2007 will be counted as a mixed but overall satisfactory year for Bollywood fares. As is usual in Bollywood, there were far too many flops as compared to the hits but still quite a few films succeeded in making cash registers ring. Yashraj films- Bollywood’s premier production house had a lean year, compared to its blockbuster 2006-success. Tara Rum Pum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Aaja Nachle- four of its five releases didn’t do too well at the box-office but thankfully success of Chak De India served as a face-saver for them.

Ram Gopal Verma’s Aag- (an atrocious tribute-cum-remake of Sholay) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya were the year’s biggest fiascos. RGV in particular seems to have lost his magic totally and his other ambitious project Nishabd (an Indianised take on Lolita) also failed to enthuse the audiences.

Shahrukh Khan proved his King Khan- status at the box-office this year. If his off-beat Chak De India won him rave reviews, then his mainstream masala movie- Om Shanti Om proved to be the biggest grosser at box-office. If one actor who actually did even better than him was Akshay Kumar who had hits like Namaste London, Hey Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiya. Veterans Amitabh Bachchan (Cheeni Kum), Govinda and Salman Khan (both in Partner); youngster Shahid Kapoor (Jab We Met) and debutante Himesh Reshammiya (Aap Ka Surroor) also proved lucky at raking in the moolah. Apne- an all- Deol-family affair also proved to be a major hit.

Light-hearted comedy proved to be the winning recipe at the box-office and most of the aforementioned big hits and some other money-spinners like Bheja Fry, Dhamaal and Dhol belonged to that genre. Sports films suddenly seem to be becoming popular amongst film-makers if Tararumpum (NASCAR racing), Chak De India (Hockey), Apne (Boxing) and Goal (Football) are any indication of the trend.

Parallel films pursuing different themes proved another redeeming feature of this year. Slice of life film Life in Metro, literary classic Blue Umbrella, biopic Gandhi My Father, period drama