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Bollywood Confidential: The 2011 IIFA Nominees
Guzaarish, starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan, is up for Best Direction at the IIFA Awards this year.
Bollywood is a mammoth of an industry that churns out around 800 films a year, but it’s no different than Hollywood, with a diverse array of films and an equally varied set of actors. Rather than offer a scoop-fest on all the stars slated to walk the green carpet, we thought we’d take a look at the leading male and female nominees at this year’s IIFA Awards.
Shahrukh Khan
One of the most talented and respected actors in Bollywood. He’s also one third of the three most important Khans in the industry, the other two being Aamir and Salman. He has a following that extends across the globe and a career that has rarely ever ebbed. He’s also played every kind of character imaginable and demonstrated incredible range, playing everyone from a sly casanova (several films) to a smitten psychotic (Darr). Perhaps the greatest testament to his career is his 1995 film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which has been playing in one Mumbai theatre for the last 16 years, making it the longest running film in Indian cinema. In My Name is Khan, he plays a Muslim man with Asperger’s syndrome who is mistaken for a terrorist in light of the September 11 attacks. If action films are more your cup of chai, you can watch him play a superhero in Ra.One this fall.
Salman Khan
Often, the gossip surrounding Salman Khan (such as that regarding his breakup with Aishwarya Rai) makes it easy to overlook his work, but the films in his repertoire show that he’s more than just gossip fodder. He’s starred in some of the biggest hits of the ’90s such as Saajan (1991), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun…! (1994) and Karan Arjun (1995). In his latest hit, Dabaang, which is also nominated for an IIFA, he plays a cop who prizes justice above all (except maybe the pretty village girl he really, really likes). The super-kitsch Salman-starrer is also currently the fifth highest grossing film in Bollywood.
Hrithik Roshan
Hrithik Roshan stormed onto the scene as the lead in Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai opposite another newcomer, Amisha Patel, in 2000. Of course, it helped having the blessings of his father, director Rakesh Roshan, who banked on his son by offering him the lead role in the film. It was a box office hit and sent Hrithik’s career skyrocketing. Since then, the actor has dabbled in just about every genre from action films and rom-coms to historical dramas and even a sci-fi film, Koi… Mil Gaya (2003), in which he played a mentally disabled young man—a role that earned him several accolades. In Guzaarish, which fared poorly in the box office but won him critical acclaim, Roshan plays an accomplished magician whose life changes when a trick gone awry leaves him paraplegic.
Ajay Devgn
A thinking person’s actor. That is to say that in his recent film choices, the actor has selected serious roles instead of the run-of-the-mill rom-com. See: Company (2002), Raincoat (2004), Yuva (2004), and Omkara (2006). He’s also taken turns as a villain, most notably in Deewangee, which won him several best villain awards. His might not be a bankable name, but it is critically acclaimed, and he’s generally considered one of the best actors in Bollywood.
Kareena Kapoor
Years ago, Kareena Kapoor lived under the shadow of older sister Karishma, a girl-next-door type actress who charmed her way into everyone’s heart in the ’90s (starring opposite all three Khans). Then came Kareena, with her strong, willful personality, all the more convincing whenever she played a spoiled brat (which was often). Kareena’s often categorized as a rom-com actress, but if you want to see her at her best, watch her portrayal of a sex worker in Chameli (2003).
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Rai Bachchan began her career as a model, eventually taking home the Miss World pageant title. She got her acting start in Tamil films before being initiated into Bollywood. Her most memorable role was in Devdas (2002), where she had a scene-stealing dance number (“Dola Re Dola”) alongside the equally (or arguably more) formidable actress Madhuri Dixit. Several hit films later, Rai Bachchan is married to Abhishek Bachchan, making her part of the Bachchan dynasty and one half of the most powerful couple in Bollywood. Rai Bachchan is the most recognized Bollywood actress outside Indian cinema, walking the red carpet at both the Toronto International Film Festival and Cannes, serving as the global brand ambassador for L’Oreal, and appearing, unfortunately and unforgettably, in Pink Panther 2 (2009).
Anushka Sharma
Twenty-three-year-old Sharma made her big screen debut in 2008 in the hit film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. The film had two things going for it: its male lead was Shahrukh Khan, and it was a Yash Raj film, which is like saying it was a Nora Ephron flick (feel-good, noteworthy cast, and a built-in audience). It earned Sharma a nod at the Film Fare Awards, but she didn’t turn heads until her breakout rom-com hit, Band Baaja Baaraat, in which Sharma plays an aspiring wedding planner who has a one-night stand with her business partner.
Katrina Kaif
Katrina Kaif had an unfortunate start in Bollywood: she began her career starring opposite big names, but her poor knowledge of Hindi overshadowed any talent she might have had. She was primarily criticized for having her voice dubbed in several movies (in recent films, she’s used her own voice). She was also accused of riding the coattails of her then-boyfriend, Salman Khan. She’s held her own since then and starred in several box office hits, including the IIFA-nominated Raajneeti opposite fellow nominee, Ranbir Kapoor.
Vidya Balan
A relative newcomer whose major foray into Bollywood was in 2006, with Lage Raho Munna Bhai, the sequel to the family-friendly super hit, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003). She’s tackled different kinds of roles in the few films she has starred in, playing a single mother of a child suffering from progeria in Paa and the sister of murdered model Jessica Lall in the biopic No One Killed Jessica (2011). In her IIFA-nominated role in Ishqiya, she plays a scheming widow in a small village in India. In 2012, Balan will return to the set to shoot a sequel to the film called Dedh Ishqiya.
For a look at some of this year’s nominated films, head on over to our round-up of trailers.