rare whacky neo-noir comedy

No.16 Life in a Metro – A ‘Closer’-like candid look at relationships

No.17 Loins of Punjab – Have you ever laughed more this year?

No.18 Honeymoon Travels – A refreshing, modern look at marriage

No.19 Cheeni Kum – But for the climax, this offbeat romance ought to rank higher.

No.20 Apna Aasman – Promising debut conveniently resolved.

No.21 Manorama – If this weren’t a remake, this mystery would rank higher.

No.22 Khoya Khoya Chand – Soha’s miscast in this time machine to the 1960s

No.23 Black Friday – Though authentic, loses pace structured like the book

No.24 Water – Talk of bad casting and location ruining a great script

No.25 Dharm – Pankaj Kapoor, you are God!

No.26 Eklavya – The cinematography is sheer poetry

Labels: Chak De India, Deepika Padukone, Om Shanti Om, Shahrukh Khan

Best Director
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
Anurag Basu - Life in A… Metro
Farah Khan - Om Shanti Om
Mani Ratnam - Guru
Shimit Amin - Chak De! India

Best Actor (Male)
Abhishek Bachchan - Guru
Akshaye Khanna – Gandhi My Father
Amitabh Bachchan – Cheeni Kum
Shah Rukh Khan - Chak De! India
Shahid Kapoor – Jab We Met

Best Actor (Female)
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – Guru
Kareena Kapoor - Jab We Met
Tabu - Cheeni Kum

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
Darshan Jariwala - Gandhi My Father
Mithun Chakraborty – Guru
Sharman Joshi - Life in A… Metro
Vipin Sharma - Taare Zameen Par

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female)
Chak De! Girls - Chak De! India
Tisca Chopra - Taare Zameen Par
Konkana Sen Sharma - Life in A… Metro
Shefali Shah - Gandhi My Father

Best Actor in a Negative Role (Male/ Female)
Arjun Rampal – Om Shanti Om
Pankaj Kapur – The Blue Umbrella
Pawan Malhotra – Black Friday
Viviek Oberoi – Shoot Out At – Lokhandwala

Best Actor in a Comic Role (Male/ Female)
Anil Kapoor – Welcome
Govinda – Partner
Irrfan Khan - Life in A… Metro
Nana Patekar – Welcome
Vinay Pathak – Bheja Fry

Best Playback Singer (Male)
KK – Aankhon Mein Teri - Om Shanti Om
Shaan – Jab Se Tere Naina – Saawariya
Shankar Mahadevan – Maa - Taare Zameen Par
Shankar Mahadevan – Title Song - Taare Zameen Par
Soham – Inn Dino - Life in A… Metro

Best Playback Singer (Female)
Chinmaye - Tere Bina - Guru
Shreya Ghoshal - Barso Re Megha – Guru
Shreya Ghoshal – Yeh Ishq Haaye – Jab We Met
Sunidhi Chauhan – Sajnaji Vaari - Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd

Best Lyrics
Gulzar – Bol Na Halke - Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Prasoon Joshi – Maa - Taare Zameen Par
Sameer – Jab Se Tere Naina – Saawariya
Sayeed Quadri - Inn Dinon - Life in A… Metro

Best Story
Amole Gupte - Taare Zameen Par
Anurag Basu - Life in A… Metro
Feroz Abbas Khan – Gandhi My Father
Imtiaz Ali – Jab We Met
Jaideep Sahni – Chak De! India

Best Screenplay
Amole Gupte - Taare Zameen Par
Anurag Basu - Life in A… Metro
Anurag Kashyap – Black Friday
Imtiaz Ali – Jab We Met
Jaideep Sahni – Chak De! India

Best Background Music
A R Rahman – Guru
Raju Singh - Life in A… Metro
Salim-Sulaiman - Chak De! India
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - Taare Zameen Par
Vishal-Shekhar – Om Shanti Om

Best Music
A R Rahman – Guru
Monty Sharma – Saawariya
Pritam – Life in A… Metro
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy – Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - Taare Zameen Par

Best Dialogue
Amole Gupte - Taare Zameen Par
Imtiaz Ali – Jab We Met
Jaideep Sahni – Chak De! India
Sanjeev Dutta – Life in A… Metro
Vijay Krishna Acharya – Guru

Best Editing
Aarti Bajaj Kashyap – Black Friday
Akiv Ali - Life in A… Metro
Amitabh Shukla - Chak De! India
Bunty Nagi - Shoot Out At Lokhandwala
Pooja Ladha Surti – Johnny Gaddaar

Best Sound
Baylon Fonseca - Shoot Out At Lokhandwala
Bishwadeep Chatterjee – Eklavya The Royal Guard
H. Sridhar – Guru
Hari Dwarak & Madhu Apsara - Johnny Gaddaar
Hitendra Ghosh - Life in A… Metro
Manas Chaudhary & Ali Merchant - Chak De! India

Best Cinematography
Bobby Singh - Life in A… Metro
N. Nataraj Subramaniam - Eklavya The Royal Guard
Rajiv Menon – Guru
Ravi Chandran – Saawariya
Sudeep Chatterjee - Chak De! India

Best Special Effects
Red Chillies VFX - Chak De! India
Red Chillies VFX – Om Shanti Om
Tata Elxsi - Taare Zameen Par

Best Art Direction
Gautam Sen – Khoya Khoya Chand
Nitin Chandrakant Desai – Gandhi My Father
Omung Kumar – Saawariya
Sabu Cyril – Guru
Sabu Cyril – Om Shanti Om

Best Choreography
Farah Khan – Dhoom Tana - Om Shanti Om
Ganesh Hegde & Pappu-Mallu – Yun Shabnami – Saawariya
Saroj Khan – Barso Re Megha – Guru
Vaibhavi Merchant – Aaja Nachle - Aaja Nachle
Vaibhavi Merchant – Title Song – Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Best Action
Abbas Ali – Awarapan
Anthony Stone – Cash
Javed Ejaz – Shoot Out At Lokhandwala
Tinu Verma – Apne

Most Promising Newcomer (Male)
Ranbir Kapoor – Saawariya
Neil Nitin Mukesh – Johnny Gaddaar

Most Promising Newcomer (Female)
Deepika Padukone – Om Shanti Om
Sonam Kapoor – Saawariya

Most Promising Debut Director
Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
R Balakrishna – Cheeni Kum
Feroz Abbas Khan – Gandhi My Father
Reema Kagti – Honeymoon Travels
Sajid Khan - Heyy Babyy

Best Child Artiste
Ali Haji – Ta Ra Rum Pum
Angelina - Ta Ra Rum Pum
Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par
Dhruv Piyush Panjuani – Apna Aasmaan
Shreya Sharma – Blue Umbrella

Labels: Arjun Rampal, Chak De India, Deepika Padukone, Farah Khan, Om Shanti Om, Red Chillies Entertainment, Shahrukh Khan, Shreyas Talpade