Best Entertainers of 2011

Best Bollywood Entertainers of 2011

2011, was a year of many highs and several lows for the Indian film industry. There was drama, catfights, box office clashes, chartbusting songs, 100 crore+ blockbusters, scandal, women centric films actually doing well, hook ups and break ups amongst other things.

To break away from the clichéd countdowns that appear at the end of each year, we at Bollyspice decided to compile a list of the Top 10 entertainers of 2011. The list isn’t just a countdown of movies, it’s a list of people, rumours, music, wannabe stars and starlets that made news and made us chuckle – both intentionally and unintentionally! Read on…

1. Vidya Balan made us all go Ooh La La with her turn in The Dirty Picture (Film)

Without a doubt, the top entertainer this year was Vidya ‘Boombat’ Balan who raised oomph levels to the stratosphere with her uninhibited, free spirited portrayal of Silk – a lower class belle who makes it big in the film industry in Madras in the 80s. Her one liners, cracks and innuendos made an otherwise average film an outstanding one. Balan’s performance combined with the oh so catchy, straight out of the 80s Ooh La La get both her and the campy, kitsch song a place in the top spot as entertainment of the year.

2. Nargis Fakhri and her laughable debut in Rockstar (Film)

Ranbir Kapoor proved his acting chops yet again in this beautifully crafted, subtle Imtiaz Ali film which had lilting music by maestro A.R. Rahman. What Ali got horribly wrong though was casting 32-year-old debutante Nargis Fakhri as the female lead in this otherwise near perfect film. Fakhri was so bad she makes Katrina Kaif look like Madhubala in comparison. While Ranbir was flawless, he was let down by Nargis who had little to offer in terms of performance, ruining key portions of the film with her inexperience, blandness and unintentionally comical dramatics. I hate to admit, but even Sonam, Deepika or Katrina would have been marginally better choices – and that’s saying a lot.

3. Salman’s hat-trick of blockbusters (Film)

Love him or hate him, this rebel with a cause proved his clout at the box office and completed a hat-trick of blockbusters which began with Dabangg in 2010. In 2011, both Ready and Bodyguard proved to be huge money-spinners entertaining masses across the globe, even if they had little in terms of plot or coherence and were slammed critically. The amount of money that was generated by all three films goes to show that Salman is by far one of the most reliable draws at the box office. His acting range may be limited but the success of these films proves that he is, beyond a doubt, the darling of the masses.

4. Akon’s chart-busting ‘Chammak Challo’ (Film/Music)

Forget the film, Akon’s chart-busting anthem ‘Chammak Challo’ very nearly made Ra.One worth the price of its ticket. Catchy with a capital C, Ra.One will probably be remembered for this song alone, which no doubt will be played at clubs and weddings for years to come. Full marks to Akon, for his Hindi pronunciation – maybe Kangana can take some tips. And lastly, but by no means the least, a special mention to a piping hot Kareena Kapoor gyrating to the number in her red ghaghra and nose ring, which became a style statement in itself.

5. Shah Rukh Khan hamming beyond repair as the techy geek in Ra.One (Film)

The film itself was not half as bad as people made it out to be – it was a first of sorts for all its technical wizardry and a brave attempt to deviate from the norm, with many fans including many on our staff voting this film as the Biggest Entertainer of the Year. Ra.One was, without a doubt, one of the most talked about films of 2011 what with all the cash pumped into its publicity. While the film was tolerable, what was not was Shah Rukh Khan in a laughable role as a geek in the first half. Khan was so ridiculously over the top and hammy that when his character dies in the first half you almost breath a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the movie improved from there on but SRK’s unintentionally funny, spectacled afro act was, put simply, atrocious. Thankfully, he redeemed himself somewhat in his suave act in Don 2 which released at the fag end of 2011.

6. The Veena Malik-FHM Circus (Print/Media/TV)

Starlets, these days will go to any lengths for publicity and Pakistani actress Veena Malik is one such prime example of this.

A massive controversy erupted in both Pakistan and India when Malik posed nude with the initials of Pakistan’s controversial Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency plastered across her arm – a shot which she claimed was doctored, whilst others claimed it was a cheap PR stunt for an upcoming reality show that she would be hosting. The shot resulted in, amongst other things, a ‘fatwa’ being issued by an Indian-Muslim body with even drama queen Rakhi Sawant joining the moral brigade and issuing venomous statements against her to be contemporary.

The story is still making headlines at the time of writing – and one thing’s for sure, Veena has certainly made people sit up and take notice…but whether all the drama results in unimaginable success or a fizzled career (Mamta Kulkarni – anybody remember her?), remains to be seen.

