2013 didn't let us lose faith in bad films either. Some phenomenally horrible ones dotted the year...

Every passing year brings with it remarkably bad films as well as some good ones too. 2013 didn't disappoint much in this regard as the terrible ones clearly outnumbered the promising ones.

'Rajjo'
Rajjo hoped to shock the audience out of their wits and clearly wanted its shock value to be its USP. Yes, it did shock. For the outrageous storyline and cringe-inducing dialogues hiding behind the mask of 'meaningful' cinema ironically made no point at all. Rajjo failed at two levels, one it is an outright bad film and two, it works against the purpose of good, independent films that sometimes still struggle to get made.


'Satya 2' The only thing that this film did, is it perhaps worked as the last nail in once upon a time brilliant film-maker RGV's shockingly-plummeted-to-terrible-depths Bollywood career coffin. Satya 2 lost half the battle for claiming to be a sequel to an epic film. The rest of it was sacrificed at the altar of horrendous lead pair (clearly the worst in the year), shoddy camera work and snigger worthy story line.

'Himmatwala'
What if you have to pay money to watch your worst nightmare being replayed in front of you on big screen with loud, unbearable music to go with it? Whatever that is, Himmatwala is certainly far worse.


'Zanjeer'
If this film was a person, it should have been arrested and hanged for attempting to assassin the original Zanjeer. Bad acting, bad music, bad direction, bad... never mind. This was the worst remake of the year, if not ever.

'Besharam'
Get the reigning heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor, get his extremely endearing and talented parents, put them together and make a mess of a film, throwing in plenty of unpalatable (excuse the pun) toilet humour. If this is not criminal, what is?


'R-Rajkumar'
This film has managed to enter the 100 crore club, but this film remains to be one of the most shallow films made with what looks like absolutely no thinking process involved in it. And yes, Sonakshi Sinha must do a rethink about repeatedly taking on regressive roles. Even if she is doing her job, it would help to know that as a celebrity she has certain responsibilities that go with it.

'Bajatey Raho'
This film seems to come out like factory mill product of this genre of comedy (?) films, each of them with mandatory casting of Vinay Pathak. Last few years had quite a few of them, and 2013 thankfully had only one. This strange genre, which seems like a pathetic attempt to be a cross breed between Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya films, end up falling flat on its face every time. Yes, Bajatey Raho was also an immensely forgettable film.

'Rajdhani Express'
This film successfully brought respected tennis player Leander Paes' image crashing down. Paes was playing this dangerous deranged man and so his idea of playing that was not blink even once through the film. The few people who went to the theatre out of love for the man's talent on the court, came out wide-eyed too, shocked at what their idol was attempting to do. This film made absolutely no sense and served no purpose, except perhaps can be later used to blackmail old Paes on a bad day.

Hitlist picks five favourites of 2013

'Ship of Theseus'
'Ship of Theseus': Once in a lifetime perhaps comes a film that manages to shake your belief system, your set prejudices without even being preachy. Anand Gandhi's little gem does all this and more.


'Lootera': In a world full of scrambling for attention movies, the slow, poetic, self assured Lootera came as a beautiful distraction. Story set in a dreamy era, Lootera stayed with you for a long time. May Vikram Motwane's ilk prosper.


'Shahid': Hansal Mehta's film attempted to tell a true story and did just that. Shahid's story telling was brutal, gritty and non compromising, aided by easily the best performance of the year by Rajkummar Rao, playing the lead.


'Madras Cafe': A true story embellished with some fictional detailing. Perfect ingredient for a gritty, grabs- your-attention-by-its-balls kind of a movie.


'The Lunchbox': This film successfully manages to weave an unconventional love story, in the face of a common urban malady, a sense of isolation and loneliness. A stellar cast of Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin and Nimrat Kaur adds to the beauty of this sensitive film.