Welcome to ONTD's Bollywood Year In Review!
Who was declared the 2nd richest actor in the world? Who was caught in a prostitution racket? Who left a bride in tears on her wedding day? Let's remember all the biggest stories from B-town and discuss who slayed in 2014 (and who was slayed by 2014).
Please remember: if you aren't interested in the subject matter, scrolling will take a lot less time than it took me to make this post.
The reigning Queen and King of Bollywood in 2014 were Deepika Padukone and Shahrukh Khan. Deepika's film Finding Fanny was critically acclaimed and the DP-SRK starrer Happy New Year was the 4th highest grossing Bollywood film ever (worldwide). They also went on a sold-out world tour to promote the film. On the personal front, there was hardly a day when Deepika was not on the news for some reason or other, though it was the Times of India controversy that got the most attention. DP took a stand against sleazy journalism, victim blaming and the objectification of women and handled TOI's mind-bogglingly regressive, offensive and crude statements with dignity and class, garnering the support of all of Bollywood (all but Sonam Kapoor that is). SRK, on the other hand, was a awarded the highest French civilian distinction, the Légion D'Honneur; made the Forbes list as the second richest actor in the WORLD (he's worth roughly 600 million dollars jsyk); and made a big show of "unveiling" his son AbRam to the media. Oh yes, and his classic film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge just completed 1000 consecutive weeks (that's 19 years) screening in a single cinema, the Maratha Mandir in Mumbai. The landmark was celebrated with much fanfarre and a SRK-Kajol reunion.
Prepare for total domination: Alia Bhattslayed 2014 and she isn't slowing down. Her performance in the offbeat Imtiaz Ali film Highway was highly praised, she delivered super hitHumpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and her film 2 States was one of the highest grossers of the year, joining the 100-crore club. That's four hits in a row for Karan Johar's protegée. She is now working on Queen director Vikas Bahl's Shaandaar (costarring Shahid Kapoor) and has a slew of films lined up.
Aaand Shahid Kapoor's luck is up again! Haider was one of the best reviewed films of the year and his performance especially was highly praised. Of course he took the opportunity to sign many interesting films, and will be seen in Shaandaar, crime thriller Farzi, Abhisek Chaubey's thriller Udta Punjab and a remake of Magadheera. And it's not only directors who have been all over Shahid this year - the bachelor was rumoured to enjoy the company of beauties Sonakshi Sinha and Alia Bhatt.
Rani Mukherji got married to Aditya Chopra, one of the most powerful men in Bollywood, and now holds the title of "creative director" in big-shot production house Yash Raj. This has allowed her to develop and star in one of the best filmsof 2014, Mardaani - in spite of the lack of faith many execs had in the production. Here's hoping Rani continues to use her influence to make more interesting films about women in 2015.
Salman Khan's fatal hit-and-run case may have gained a new life in 2014, but he doesn't seem too concerned with that. His film Kick was the second highest grossing film EVER in India; Kick and Jai Ho were the two most searched BW films on Google this year; Salman did another season of reality show Bigg Boss (for which he is paid handsomely); newcomers kissed his ass left and right; and his sister Arpita Khan's wedding was the event of the year, with pretty much everyone from B-town (including SRK, who is back to being friends with Salman) travelling to Hyderabad for the party.
Honorable mentions:Siddarth Malhotra joined the 100-crore club with Ek Villain. Aishwarya Rai turned heads at Cannes, was honored as the most successful Miss World ever and got her ducks in a row for a smashing comeback in 2015. Nawazuddin Siddiqui's film Liar's Dice was selected as India's entry to the Oscars, but he found mainstream visibility as the villain in Salman Khan's blockbuster Kick and has signed on for major productionsBajrangi Bhaijaan (opposite Salman again) and Raees (opposite SRK).
♦ Dia Mirza and Sahil SanghaDia Mirza got married to producer Sahil Sangha in Hyderabad in October. She looked absolutely stunning in all the wedding events. Guests included Sushmita Sen, Lara Dutta, Rajkumar Hirani, Aditi Rao Hydari and Neha Dupia. Actor Boman Irani had made a promise to Dia Mirza years ago when they did Lage Raho Munnabhaito perform all the duties and rituals of the father during her wedding ceremony (as her own father is deceased). An excited Dia confirmed on the eve of her wedding that Boman would keep his promise. Unfortunately, Boman ditched her wedding in favour of doing promotion for Happy New Year in Dubai - a film in which he wasn't even the lead. The beautiful bride was reportedly left in tears when she discovered he wasn't coming to her wedding.
