Best Actor [Female] in a Leading Role
Motion Picture Comedy/Romantic/Musical
So the first of five
leading ladies get to showcase their brilliance right now.
It has been an
exceptional year at least in terms of performance, specifically for the women.
So much so that it has been a difficult task to find the right five that
deserve to be showcased at the top, not necessarily because there's a lack of
nominees rather because there are some amazing ones.
Before we get to
those unlucky women that lost out on the cut, here is a look see at the women
that make up the nomination ballot and what they've accomplished so far in the
past 3 official HIndie Awards;
Sughanda Gharg gets
her first ever nomination in any acting category for Jugni!
Anushka Sharma has
had 2 nomination with 0 wins and this is her third nomination and her first one
in this category.
Swara Bhaskar was
nominated once in the first ever HIndie awards but lost out, this is her first
fight for a leading award
In Hetal Gada's
first film, the young gem of a talent secures a nomination
Alia Bhatt's first
of two nominations this year in dual leading categories. She won the drama
award formerly with 1 nomination for that 1 win, with Imtiaz Ali's Highway.
And now those
honorable mentions;
Diana Penty in Happy
Bhaag Jayegi-She gets points for trying especially doing well in the softer
romantic moments, but Penty's return to the screen is marred by her inability
to crackle like her co-stars in the screwball moments.
Neha Sharma in Tum
Bin 2-The film might be a sappy melodramatic rehash of the original, but what
it has over it is an in tune performance by Sharma who tries in vain to save
the film. She proves the with an addition of years of experience and a better
script, she too could one day be considered a top class actor if nothing else.
Now let us move onto
those five that just trumped the whole year...
Sugandha Gharg as Vibhavari 'Vibs' for Jugni
As the far more
subdued and mature foil to Behl's Mastana, Gharg plays Vibs with a restrained
cool but passion as well as a crumbling romantic heart, however she also
maintains to capture a spirit and cool attitude especially when Vibs and
Mastana cross a line they should not have.
Sugandha Gharg has
always been on the forefront of many independent projects in the past decade,
proving to be a capable performer and this is just another showcase for such.
Jugni is very much
the story of Vibs and by default it's filmmakers; so Gharg embodies the
character with an emphatic but eventually individualistic sense that makes it
absolutely refreshing to see a mature, independent but eventually self absorbed
girl grow on screen.
It is to Gharg's
credit that she never makes the dramaturgy of scenes feel short-changed nor
reduces the characters standing in our eyes despite some of her actions and
motives becoming questionable due to her own selfishness. It's a turn that
beautifully reigns in the low energy points of the film.
Anushka Sharma as Alizeh Khan for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
With Alizeh, Anushka
Sharma finds herself with another character that alludes to the fear of her
getting typecast and makes one once again wonder whether Anushka Sharma is such
a terrific natural actor or she just being herself in every movie; though her
own home production NH10 would point to the contrary.
Indeed Sharma is a
fascinating performer, that even her detractors can admit and with a role like
Alizeh she can sleepwalk through it with ease yet Sharma finds something in a
character she had admittedly said she found shallow.
The great thing
about Johar as he matures in his writing has been that he has found undeniably
better roles for his female stars [though some films would be the exception in
his increasingly bettering filmography] and while Ae Dil is still a very raw
and somewhat confused film; Sharma walks away with a performance that hints to
far more depth then the surface gloss provides.
Here is a performer
who will always have her haters and simply denounce as a one note actor, but
peering into the depth of her work as Alizeh we find a ground maturity and
sensibility in each action taken.
If indeed this isn't
natural acting and just Anushka being Anushka, then we couldn't have asked for
a better actor cast. She makes the breaker of hearts, heart breaking on screen.
