Pushkar Ambekar
10. Calendar Girls (2015)
Madhur Bhandarkar is someone who started off really well. He got better and better with his films as the years went on. Traffic Signal (2007), Page 3 (2005), Corporate (2006) and Fashion (2008) have all been big hits in their respective years. Famous for his realistic narrative of different industries and the baggage they carry with them, but after 2008 he hasn’t managed pull anything off of that calibre. His latest outings, Calendar Girls which apparently ‘dealt’ with the downfalls of the pin up girl industry failed to find any audiences and so did Indu Sarkar (2017).
9. Rangoon (2017)
The Shakespear of India !!! Well atleast his adaptations. Maqbool (2003), Omkara (2006), Haider (2014) and the likes have garnered acclaim from all corners of the country. Haider got him the National Award for the Best Director. His latest exploit, Rangoon (2017) had a stellar cast with Kangana Ranaut, Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan in the lead. The premise of the movie was good too. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War and the Subhashchandra Bose led struggle for independence, the film weaves a classic love triangle. Alongwith excellent cinematography, the film managed to tick all the boxes for a box office hit but unfortunately the film didn’t catch up with the Indian average movie goer and detailed a 40 crore loss at the box office.
8. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)
Melodramatic. Manipulative. Over-the-top. I know many people love the film. But I found the film so overdone that I couldn’t even bear the first 20 minutes of it. On top of everything, the film has possibly one of the most contrived endings ever. Just so that he could rile audience’s emotions, Rakesh Mehra cooked up a ending out of thin air. That’s how you make biographies?
7. Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012)
Credited for making Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan the stars that they are today, Yash Chopra changed the face of commercial cinema in India with hits like Ittefaq, Deewar (1975),Trishul (1978), Darr (1993) and Dil To Pagal Hai (1997). But with all respect to him, Jab Tak Hai Jaan didn’t live up to anyone’s expectation. A lover boy turned an Indian army bomb diffuser for the weirdest of reasons is hard to digest. It was a hit solely because it was Yash Chopra’s last directorial venture and he passed away shortly after. A forgettable film in all respects.
6. Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007)
Spearheading the Indian parallel cinema movement, his movies are known for their gritty relism, technical finesse and craft. His films mark transformations in Indian cinema viz Rangeela (1995), Satya (1998), Company (2002) and Sarkar (2005). But I think he totally lost in Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007). Inspired from Sholay (1975), the movie was a commercial failure and critics have named it as one of the world’s worst movies to be ever made. He never really recovered after that failure and he hasn’t really done anything of significance since then.
