Road to the HIndie Awards 2016

Road to the HIndie Awards

2016

The road to the Oscars has just picked up with the huge announcements from the SAG's and the Golden Globes with some dazzling shockers;

Rocking and Rolling towards the Oscars!

GO MAD MAX!

So once again, I am forced to think about our very own awards season

Yes I'm talking about Hindi Cinema and yes I am saying our, because as my first year of film school unwinds and I go to my path to become a filmmaker, I realize I am a part of-for a lack of a more famous word-Bollywood!

So speaking of awards seasons.

Hindi cinema has one, but as you know from my previous entries; the Hindi awards season is replete with pointless events scampering for TRP's and patting each other in the backs without shame.

Hmm...No I'm not talking about the Oscars.

Sure the prestige of the Academy Awards are undeniable, but the Oscars are just a gold academy award coated sham like the Hindi Awards I like to bark on.

But I'd be denying my hypocrisy to the world if I didn't admit that the Oscar race is so much fun to follow. 

2 for 2 for Redmayne, or is it finally Leo's year?!

Just fixating on what might make it this year and what might not adds a level of intrigue, hype and yes in this internet age; prestige, to the Academy awards.

Something the Hindi Film Industries so called "Big" Awards shows lack.

So I thought; why not do something crazy for myself.

Much more crazier than my very own HIndie Awards. Something that will send me rattling of the brink and will make me derided among blog circles and never be taken seriously as a writer.

Yay Career Suicide!

I'm thinking of writing down my own Road to the HIndie Awards post;

Analyzing the potential best films of this year and laying out For Your Consideration posters as well as placing hair brained predictions on who will make it to the nomination ballot.

Okay so first things first I know what you're thinking;

Aneesh are you crazy! You're the only one nominating the films and creating these awards so then how does predictions and all that work.

Well for one I will be looking at IMDB scores, reading up on both public and critical reviews as well as truly insightfully looking at the predictions I'd made at the start of the year but never shared.

See this way I will be able to make a healthy based prediction for the road to HIndie Awards depending on expectations of films and trust me it will work because a lot of films this year haven't lived up to my renewed lofty standards.

At the end of the day, this is just a fun exercise I want to do because I'm bored silly and frustrated of the fact that nobody takes Hindi film awards seriously and they are drab, dull and no fun.

So here goes anyway, below you will find this years awards categories which I will also explain further.

So enjoy, this years road to the HIndie Awards 2016

Best Motion Picture (Drama)	Best Motion Picture (Comedy/Romantic)
Best Director	Best Cinematography
Best Screenplay (Drama)	Best Screenplay (Comedy/Romantic)
Best Actor in A Leading Role Drama (Male)	Best Actor in A Leading Role Comedy/Romantic(Male)
Best Actor in A Leading Role Drama (Female)	Best Actor in A Leading Role Comedy/Romantic (Female)
Best Actor in A Supporting Role Drama (Male)	Best Actor in A Supporting Role Comedy/Romantic (Male)
Best Actor in A Supporting Role Drama (Female)	Best Actor in A Supporting Role Comedy/Romantic (Female)
Best Breakthrough Actor (Male)	Best Breakthrough Actor (Female)
Best Breakthrough Director	Best Regional Language Film
Best Director (Regional Film)	Best Screenplay (Regional Film)
Best Leading Actor in A Regional Film (Male)	Best Leading Actor in A Regional Film (Female)
Best Supporting Actor in A Regional Film (Male)	Best Supporting Actor in A Regional Film (Female)
Best Cinematography (Regional Film)	Best Ensemble
Best Editing (Regional Film)	Best Documentary/Short Film
Best Production Design	Best Costume Design
Best Editing	Best VFX
Best Original Song	Best Original Score

Let's start from the top;

 

Radhika Apte has had one bumper year...spoiler alert!

Like the Golden Globes, there is a genre divide for awards. Despite this being a weak year, it allows me to at least give a modicum of acknowledgment to some films that deserve it.

However instead of Musical as genre this year, I have put Romantic. Why? Because most Hindi films tend to be musicals in a sense; though that distinction is dying a slow and somewhat sad death these days.

Also Romantic is an important genre staple in the Hindi cinema and it allows some strong contenders to be thrown out by the prowess of bigger and better dramatic films. It's indeed a year for dramas.

Neither Breakthrough Actors nor Directors can be nominated on any other list. I added Breakthrough Director as a category with nominations this year because there was a great expansion of brilliant directorial talent this year.

I was also going to add a Regional Film award and this year with the number of multicultural and multilingual films I've been able to catch; I did so. This however also prompted me to consider a whole Regional cinema section because to be honest most of the best Indian films this year have not been in Hindi.

Best Ensemble and Best Documentary/Short film are there to fill out the gaps, though they are now staple awards with their tough contenders.

Also instead of Best Soundtrack; I have decided to go for the awards prestigious Best Original Song. Original because there's quite a few that don't make that cut; a good example being 'Fifi' from Bombay Velvet originally sung by Geeta Dutt in Mr. & Mrs. 55

Now let me present you the films of 2015 and what genre category they will be competing in.

Also remember these selected films are a mix of those I felt would actually be great at the start of the year and those films that people are critically acclaiming or had the backing of a reliable filmmaker behind them.

And also like the Globes, sometimes it is hard to decide which genre a certain film falls into

So here goes;

Drama: Baby, Rahasya, Badlapur, NH 10, Detective Byomkesh Bakshi!, Margarita With A Straw, Bombay Velvet, Masaan, Drishyam, Brothers, Gour Hari Dastaan, Manjhi-The Mountain Man, Phantom, Talvar, Titli, Main aur Charles, X: Past is Present, Kajarya, *Angry Indian Goddesses

Comedy/Romantic: Shamitabh, Roy, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Coffee Bloom, Hunterrr, Piku, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Dil Dhadakne Do, Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho, Guddu Rangeela, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Bangistan, All is Well, Kaun Kitne Paani Mein, Katti Batti, Meeruthiya Gangsters, Shaandar, Yaara Silly Silly, Tamasha, Bajirao Mastani

So strap a rocket on your backs because this will be a hell of a crazy ride.

*Angry Indian Goddesses-Proved to be more of a drama, then the comedy it was promoted as

The HIndie Awards 2016 are heating up and the road is as furious as Fury Road...MAD MAX FOR OSCARS!

'Nuff Said

Aneesh Raikundalia