Swara Bhaskar as Chanda
Sahay for Nil Battey Sanata
The moment Chanda
slowly bursts onto screen as the somewhat doltish but determined mother of a
young girl, one knows this role could only be played by Swara Bhaskar. It's not
cause of the wise maturity she brings to the role despite how young she is or the
surface and deeper physicality she echoes in portraying a striving house help;
but rather because Bhaskar deserves and merits a leading role of this strength
and soft heroism.
Bhaskar like many
actors from the same walks of life like her is the epitome of the underdog and
in Chanda she finds the apt character to portray this. While she doesn't
necessarily up the innoncence and naivety that Amala Paul perfected in Amma
Kannaku, Bhaskar finds a more rough and tumble quality that makes you feel she
is a well world versed mother without ridding her off her condition/status
caused ignorance of the world around her.
It both makes the
character easier to root for and a performance thus that can supply the
narrative with the right zing enough to cheer for her persistence as well as
not truly take away from her own daughters frivolity. It's the kind of turn
that both leads and supports when need be.
Bhaskar has proven
since her breakthrough role in Tanu Weds Manu that she knows when to take
reigns of a scene and when to shine the spotlight the other way and this
quality allows her to translate her performance into a character turn rather
than a leading one.
Swara in turn become
the kind of actor every director/writer would cherish, aiding to the film
rather than distracting from it.
Hetal Gada as Pari
for Dhanak
Age should be no
factor when considering a nominee, last year Harshali Malhotra proved that and
this year probably with the most confident performance; Hetal Gada does the
same.
As the innocent yet
determined and sharp Pari, Hetal Gada like her character heads on a
transformative journey allowing to pay dividends to the fact that Nagesh
Kukunoor is a great director of children. Her prowess rests in her sparkling
eyes and expressions of wonderment and ambition she creates in believing that
the superstar King Khan will get her brothers eyesight back.
It's a fan-tastic
performance [see what I did there] that relies on her ability to build a
budding chemistry with a co-star while taking rein of a sweet but nonetheless
demanding film. Within the frame of few minutes, Hetal Gada earns a leading
status.
One laments the case
of children's films in India, which despite growing tenfold in the past few
years have still a long way to go but such gems are made possible because of at
the centre of them are such gem of performances and performers.
Alia Bhatt as Kaira
for Dear Zindagi
Wow! Wow! Wow!
Who is this woman?
In her debut, Alia
Bhatt looked like the weakest link of a film that showcased she could be
nothing but a glorified star kid. How wrong we were.
Having mastered the
art of breaking down on screen, once again Alia Bhatt succumbs to her baser
instincts as an artist and revels in peeling back the layers on her own
vulnerability and projecting such nuance on screen that it's unbelievable
despite well earned star status, all we see on screen is Kaira.
The edit fails her
and it shows a severely misplaced lack of faith by the director/producers of
the film, during her crucial breakdown scene as Bhatt is faced right at the
camera and the audience it cuts to flashbacks of her past trauma. I truly wish
the scene had just been left on Bhatt's face because on her own she did well to
paint the picture of her pain with utmost conviction and beauty that she'd
bring you to tears and thought.
Bhatt consumes a
film that stars King Khan at his charismatic best, just proving what a volcanic
talent she truly is.
This will indeed be
a generation defining performance by a generation leading actor who truly too
good too soon.
And the Winner is...
Swara Bhaskar as Chanda Sahay for Nil Battey Sanata!!!
So there she is, Swara Bhaskar wins a major award from her first HIndie nomination, a talented performer who deserves no less. Hope for more leading turns from her.
Up Next: A soulful old school singer trying in vain to learn the passions of her aloof son, A seductive poetess looking to break hearts but finding her own ripped apart, A specter like mother haunted by her jilted love and heartless for it, A mother tortured by her own secrets that threaten the happiness of her family and her sanity and a flaky daughter going throw growing pains but learning the sacrifices of her sweet mother...these women are the supporting gals of comedy/romantic and musicals!!!
'Nuff Said,
Aneesh Raikundalia
No comments:
Post a Comment