7. Sunny Leone shows em who’s boss (Television)

Where there’s Big Brother, there has to be controversy even if the show takes place in a somewhat conservative place like India. Porn star Sunny Leone’s entry into India’s equivalent of Big Brother, reality series Bigg Boss caused an outcry from the Lok Sabha and the BJP’s youth wing, but as they say rightly, you’re nobody until you’re talked about. As a result of her appearance on the show, her Twitter feed gained 8000 followers in just two days and she was one of the most searched celebrities on Google. Filmmakers jumped on the bandwagon too, with Mahesh Bhatt offering her the female lead in Jism 2 – a sequel to the 2003 smash hit Jism which starred Bipasha Basu and John Abraham, and made them Bollywood royalty over night.

8. Kangana’s attempts at English and her various surgical enhancements (Rumour/Fact)

Kangana Ranaut had a major hit this year in Tanu Weds Manu, but what caught everyone’s eye were those eye-popping assets she flaunted in David Dhawan’s abysmal Rascals. She flatly denied all of the allegations of course… but the results were visible in her two-piece which eventually made no difference to the box office performance of the aforementioned film. The alleged enhancement combined with her outrageously weird fashion sense and incomprehensible attempts at English get Kangana ninth place in our list – albeit unintentionally.

9. The Abhi-Ash baby drama and Ash’s subsequent replacement with Kareena in Madhur Bhadarkar’s Heroine (Rumour/Fact)

2011 was also the year when Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan announced that they were going to be parents. Obviously, the press had a field day with this story – right from predicting the birth date (bets were on 11.11.11), to the gender of the baby – some even went so far as to say that the Bachchans were due to have twins, while several columnists insisted that the Bachchans had ensured that the baby would most definitely be a boy. Most of these bizarre, concocted stories all proved to be false though, when Ash and Abhi became proud parents of a baby girl at Mumbai’s Seven Hills Hospital on November 16, 2011.

Another controversy to stem from this story was Ash’s ouster from Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine. Ash announced her pregnancy midway through the shooting, leaving both Bhandarkar and UTV high and dry leading to a war of words between Amitabh Bachchan and Madhur Bhandarkar on Twitter, followed by the latters apology on a public platform. All ended well though, when Kareena Kapoor, the director’s original choice came on board at an astronomical price making Bebo one of the highest earning female artistes in the country.

10. The SRK-Priyanka-Shahid merry go round (Rumour)

The ‘are-they-aren’t-they together’ status of their relationship left gossip mongers in a tizzy and provided much fodder for daily glossies. Naturally, both Sasha and PC denied it till they went blue, but when income tax officials raided Priyanka’s house in January, rumour has it that they were greeted at the door by a shocked Shahid (in just his shorts!). Tales of their break ups, fights and make ups continued to do the rounds until they finally called it quits halfway through the year.

If PC wasn’t breaking up/getting back together with Shahid, she was seen with Shah Rukh Khan, resulting in rumours of Gauri Khan being upset with their growing proximity.

Slander it may be – but it surely kept us entertained throughout the year.

Powerful Photographs Of India In 2011

1. India's players and team celebrate after India won their ICC Cricket World Cup final match against Sri Lanka in Mumbai April 2, 2011.

2. A woman carries her injured son through flood waters at Pahanga village in Orissa's Jajpur district. Monsoon rains collapsed mud huts and flooded wide swaths of north and east India, leaving hundreds of thousands of people marooned in the raging waters. AP Photo

3. Anna Hazare meditates at Rajghat before beginning his fast for a stringent Lokpal Bill.

4. A leopard leaps on an armed forest guard in Prakash Nagar village, near Siliguri, India. AP Photo

5.Thousands gather outside The Writers' Buildings in Kolkata awaiting Mamata Banerjee's first appearance as Chief Minister of West Bengal after a landslide victory that ended the Left's 34-year rule in the state. Reuters

6. Three-year-old Babu, a child of a migrant labourer, holds a glass filled with tea outside a makeshift tent along a road on a cold morning as cold weather continued to sweep north India at Noida in Uttar Pradesh January 4, 2011.

7. A student poses after getting her face painted during a face painting competition in Ahmedabad January 22, 2011.

8. School children ride on an auto-rickshaw on their way back home from school in Ahmedabad March 8, 2011.REUTERS/Amit Dave

9. Farmers block railway tracks during a protest in Karchana town in Uttar Pradesh January 21, 2011.REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash

10. A fisherman arranges a fishing net as his wife paddles their boat in the waters of the Periyar river on the outskirts of the southern Indian city of Kochi January 5, 2011.

Girlfriends of Salman Khan

Salman Khan is one of the biggest stars in Bollywood. He has a huge fan following. He had also his fair share of romance and break-ups with the top actresses of Bollywood. In this post, I am going to talk about the women that came into Salman Khan’s life. With some of them, he had serious relationships and some were just rumors.

