<i >Omkara, Rang De Basanti </i> pleased these savants. Since they mostly refrain from naming the duds, arrive at your own conclusions by a process of elimination.
Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara: well-made film, well-written script, outstanding performances. Most cinematic of all the films that I saw in 2006.
Close to it was Rakeysh Mehra’s Rang De Basanti, and RDB eventually had a greater power and impact over the audiences.
Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dor was charmingly made, in a tight, little budget.
Rituparno Ghosh’s Dosar was excellent. I liked the film’s narrative style. I liked Konkana Sen’s performance. I think she is the best actress we have at the moment.
The computer effects in Krrish were marvellous.
Don was extremely well made, used technology with a great deal of sophistication. SRK was superb. I think Farhan Akhtar is one of our shining stars. It was the film I enjoyed the most.
Lows
I don’t see the bad films. But I was not terribly impressed with J.P. Dutta’s Umrao Jaan.
Govind Nihalani, Filmmaker
Highs
Rakeysh Mehra’s Rang De Basanti made a very strong impact. It was the first major voice against the growing feeling of apathy among people. The finale may not have been 100% satisfactory but the dominant sentiment was such that the audience didn’t really care. It was also beautifully shot. Great music too.
I liked the Marathi film Maati Maay by Chitra Palekar. A good story, treated well by Chitra, with simplicity. I liked its starkness.
Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dor was beautifully shot and sensitively treated.
I liked Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara immensely for its aesthetics. The photography was outstanding, the music and performances were very good. It showed Vishal’s absolute control over the subject matter.
Raj Kumar Hirani’s Lage Raho Munna Bhai had a simple and interesting screenplay. The idea of resurrecting Gandhi worked very well. The film showed what a simple word such as "Gandhigiri" can do. It captured our imagination, and was all about taking the law in your hands while sticking to the spirit of Gandhi.
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Lows
I would not be able to list the disappointing films.
Jerry Pinto, Columnist and Author
Highs
Omkara: If you don’t think too much about Othello and if you ignore Ajay Devgan, it was a great film with a wonderful score and one of the hottest item numbers I have seen in a long time.
Lage Raho Munna Bhai: Good cheesy fun. Arshad Warsi is a great actor.
Khosla ka Ghosla: Not since Gharonda has there been a film about real estate that touched so many raw nerves. Boman Irani acts after a long spell of pretending. Anupam Kher reminds us of the actor he was in Saaransh.
Rang De Basanti: If you can ignore the idea of Aamir Khan as a college student, this had a great score—as if A.R. Rahman had reclaimed his musical genius—and Atul Kulkarni. Lousy let-down of an ending but you can’t have everything.
Jaan-e-mann: The first half.
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Lows
Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna: Karan Johar should not try investigating things like the nature of marital infidelity. Completely out of his depth and what a waste of four gorgeous people.
Maalamaal Weekly: Priyadarshan should just stop making films. He is not funny. Count Chup Chup Ke in this list as well.