What makes a film different from any other medium of entertainment? The way it communicates visually that is not possible with radios, humongous real and artificial set-pieces which a theater can’t afford and the kind of business that only few other industries can match.
Gone are the days when we only had Hollywood to fulfill our fodder for visual treat. There are increased budgets and talented professionals in our industry who are slowly matching the technical expertise of the world.
So lets recognize all those behind-the-scenes heroes without whom, a film cannot be made.
GENERAL RULES
- There are no nominations. There are runner-ups. Since one can’t really do the drama of choosing the winner in written form.
- Winners are chosen by personal choice. Any of the runner-ups mentioned deserve the recognition equally.
- The technicalities of a film can stand out even in the worst film. Hence it would be tough to shortlist few among 225 films that released this year. Only the films that were lauded for its cinematic efforts and the ones that were praised for its overall quality were taken into consideration.
- And again, these awards are not rigged.
BEST EDITOR
Ever felt a film going too long? Blame them. But instead, the film left you asking for more? Applaud them. Here are the best trimmers of the year :
RUNNERS UP
Monisha R Baldawa for NEERJA
Hemanti Sarkar for AIRLIFT
Bodhaditya Bannerjee for PINK
WINNER
Meghna Sen for UDTA PUNJAB
The wonderfully written character stories got the perfect stitch. Amusing transitions and loyal to its ensemble nature, Meghna does an excellent job at the editing table.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Great acting helps you connect with the film emotionally. But a great set absorbs you into the world. Here are those made us forget where we are, and took us into the fictional world! :
RUNNERS UP
DANGAL (Laxmi Keluskar and Sandeep Meher)
From the Haryanvi tournaments to the Commonwealth arena. Dangal wins it with authenticity
BAAR BAAR DEKHO (Sharmishtha Roy and Fali Unwalla)
The film takes us to the future. And guess what? It looks authentic enough!
KAHAANI 2: DURGA RANI SINGH (Subrata Barik, Kaushik Das)
The devil is in the detail.
FITOOR (Sukant Panigraphy, Nidhi Rungta and Shashank Tere)
Great Expectations (at least with the visuals) were met!
BEST COSTUME AND MAKE-UP
Fashion in films are like pencil and eraser. One incomplete without the other. Here are the ones who were responsible for the look of your favorite actors :
RUNNERS UP
Payal Saluja, Praveen Kumar – UDTA PUNJAB
Manish Malhotra, Anaita Shroff, Samidha Wangoo, Nisha Davdra and Uschi Fillip – AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL
Arjun Bhasin, Poornamrita Singh and Natasha Nischol (among others) – BAAR BAAR DEKHO
Darshan Jalan – KAHAANI 2 : DURGA RANI SINGH
WINNER
Greg Cannom (among others) – FAN
The make-up and graphics work in FAN undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year. Hollywood couldn’t do it? But yes, we could!
BEST ACTION
Chases, fights, sports, shoots.. and some more chases. Our movies continue to make the action genre better each year. Here are the ones who stood out :
RUNNERS UP
Franz Spilhaus for FORCE 2
Ejaz Gulab for WAZIR
Larnell Stovall for SULTAN
Shyam Kaushal for DANGAL
WINNER
Stefan Richter for SHIVAAY
Ajay Devgn invested all that he can for this ambitious project, which took 2 years to complete. There was relentless action across the streets and across the Himalayas.
BEST OPENING CREDITS
Weird thing to give award for, right? Not really. TVT appreciates creativity in all forms. Here are the ones who gave the perfect first impressions :
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BAAR BAAR DEKHO
SULTAN
FAN
NEERJA
DANGAL
WINNER
BEFIKRE
You have to give it to director Aditya Chopra for treating kiss as an act of love, and not with the intent of selling intimacy. You meet love before meeting the leads who are about to fall in love.
BEST POSTER
RUNNERS UP
FITOOR
DEAR ZINDAGI
AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL
RAMAN RAGHAV 2.0
PHOBIA
WINNER
One of the most understated, yet effective poster. The gist of the film – a father-daughter relationship and women empowerment is covered in one simple picture.