♦ Rani Mukherji and Aditya Chopra
The scandalous pair finally tied the knot in a secret ceremony in Tuscany, Italy, on April. The bride wore Sabyasachi to the wedding. We know that Karan Johar was present, though not much else is known about the other guests. Apparently, Rani's cousin Kajol was not on the list.
♦ John Abraham and Priya RunchalJohn Abraham married investment banker Priya Runchal in a private ceremony. He took his fans by surprise, announcing it on twitter on January 2nd.
Going strong:Anushka Sharma and cricket player Virat Kohliwent public this year. Cutie pies Genelia D'Souza and Riteish Deshmukh had a beautiful baby girl! Imran Khan and his wife Avantika also had a baby girl. Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif have been on the news nonstop over their relationship, with Rishi and Neetu throwing shade left and right at Kat and contradictory reports of how their relationship was going (one minute they were supposedly separated and she was having an affair with Hrithik, the other they were moving in together).
Coming off the 2013 flop Bullett Raja, sophisticated prince Saif Ali Khan thought he had a crowdpleaser in crude, regressive comedy Humshakals. It was a box office bomb and critical disaster - not to mention career napalm. He only made things worse for himself by publicly trashing the film and its director Sajid Khan. Next up, Lekar Hum DeewanaDil, which he produced, and Happy Ending, which he starred in, both flopped. Now, his future in the industry and status as a star is openly being questioned, and producers are getting cold feet about investing in his films. After his contempt for Hindi films and its audiences became apparent in interviews, the public isn't too pleased with him either. Is Saif doesn't turn it around in 2015, he's gonna find himself with a lot of free time to listen to jazz on his iPod and hang out in his "library bar".
Looks like Aditya Chopra's mentoring isn't paying off for Parineeti Chopra. Though Hasee Toh Phasee was a hit, Daawat-e-Ishq flopped (and had a distinct MRA vibe to it if I may say so) and Kill Dil was a below-average grosser. Meanwhile, her planned film with Saif Ali Khan is in development hell after the actor dropped out, and Rajeev Masand reported that after Kill Dil the actress was not signed for anything else.
Hrithik Roshan had a very well publicized and messy divorce this year (see below). His only film of the year, the Knight and Day remake Bang Bang, went several times over its already ridiculously high budget, and though in the end the box office collections seemed impressive, many in the industry whispered that the numbers were inflated.
It's tough out there for a Bollywood actress over 30. Preity Zinta wasn't seen on the screen this year, except for a cameo in Saif Ali Khan's Happy Ending. She also went through some really bad times in her personal life. The actress filed a complaint to the Mumbai police against rich industrialist ex-boyfriend Ness Wadia alleging he had molested, threatened and abused her at an IPL match at the Wankhede Stadium in May. She was promptly accused by many ignorant people of being a fading star looking for cheap publicity (despite having the reputation of being the most upright actor in B-town), and received no public support from her Bollywood peers. In fact, her "good friend" Saif Ali Khan (who is also friends with Ness), when asked to comment, chose to say "from what I know of [Wadia], he is a wonderful gentleman". Yeah, thanks for nothing, Saif.
At this point, you might as well ask, Imran Khan who? Coming off three monumental flops in 2013, the struggling actor had no releases this year. In fact his former supporter Karan Johar dropped him like a hot potato in favour of his new darlings Siddarth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan. It looks like the only thing keeping him from total Bollywood oblivion is his upcoming film with Kangana Ranaut, Katti Batti, due next year.
Wannabe diva Sonam Kapoor may be one of the prettiest actresses in B-town, but it was her ugly personality that got all the attention in 2014. Though she was once friendly with fellow actress Deepika Padukone, she now insisted publicly that they were never friends, took petty swipes at her left and right, and even took The Times of India's side on the cleavage controversy, selling out her own gender by saying "As long as women stop objectifying themselves, people will stop objectifying them". Amid laughter by Karan Johar and her own father, Sonam claimed in an episode of Koffee with Karan to be considered an icon in her 20s, but her film Bewakoofiyan flopped, and the much-hyped Disney flick Khoobsurat was only a "hit". Even her status as Bollywood's resident fashionista is threatened as its now common practice among actresses to employ a stylist.
