OK, it's the last month of the year, and so we've all probably got a mental list of faves this year. Mine are:

a) Taare Zameen Par - 9.7/10
b) Guru - 9.6/10 - Not Ratnam's best, but in his top 10. Frankly, he never ceases to impress me though. AB Jr deserves an Oscar for this portrayal. No, I'm not kidding.
c) Chak De India - 9.5/10 - I should kick myself for not watching this film earlier. The anti-SRK bias in my mind was too strong, but Shimit does a wicked job of restraining Mr. Acting for the Front-Benchers, and it is easily the best SRK erformance in ages. Plus, the screenplay is well written and perfect at manipulating your emotions.
d) Metro - 9/10 - I liked it a lot. Great ensemble acting, and rocking music.
e) Namesake - 8.9/10 - Not really an Indian movie, but a movie about Indians. And given its cast, it should be included. Only failing, like most movies, is that it is not as good as the book.
f) Eklavya - 8.4/10 - I liked it a lot. Debatable if it is Oscar-worthy, but who cares...
g) JBJ - 8.2/10 - Yeah, most folks disliked it, but I think it is much better than Dhoom II or
h) Saawariya - 8.2/10 - No, the story was nothing special, and yes, it was too long. But it is one of Rani's best performances and a film you can watch again just for the visuals.
i) Namastey London - 8.1/10 - Vipul Shah is an inconsistent director. Aankhen had a great story, but bad editing and average screenplay. Waqt had a 1950s story, average editing and poor screenplay. But NL had an average story, good editing and excellent screenplay.
j) Salaam-E-Ishq - 7.9/10 - Again a flop, that I thought worked quite well. If only they cut out a couple of the unnecessary stories (John-Vidya and Anil-Juhi).
k) Johnny Gaddaar - 7.8/10 - OK, it sounds stupid, but I seriously think if the film had a smoking hot heroine (or Rimmi was made to look smoking hot), the film would work better.
l) Dhamaal - 7.5/10 - Same problem as Johnny Gaddaar.
m) Jab We Met - 7.2/10
n) Swami - 7.1/10 - Very slow, but I loved Juhi in it. Sure, she doesn't look smoking as hot as she once did, but I don't even mind watching her make chappatis on screen.

Films I have not yet seen: Gandhi My Father, Blue Umbrella, Dharam, Parzania, No Smoking, RGV Ki Aag

Guru - I think was over done!7/10
Chak De India - Good thematics 7.5/10.
c) Metro -not seen
d) JBJ - 6/10, music/Lara!
e) Salaam-E-Ishq - 4/10).
f) Saawariya - 4/10
g) Namastey London - 4/10, same repeated story!
h) Namesake - a bit overated 7/10.
i) Eklavya - 3/10..borring...
j) Johnny Gaddaar - 7.8/10 - OK, it sounds stupid, but I seriously think if the film had a smoking hot heroine (or Rimmi was made to look smoking hot), the film would work better.
k) Dhamaal - 7.0/10 - Same problem as Johnny Gaddaar.
l) Swami - not seen.

BLUE UMBRELLA..whatever it was? well done..7.5/10.

OSO...6/10, remixed shobdha baazi! Welcome Deepika!

Aaja Nachle..Clean family flick, welcome back queen bee! 7.5/10.
Music could have been better! but grows on you!Madhuri rocks!