Sangeeta Bijlani:
The first lady Salman Khan dated early in his carrier was Sangeeta Bijlani. Winner of Miss India beauty pageant 1980, Sangeeta Bijlani was a popular model and actress. Sangeeta Bijlani came to Bollywood in the late 80s. It was believed that Salman Khan had a serious relationship with Sangeeta Bijlani but for some reasons, the couple broke up. After their break-up, Sangeeta Bijlani married former Indian Cricket team captain, Azharuddin. Even after breaking up with Salman Khan, Sangeeta Bijlani had good relationship with Salman Khan’s family members. Last year, Sangeeta ended his fourteen year old marriage with Azharuddin. She went to Salman Khan for help.

Somy Ali:After Sangeeta Bijlani, the girl who came to Salman Khan’s life was Somy Ali. Born to an Iraqi mother and Pakistani father, Somy used to live in the U.S. She then came to Mumbai to build up an acting career. In 1993, at the age of 19, she starred in Anth with Sunil Shetty which became a big hit. Somy Ali and Salman Khan had a long time relationship but the two eventually broke up. Rumor spread out that due to Salman Khan’s excessive drinking and abusive behavior, Somy Ali had to live him. After leaving India, she obtained bachelor’s degree in Pyschology from Nova Southeastern University of Florida. Then in 2010, when Salman Khan launched a charity foundation named Being Human, he ran into trouble again with Somy Ali for she also launched another charity foundation “Human Being” back in 2007.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan:
After Somy Ali, the women who came in Salman Khan’s life was none other than Aishwarya Rai, winner of Miss World 1994. The two came together while doing 1999 blockbuster Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachcha’s on-screen chemistry looked great. Unfortunately, their love life was a very turbulent one. Aishwarya Rai became another victim of Salman Khan’s abusive behavior. He used to call her on the phone late at night and shouted and pounded on the door. He even abused Aishwarya Rai. In March 2002, Aishwarya Rai finally broke up with Salman Khan. Even after breaking up, he stalked Aishwarya Rai for a long time. It was said that one night being drunk, he stormed into Aishwarya Rai’s house and broke furniture and threatened his family. Her family filed complaint with police.

Katrina Kaif:

 

The next lady to enter in Salman Khan’s life is Katrina Kaif. This British-Indian actress and model met Salman Khan during her struggling days in Bollywood. She debuted in a movie called Boom directed by Kaizad Gustad. The movie bombed at the box office. Katrina Kaif was busy with small time modeling assignments and during this time she met Salman Khan. Salman Khan introduced her to big time producers but no one was interested to caste her for poor Hindi accent. Then in 2005, she was paired up with Salman Khan in Maine Pyaar Kiyun Kya. The movie was a hit. She was also the female lead in Salman Khan and Govinda starrer, Partner in 2006. In 2007, she also got her first big hit with Akshay Kumar in Namastey London. With each success relationship between Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan went sour and eventually they broke up.

Bruna Abdallah:
After Katrina Kaif it was Bruna Abdullah. Bruna Abdullah is an Indian model of Brazilian and Arabian origin. She caught Indian audience’s attention with her sizzling item song performance “Rehem Kare” in Anubhav Sinha’s action movie, Cash. She also appeared in I Hate Love Storys with Imran Khan. She was first noticed on Channel V’s show India’s Hottest. It was said that after Katrina Kaif, Bruna Abdullah became Salman Khan’s love interest but there was no such evidence. Later, she clarified that there was no such relationship between her and Salman Khan. She had only two meetings with Khan, one was related to work while the second one was a social meeting.


Claudia Ciesla:
Rumor about romantic relationship between Salman Khan and Claudia Ciesla started to spread when news came out that Salman Khan introduced her to his family. He said,
“Claudia is a very nice girl and I have introduced her to my family.” Claudia also spoke highly of Salman Khan. Salman Khan also said Claudia Ciesla is his “special friend.” Later, Claudia, in an interview, said, 'Salman and I are just good friends. He is not my boyfriend, as has been reported here. Everyone knows that it's Katrina Kaif who is his girlfriend and not me. I haven't even been that long in India to start controversies.'


Asin:
After Claudia, the girl with whom Salman Khan was romantically linked was Asin Thottumkal of Ghajini fame. Asin and Salman Khan did two movies- London Dreams and Ready. A picture of London Dreams, showing Salman Khan on his knees before Asin, started a new rumor. Even South Indian media claimed that Asin and Salman Khan got married but later it was revealed that the two shot a wedding sequence for Aniz Bazmee’s upcoming movie, Ready.

Hazel Keech:

The latest rumor that is spreading about Salman Khan is about his relationship with British model’ Hazel Keech. Hazel came to India to work with Salman Khan in his upcoming movie, Bodyguard. The movie was shot in Pune and it was reported that the two had a great time in Pune. It was reported that the two were having a good time and they enjoy each other’s company. Hazel and Salman went on biking in Pune. Who knows if this is just another rumor or not?