Cover Story : Top-10 Bollywood scenes in 2008

By Joginder Tuteja, In the year gone by, there were some truly remarkable scenes that made an impression.

While some of them have hardly been seen by many due to the film flopping at the box office, quite a few of them belong to the kind that have managed to impress a large segment of audience. Joginder Tuteja goes down the memory lane and brings alive 10 such sequences!

10 - Adah climbing up a pillar (1920)

This scene could have just gone totally wrong had it been executed carelessly. With a potential of turning more hilarious than scary, this sequence had Adah crawling up and down a pillar, that too on her back, as she portrayed the role of a woman possessed. Also mouthing words like 'tic toc', which symbolized the count of a clock, Adah was indeed scary in her lizard walk. Vikram Bhatt kept a tight leash over the proceedings and aided with some flawless special effects and background score, he managed to pull it off. No wonder, this is one of the most remembered scenes from the horror flick that brought back Vikram Bhatt into the reckoning.

9 - Asin's killing (Ghajini)

The entire sequence of events beginning from Asin entering her house (already occupied by villain and his henchmen) till her eventual death had shades of that particular scene from Pratibandh, where Juhi Chawla talks to Chiranjeevi over phone and ultimately gets killed. Still, the built up of tension was extraordinary in 'Ghajini' where one rotted for Asin to come out alive even though it was made clear in the first 10 minutes of the film itself that she would be killed in this sequence. It wasn't any fancy camera angles or playing around with the lights that made the scene memorable; it was sheer shot taking, direction and some able performances that involved the audience, something which was so much required for this scene to succeed.

8 - Amitabh Bachchan ridiculing project proposal brought by Aishwarya Rai (Sarkar Raj)

This scene had vintage Ram Gopal Varma at work as he played around with tight facial close-ups and zoom-ins and zoom-outs to various characters sitting in a room. The moment Aishwarya Rai arrives at Amitabh Bachchan's residence cum office with her project proposal, you know that sparks are going to fly in their first ever scene together. While Abhishek Bachchan is relegated to be a silent spectator, as it is the demand of the situation with Amitabh Bachchan taking the charge, Aishwarya Rai displays emotions that range from being ridiculed to helplessness to anger and then the ultimate surrender. Amitabh Bachchan delivers his dialogues in the manner that only he can and eats up everyone around him. A scene that completely belonged to 'sasur' and his 'bahu', it was one of the best in 'Sarkar Raj'.

7 - Pankaj Kapur laughing at villains on being threatened (Halla Bol)

It's a pity that not many people would have seen this scene since not just was 'Halla Bol' a resounding box office failure, it hasn't even done do well on the DVD circuits. Still, if at all you haven't watched this under rated Raj Kumar Santoshi film till date, watch it at least once just for this particular scene where Pankaj Kapur is threatened. As a dacoit turned social worker and reformer, he is shown to be surrounded by villains and their henchmen who are not too kind to him with their words. Standing at a poolside, he coolly listens to them before simply walking away after giving them a verbal cuddle, akin to the kind that one gives to a baby. A clap worthy sequence which brought a different facet of Pankaj Kapur's personality, it has to be seen to be believed.

6 - Akshay's entry as 'Ravan' (Tashan)

'Tashan' may be a truly forgettable film but what can never be forgotten is Akshay Kumar's entry as 'Ravana' atop a scooter. Not just that, he went on to enact the character on a stage in a 'Ramleela' being held in a small town. The only difference here was that he was just not in character and played it just as Akshay Kumar was do! No wonder, the scene turned out to be a riot and raised the expectations of a much better outing in the rest of the film. Though it's a different matter that the remainder of the film didn't come half as close to the 'Ravana' sequence, the fact remains that this has been one of the best entries ever of Akshay Kumar in a Bollywood flick.

5 - 'Beedi Jalaile' dance sequence (Dostana)

This was the only sequence in the film that had all the principal characters in 'Dostana' coming together - Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, John Abraham, Boman Irani, Kirron Kher, Sushmita Mukherjee and the 'firang' from the legal department! A sequence that had to be handled extra carefully lest it became cariacturish in it's presentation, it was key to the proceedings of 'Dostana' as it had to say a lot in those 5-7 minutes. While the song 'Beedi Jalaile' played and Abhishek, John, Boman and the rest gyrated to the beats, the entry of Kirron Kher brought the house down. Director Tarun Mansukhani would have indeed struggled to get everyone's expressions and body movements just right for this sequence that didn't have many shot breakdowns but in the end succeeded quite well.

4 - Priety's reaction on letter being read (Heroes)

Just like the 'Halla Bol' sequence featuring Pankaj Kapur, not many would have seen this priceless portion of 'Heroes' where Preity Zinta came up with the BEST moments of the film. As a war widow, she was quite impressive in her episode from 'Heroes'. However, it was hard not to let tears flow by in these few minutes where Sohail Khan and Vatsal Seth read out the last letter written to her by her husband Salman Khan. Preity demonstrated amazing restrain in her performance and with background music and some tight direction by Sameer Karnik doing the trick, this scene turned out to be the most memorable of the lot. For a change, one noticed Preity's performance more than her dimples. Now that's what one calls as the success of a scene.

3 - Climax concert (Rock On)

The moment lights went on for the grand finale of 'Rock On', one could sense that there was something bigger and better in the offering, courtesy director Abhishek Kapoor. While Farhan Akhtar started the proceedings with Purab Kohli and Luke Kenny in tow, there was something missing. And the missing clue here was John Abraham who made a terrific entry into the dying moments of the award winning performance. His entry into the scene, pun intended, just turned around the tables for 'Rock On' that moved on full steam with 'Sindbad The Sailor'. The setting suddenly appeared to gain far more grandeur than it's original format and one just longed for a dance floor. A grand finale indeed.

2 - 'Dancing Jodi' climax sequence (RNBDJ)

Sheer writing is what makes this scene one of the BEST ever that one has seen in Bollywood for a long-long time. Just when the film's narrative had started to seem a little sluggish and predictable, Aditya Chopra spun his magic and brought to fore a scene that brought a remarkable turnaround in the flow of events. A complex scene considering Shah Rukh Khan had to dance like 'Raj' and emote like 'Suri', the 'Dancing Jodi' made one look at the screen in awe. For Anushka Sharma too, it was one of the most crucial scenes in 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' as she had to dance well as a winner even as realization struck to her about two men in her life being one indeed! Flashback portions were interspersed extremely well into the sequence, hence making the entire 'Dancing Jodi' competition a euphoric experience.

1 - Stupid Common Man (A Wednesday)

Aah, now this one really leads the bunch. Naseeruddin Shah's outburst in the climax of 'A Wednesday' ensured that not one person from the audience even remembered the popcorn in hand, let aside talking or thinking about anything else. The cell phones went silent as Naseeruddin Shah came up with a monologue that gave the true picture of the country today. It risked becoming one boring preachy speech but Neeraj Pandey's handing of the sequence along with some tight editing by Shree Narayan Singh ensured that Naseeruddin Shah truly lived each and every moment of the scene. His reference to being a 'stupid common man' still resonates till date as he gets ready for his next big speech in all the award functions that should begin soon. This was truly THE scene of the year.

--SAMPURN