1 OM SHANTI OM
2 JOHNNY GADDAAR
3 NO SMOKING
4 NAQAAB
5 CHAK DE INDIA
6 DHAMAAL
7 AWARAPAN
8 BLACK FRIDAY
9 BHOOL BHULAIYAA
10 DHOKHA

Honourable Mentions:
Saawariya
Speed
Aggar
Dhol
Heyy Babyy
Buddha Mar Gaya
Gandhi My Father
Partner
Apne
Guru

Yet To See
Aaja Nachle
Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal

>>AAP KAA SURROOR: The Moviee- The Real Luv Story

Ok here's the thing, i've seen mainly all of the major movies in theatres (due to family obligations), but this has been such a bad year, i'm having trouble coming up with 10 best movies. Wow, anyways here's what i can remember:

1. No Smoking - quite possibly the most intelligent indian movie ever made, def the most ambitious since Dor/Swades
2. Awarapan - Very good remake of "A Bittersweet Life", Emraan is no Lee Byung Hun, but he's good enough!
3. Hey Baby - its entertaining, funny and good time pass!
4. Cash - Good Action, Hot Shamita, even hotter Dia, and a supercool Ajay/Suniel combo. I liked this one ALOT!
5. Bhool Bhulaiya - same as Hey Baby, i loved it, wish Akshay was in this longer!
6. Speed - yea, somewhat mediocre starcast, but if we're talking pure entertainment, then this is better than most!
7. Apne - pure melodramatic cheese, but Dharmendra is one of my faves, and Sunny rocks the climax!! Better than Rocky!
8. Johnny Gaddar - if u love 70's film, you will LOVE this movie! A Classic!!
9. Shakalaka Boom Boom - VERY GOOD music, good power struggle btw the 2 leads, entertaining!
10. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom - same as above, but i like SBB better.
soniya song was super HOT!!

Honourable mentions:
Jab We Met - good movie, imtiaz ali is the one to watch out for, however nowhere near as good as Aahista Aahista
OSO - because the first half is BRILLIANT. The 2nd half is shit though...
Saawariya - Cinematography is good, Rani is brilliant and the kids do a decent job
Salaam E Ishq - John's story is awesome, Govinda's story is good, Anil's story is tolerable, rest is so-so
Partner - Salman/Govinda pairing is pretty damn awesome!

So well what went wrong this year? Practically everything. I admire the fact that there are shorter, more intelligent films coming but then have trouble finding audiences. I also admire the fact that commercial bollywood is now adopting some art-house sensibilities (look at Sawariya's end, look at Guru or even Chak De India), but there is still something missing! I mean there was a time when we use to look fwd to all the blockbusters, esp the rajshri/mukta arts/yash raj thing. We use to go see every single Yash Raj film like 2-3 times in theatres. Aamir Khan movies would actually BE ENTERTAINING, unlike this garbage Mangal Pandey / Lagaan bullshit (yea u heard that right!). I mean come on, when the most frigging entertaining movie of last year was a remake of a 1970's film, then u know something is off... And well this year, lets see i have someting like JBJ, SBB, and Speed on my top ten list..... thats kinda pushing it a bit isn't it???

Anyways, my venting is done. Hopefully Welcome will be good and I can that to the above. I know Taare Zameen Par will be shit, sorry but heavy handed over the top dramas aren't my thing. I can watch all the Korean dramas for that. As for next year, well Tashan is the only thing i'm looking forward to, but I have a sneaky suspicion it's going to be bad as RGV Ki Aag!

Chak De! india
Apne
Bhool Bhalaiya
Sambar Salsa
Aggar
Darling

I felt 2007 has been a very good year for H-"indie" cinema, this is from what i have seen so far

The best of the lot

No Smoking
Blue Umbrella
Johnny Gaddar
Manorama - Six Feet Under <-- probably the "driest" comedy film from india (atleast from what little i have seen)
Om shanti Om <-- this is my guilty pleasure , i like it and feel Farah Khan is actually a "smart" director

Honorable mention

Namesake

Over-rated -"classics"

Metro (i did like the music though but for some odd reason it feels stale now !)
Dharm
CHAK DE INDIA

and films i started seeing and had to stop !

Saawariya
Tara Zameen Par <-- yes you read this right..., but i have promised myself another shot at this one.

Films i missed out seeing
Parzania (though i do own the dvd and oneday i will pop-it-in)
Cheeni Kum.

I am looking forward to more "indie"/small films in 2008