/> I'll be honest. Apart from a few exceptions I don't think 2007 delivered outstanding films. I mean I really liked Sriram Raghavan's noire film Johnny Gaddar.

But finally it wasn't that one piece de resistance I was looking for, until year-end when Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya wrote poetry on the screen with the calm controlling measured paces of historical engravings.

Every one was a bit befuddled by the film's bluesy mood and studio-confined romanticsm. But as Preity Zinta who recently saw the film in Toronto and raved, "It takes a while. But once you get into the pace you're completelty sucked in. SLB is the God of filmmaking."

I'll have to go with that. I sincerely believe Saawariya is destined to be a retro-classic like Guru Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool and Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker. Was it just a coincidence that the Saawariya lead reminded people of Waheeda Rehman and Raj Kapoor?

My second favourite film of the year was also slammed by the learned critics of Mumbai. But to me Pradeep Sarkar's Laga Chunari Mein Daag about a simple Varanasi girl's journey into prostitution in Mumbai was a lyrical and evocative piece of art echoing Ritwick Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara and K Balachander's neglected Aaina.

So there! And then comes Balki's Cheeni Kam. The chemistry between the 60-plus chef Bachchan and the 30-plus whatever Tabu (what was her profession in the film?) was harnessed into a romantic comedy that lost its fizz in the second-half. Never mind. Cheeni Kam is still a modern classic.

Bhavna Talwar's Dharam about religious bigotry, prejudice and atonement in holy Varanasi was a timeless tale told with verve and virility. The key to the film's tantalizing tone was the knack of incorporating a critical social comment in an enormously watchable film.

You may have missed Dharam on release. But catch it on a DVD, and re-live a golden chapter of Hindi cinema in 2007.

Golden in its own right was Mira Nair's The Namesake. Though strictly not desi stuff, it was so Indian at heart it put our contemporary Bollywood tales about hot dames and cool dudes to shame. Simplicity was never such a prized virtue.

Mira, take a bow.

he two qualities that made Imtiaz Ali's Jab We Met so special were the disarming simplicity and the great outdoors. Imtiaz shot this artless love story about a mismatched couple in the remotest corners of India.

Interestingly Saawariya shot its romance completely inside a studio. Between the two films we have the two scintillating ends of the same spectrum.

I loved Anurag Basu's Life In A Metro and Madhur Bhandarkar's Traffic Signal for their ensemble cast of knowns, unknowns and don't-wanna-know-s. A potent energy flowed out of every frame.

The portrayal of life in Mumbai as seen through two totally antithetical perspectives in the 2 films reminded us that between the elite and the street crowds there's the world that the creative artiste could inhabit with captivating candour if he or she wishes.

Shimit Amin's Chak De India was undoubtedly one of the year's most spectacular achievements. Imagine....a film on a female hockey team with India's biggest superstar playing a burnt-out coach? Nah! Nahin chalega.

Chak De India didn't just run it breezed across all competition assumed a cult status and set the benchmark for all sports films in India.

The funniest film of the year was ....no, not Bhool Bhulaiyya (god forbid!) but another NRI film.The Loins Of Punjab Presents....was Manish Acharya's feisty tasty racy look at contestants in a reality show with the show's highlight being Shabana Azmi crooning Chura liya hai tumne. I re-discovered Asha Bhosle courtesy Azmi.

Comfortably the most heartwarming film of 2007 was Taare Zameen Par with an immensely satisfying directorial debut by Aamir Khan. That the film came at the end of the year only added to the feeling that 2008 holds great promise.

The year 2007 came with its baggage of disappointments. The year's biggest letdown was Aamir's Lagaan cinematographer Anil Mehta's directorial debut in Aaja Nachle.

What was Mr Mehta thinking when he brought Madhuri Dixit back in such a feebly- written script and anaemically- directed tale?

In comparison I loved Siddharth Anand's Tara Rum Pum which suffered only because the film's concept of poverty entailed the insolvent family moving from Manhattan to Queen's in NY.

How about from Malabar Hill to Dharavi?

And an honorary mention of debutant director Manoj Tyagi's much-neglected Mumbai Salsa about six youngsters scouring Mumbai for love sex and a self-identity.

The film worked because of its sassy dialogues and situations, energy level, humour and originality. The newcomers weren't hyped like the girls in Chak De India but were effective because of their nondescript personalities.

As for the outright creative duds of the year....let's not even go there.