Worst Among Equals

Blame it on the problem of plenty, but the worst film category had no clear winner. Unlike 2007, when Big B-starrer Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag was voted worst film by a huge margin, the fight was much more close this year. Eventually, Bachchan Jr kept the family flag flying—his Drona won 27.6 per cent votes, followed by Love Story 2050 with 25.8 per cent and Tashan with 23.8 per cent.

The Bachchans continued to rule and how! Last year, Pa Bachchan bagged the fashion disaster award for his patchwork coat and feathered hat look in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. This year, son Abhishek swept the honour for his superman costume in Drona, polling 31.9 per cent votes, inching ahead of Priyanka Chopra, whose flaming red wig in Love Story 2050 got 25.8 per cent votes.

Yashraj too have continued their winning streak with dud stories. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom was voted worst story last year; ’08 saw Tashan as the thumping winner with 41.3 per cent votes. The first runner-up, Bombay to Bangkok, trailed at 17.2 per cent, while Mission Istaanbul followed with 15.2 per cent.

In the worst actress category, Mallika Sherawat competed with, well, herself. Her performance in Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam came second (22.5 per cent votes) to her winning act in Ugli Aur Pagli that got 28.6 per cent votes. Amrita Arora trailed in the third spot with 17.5 per cent votes.

And if you thought Himesh Reshammiya had improved marginally as an actor this year in Karzzz compared to Aap Kaa Surroor last year, think again. In ’07, the man had a worthy opponent in Upen Patel. In ’08, however, Reshammiya’s journey to the worst actor post was silken-smooth, with 58.2 per cent votes going his way compared to Anil Kapoor’s 12.9 per cent. Were he to do a hat-trick in ’09, Himesh could well be on his way to winning the lifetime (non)-achievement award.

This year, Imagine Showbiz joins us in celebrating cinematic turkeys. We hope to have a trophy by next year. Hopefully, the winners too will be sporting enough to attend the awards ceremony and accept their (dis)honours.

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Harry Potter set in Rajasthan with bits of Arabian Nights and Indian mythology thrown in. No wonder this dreary hodge-podge of a film failed to cast any spell on the audience. A deadpan Abhishek, forgettable Priyanka and over-the-top Kay Kay didn’t help either. Ergo, this box-office disaster got roundly dismissed as"rona".

Trailing behind were:
Love Story 2050 - 25.8%
Tashan - 23.8%
Yuvvraj - 12.4%
Mission Istaanbul - 10.4%

He lost his trademark baseball cap for a shockingly generous mop of hair—courtesy a transplant—smiled coyly and even acted a bit in this remake of the Subhash Ghai original. But the audience, well, the zzz in the title, said it all. For them it was still Reshammiya = bad acting. Competition? It just fell by the wayside.

Anil Kapoor in Tashan - 12.9%
Salman Khan in God Tussi Great Ho - 11.6%
Zayed Khan in Mission Istaanbul - 9.6%
Zayed Khan in Yuvvraj - 7.6%

You can be an aggressive, perennially-sloshed woman alrite, but do you have to be a shrew as well? Ms Sherawat did exactly that, shouting loudly and slapping Ranvir Shorey. Her supergirl outfit relieved some of those dull moments, but then should the credit go to the costume? Just joking.

Mallika Sherawat in Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam - 22.5%
Amrita Arora in Hello - 17.5%
Urmila Matondkar in Karzzz - 17.2%
Amrita Arora in Golmaal Returns - 14.2%

It was meant to be the wild wild Indian western. But sans story, fun or masala, not even the stylised format, engaging musical score and a Size 0 Kareena in bikini could rescue Tashan. Result: an oversmart, smug, self-indulgent crashing bore of a film.

Bombay to Bangkok - 17.2%
Mission Istaanbul - 15.2%
Hello - 14.7%
Kidnap - 11.6%

Medieval warrior met Indian bridegroom to give Bachchan Jr’s superhero costume with a desi touch. Except that even superheroes find it tough to fight battles in churidar, achkan, sherwani, bracelet and head gear. Abhishek looks weighed downand ungainly, never mind if the ensemble has earned him worst costume honours.

Priyanka Chopra's red wig in Love Story 2050- 25.8%
Vidya Balan's matronly dresses in Kismat Konnection - 17.2%
Mimoh's long locked unwashed look in Jimmy - 14.7%
Akshay Kumar's kitschy get-up in Singh is Kinng - 10.4%