Even at its best, 2016 was a middling year for the Indian film industry. There were a few high points but no movie really scaled the zenith of filmmaking. Even the “good” films suffered from a few niggles, which we will ignore in our list below. And as is the case every year, when the nadir was reached, Bollywood seemed to find newer ways to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Here is a very subjective list of what I thought were the best and worst films of 2016 – The best films, in no particular order: Airlift: Raja Krishna Menon’s searing tale of thousands of Indians stuck in Kuwait at the height of the Gulf War was an unexpected triumph at the beginning of the year. Akshay Kumar delivered a wonderfully restrained performance in a film littered with some good ensemble acting and a screenplay that never resorted to jingoism, even though there was plenty of scope for it. The story of the largest human evacuation in recorded history made for gripping viewing, thanks to Menon’s control over his craft and his leading man’s author-backed role. Neerja: Even though the rest of the year would prove us wrong, Ram Madhvani’s “Neerja” made you want to believe that Bollywood had finally learned to get its real-life stories right. The tale of flight purser Neerja Bhanot and her bravery that saved the lives of hundreds of passengers onboard a hijacked Pan Am flight was told with minimal frills and featured powerhouse…more detail