♦ Bipasha Basu - Harman Baweja
While John Abraham was lucky in love this year, his former flame Bips cannot say the same. The Creature 3D actress has split from boyfriend Harman Baweja after rumors of her getting cozy with Alone costar Karan Singh Grover flooded the media. Well, turns out, KSG's wife Jennifer Winget wasn't very pleased with the reports either, and separated from her husband. KSG's first marriage also reportedly broke up due to infidelity.
♦ Hrithik Roshan - Sussanne Khan
I thought they would last forever! Alas, it was not to be, as Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne have divorced after 14 years of marriage. Unfortunately for the couple's two children, it was a very messy separation, and stories about Sussanne's alleged substance abuse and of infidelity from both parties circulated in the media, linking Sussanne with Arjun Rampal and Hrithik with Katrina Kaif (not to mention the various stories about him cheating in the past).
♦ Karisma Kapoor - Sanjay Kapur
Karisma Kapoor also had a messy divorce this year. The Dil Toh Pagal Hai star had married industrialist Sanjay Kapur in 2003. The marriage was plagued by stories of his infidelity. After the birth of her second child she moved back to Mumbai with the kids to live in her mother's (Babita) house. This year they were officially divorced, after a long fight over alimony. Many sources reported it was brother-in-law Saif Ali Khan who brokered peace between the former couple, and helped them agree to a deal in the separation. He was present at the court when the divorce was finalized.
Remember Shweta Prasad, the sweet little girl from Makdee and Iqbal? She was caught in a prostitution racket in August, and was arrested when Hyderabadi police raided a hotel in Banjara Hills. She then spent some time in a Government Rehabilitation Centre and in December was finally given a clean chit from a Hyderabad court.Deepika Padukone was one of the only celeb to speak out in her favour, saying "It's sad, but if that's the only way she could run her family, I don't think there's anything wrong. Instead of making this a scandal, why are we not helping her? We should, in fact, talk about the people who have hired her. Not look down on her". Looks like Anurag Kashyap and Vikas Bahl did help her, as she is now employed as script consultant in their production house Phantom.
Priyanka Chopra had a year of ups and downs in 2014. Though she did yellowface in the Mary Kom biopic, her performance was nevertheless much praised by critics and the film did good business. An AMA session went awry when, after daring people to "ask her anything", PC only received questions about her many controversies, including her endorsement of skin-whitening products, the use of autotune in her songs, the merits of naming a street after her father in Mumbai, etc. Her name was also caught up in a prostitution scandal when police raided a spa being used to run a sex racket. Turns out, the property belonged to Priyanka, who had leased it, and her mother's clinic was situated just next to the place, though the actress had no knowledge of the illegal activities. PC closed the year with a bang, however, signing a talent deal with American tv channel ABC, and is expected to appear in one of its tv shows.
The Indian general election this year coincided with the International Indian Film Academy Awards, held in the USA. While many celebs voted and posted selfies of their inked finger (see Preity Zinta, above), like the Bachchan family, Vidya Balan, Kajol, etc, and even some celebs who went to IIFA found time to vote (such as Farhan Akhtar, who hosted), others decided to skip voting altogether in favour of the awards show. Those include Priyanka Chopra, Vivek Oberoi, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Anil Kapoor, and many more.
Ranveer Singh shaved his beautiful hair for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani. Poor Ranveer was caught in a battle of egos between directors SLB and Karan Johar, after SLB deliberately allocated his Bajirao Mastani dates to coincide with the filming and release dates of KJo's Shuddhi, which Singh would also star in, forcing Ranveer to drop out of the latter and become persona non grata in Karan's Dharma production house. Karan in turn exploited the Salman Khan x SLB feud and cast the Kick star in Shuddhi.
Fresh-faced Anushka Sharma made headlines this year after appearing on talk show Koffee With Karan in February looking, well, like that (above). Her clearly enhanced lips were the butt of many jokes on the internet, and fans commented that it ruined her girl-next-door charm. The actress even made a statement to clarify that it is only a "temporary" experiment for her look in Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet, but many weren't convinced (and, actually, they didn't look any less enhanced in December). Should we blame producer and mentor Aditya Chopra for saying she wasn't pretty enough?
Source: text by me with info found around the web, pictures from google pictures (photoshopped by me). Thank you so much to
Brooke and
lestat for all the help! Top gif from
this tumblrWhat was your favorite story of 2014, ONTD? Who do you think will come out on top in 2015?