BEST TRAILER
There was a time when trailers didn’t matter. Not anymore. Trailers can make or break a film. Here are the ones that generated the biggest buzz :
RUNNERS UP
This Diwali release made sure it created equal buzz as the other one. The skilfully paced, slick, 3-minute trailer was filled with huge adrenaline!
The sequel to one of the finest thrillers Hindi cinema, the first peep into KAHAANI 2 brought the hope that history might be repeated.
How will a Dhoni film really look like? Cricket fans all over wondered. And they got their answer in a trailerthat brought in chunks of the World Cup nostalgia.
BAAR BAAR DEKHO had one of the most interesting premise ever heard : a time-traveling love story. The gorgeous trailer built up on the Kaala Chasmah hype that it had already created.
Four popular, mainstream actors were collaborating on a totally unconventional film. And two of them were hurling abuses. That, and Amit Trivedi’s trippy music in the background made sure the trailer spoke volumes of its quality and authenticity.
WINNER
FAN marked not only the return of the Khan in challenging roles, but it was one of his most ambitious. The premise was closely guarded before the trailer. And so, the crescendo of emotion and drama that it takes you through is unforgettable.
HONORABLE MENTION
DEAR ZINDAGI’S “TAKES”
The team took a bold step of not releasing a trailer altogether. Instead , they released the “takes” which were over a minute or two long. And they worked, considering the film was supposed to be a slice-of-life.
BEST VFX
NYVFXWAALA- SHIVAAY
PRIME FOCUS – M.S DHONI – THE UNTOLD STORY
Sudhir Trivedi – BAAR BAAR DEKHO
RIVA DIGITAL – AIRLIFT
BEST PROMOTION
Love it or hate it, but the fact is that marketing plays a major role in determining the fate of a movie. Better the hype, more are its chances to strike gold at the BO. Here are the ones who came up with unique strategies to keep the buzz high :
RUNNERS UP
Deepesh Shah, Sachin Lokhande, Oglivy and Mather Pvt. Ltd. – PINK
If you come to think of it now, Pink actually had subtle ways of promoting its film. They made good use of the most known actor among the cast. Bachchan took to twitter to post a letter he wrote to his granddaughter. This was meant to spread the same message that the film tried to convey.
The jackpot though was the 3-day early press screening. Rave reviews helped the film gain attention from a whole lot of its audience. Even a team having so much faith is rare to see nowadays.
Marching Ants – M.S Dhoni – The Untold Story
If the person you are making a biopic on is alive and fit, it is a no-brainer to rope them in your promotions. MS Dhoni’s team knew that and they made sure to use the edge to full use.
The visual promotions revolving around the reel and real Dhoni were carefully crafted and built on an already huge buzz.
Vivek Mandrekar – FAN
YRF always manages to bring some creativity in all its productions – big or small. FAN had quite a hype around thanks to the many firsts that it boasted off (SRK’s return to form, in double role and the other role being crafted with world-class VFX to name a few). Its teaser (released at a record early time) made us believe that the film is a sweet, harmless story on the life of a FAN.
It’s only in the latter half of trailer released weeks before the film that we saw all the action, gore and dark route that actually roots the film. The promotion strategies also revolved around its theme of fandom.
WINNER
Binda Dey, Siddharth Kadam, Indika – Dear Zindagi
Remember that twitter conversation that Alia and Shah Rukh had to announce the film? They talked like a true psychiatrist and patient duo, their roles in the film. Going for “Takes” instead of a trailer also worked. Thought the film belonged to Alia, SRK was all blazing to give a bigger name to it.
BEST STUDIO
Is studios a bad name? If they do their job with passion and clear intent, no. Here are those who failed and passed, but contributed something of worth :
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WINNER
THAT’S A WRAP!
That is all we have in this segment, meant for all our behind-the-scenes heroes.
If you haven’t read the Music section, you can visit here
Till then, it’s a sign off. We’ll meet next with the much awaited Acting category. Stay tuned!
THE VIKHYATH TIMES 