If there’s one aspect where Hindi films consistently delivers are the performances. Like every year, we had established actors upping their games, few surprise packets who stunned everybody and some supporting cast who almost took all the limelight.
With this edition of The Annual TVT Awards, all actors – be it a major or supporting role, will be honored together and equally. These are the performances that I truly admired. It is very difficult to choose a winner among them. Which is why I just don’t!
Read on to find whether your favorites made the cut!
THE MALE CATEGORY
RANBIR KAPOOR
Jagga is comical, child-like, enthusiastic and always ready for an adventure. Ranbir plays him with sincerity, never going over-the-top. It is astonishing how he maintains his screen presence in whatever he does.
VIKRANT MASSEY
Playing the lead among an ensemble of top-graded actors, Vikrant as Shitu is extra-ordinary in A Death In The Gunj. He brings out the emotions of a timid boy who is confused and often bullied by his brothers.
AYUSHMANN KHURRANA
No one can play the guy-next-door roles better than Ayushmann. As Abhimanyu in Meri Pyaari Bindu,he plays a damaged writer who was once besotted to a girl.
But perhaps the highlighting film for him would be Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, where he plays a man with erectile dysfunction. Which, in an image-conscious industry, is a huge feat in itself.
PANKAJ TRIPATHI
If there’s anyone else who has had a great year after Rajkummar Rao, it is Tripathi. The beast of his talent was on display throughout the year – from Newton, Bareilly Ki Barfi to Anaarkali of Aarah.
AKSHAYE KHANNA
It’s been a while since we have had an actor consistently playing cop roles on screen. Khanna’s career comeback seems built on such roles. Luckily this year he has managed to bring something new to the same roles.
With MOM and Ittefaq, Khanna portrayed the kind of cops we are all too familiar with in real life. A uniform-free, no-nonsense, good natured man who cannot be easily outwitted.
RAJKUMMAR RAO
Few years down the line, 2017 will only be remembered for Rajkummar Rao, and how he made the entire nation sit up and notice his performances. With his mental and physical conviction to Trapped, sincerity in Newton and full badassery in Bareilly Ki Barfi, Rao was in complete form.
THE FEMALE CATEGORY
SEEMA PAHWA
Being middle-class mother to a grown up daughter whose aspirations, ideologies and way to look towards life is polar different from hers, is no easy task even on-screen. But Pahwa plays it twice – in Bareilly Ki Barfi and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan. Ditching the usual stereotypes surrounding the role, she plays them with great affection and sincerity.
BHUMI PEDNEKAR
As Sandhya in her debut and as Jaya and Sugandha this year, Bhumi has showed a flair in making ordinary characters extra-ordinary. In Toilet – Ek Prem Katha, she goes head on with one of India’s biggest stars while in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan she plays an able, strong support to her husband in coping with his “gent’s problem”.
RATNA PATHAK SHAH
There is a scene in Lipstick Under My Burkha involving Buaji fantasizing about a man, alone in her room. The scene is something which many would just choose to skip and move on. But the fact that Shah actually filmed them talks a lot about her talent and dedication to her work. She gives it all to paint Buaji with all shades and make her relatable.
SWARA BHASKER
Swara breathes fire in her role as Anaarkali from Anaarkali of Aarah , a raunchy singer-dancer who is easily mistaken for a slut. The role is not that of a damsel in distress and shows the utmost form of badassery, which Bhaskar pulls off with uplomb.
VIDYA BALAN
Playing a housewife-turned-midnight radio host, Vidya Balan imbues Sulochana with the right amount of cheerfulness, naivety and steely resolve that makes her a character worth rooting for. It’s a knockout performance, yet again showcasing what Mrs Balan is really capable of.
ZAIRA WASIM
After her stunning debut in Dangal, Aamir roped her again for this production. And given the performance, we could see why. As Insia, she gives the dreamy-eyed character a human touch that is difficult to look over. This is a performance beyond her wise, age and easily thwarting some of her older contemporaries.
THE VIKHYATH TIMES 