Amit Trivedi Five feet something man is sitting quietly in the lobby:

Malaika Arora Khan in ‘Munni Badnam’

Make ups and Break ups
Rows, ruckus and brawls, the year saw all of that and then some more. Some made news for their public spats or hidden hostilities and others made a show while they hugged, kissed and made up. Whether it was the brash face-off between Dolly Bindra and Shweta Tiwari on "Bigg Boss 4" or the brewing controversies on "Koffee with Karan 3", there was never a time without scrimmage.
This year hurled a surprise for all the film buffs as Bollywood biggies and erstwhile BFFs Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan fell apart following a rift over the casting of Akshay Kumar in "Tees Mar Khan".

The rivalry between Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra resurfaced yet again as the leading ladies hit out at each other on "KWK 3". But all seems well now after the two ladies hugged each other on stage at Mumbai Police Mela. Rishi Kapoor and Karan Johar also came to loggerheads over the episode with Deepika and Sonam when the girls churned out comments on the philandering ways of Ranbir Kapoor.

Another buzz that brought about many smiles was the apparent patch up between T-Town biggies Chiranjeevi and Mohan Babu. The strained relations between Bollywood superstars Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan has been repaired. Salman also reportedly broke up with on-off girlfriend Katrina Kaif, while Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia also called it quits earlier in the year.

Sport on
Our sports stars were at their scintillating best this year. Sachin's 50 tons in Test cricket; Gagan Narang becoming the first Indian to qualify for the 2012 Olympics coupled with his career best of four golds at the Common Wealth Games and two silver at the Asian Games; Pankaj Advani becoming World Professional Billiards Champion and winning gold at the Asiad and Saina Nehwal, the only Indian shuttler to have reached No. 2 spot in world ranking have been the high points of the year. It was a very special year for Saina having been awarded the Padmashree in January and the Khel Ratna in August.Status unclear: Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra had barely rekindled their romance there's fresh news about the cracks in that relationship.

Rah- Mania
AR Rahman's fans went into a dizzy overdrive as the maestro scooped a double whammy at the 52nd Grammy Awards for his music in "Slumdog Millionaire" this year. But the accolades faded as his Common-wealth Games theme song, "Swagatham" which he scored for a whopping `5 crore was a big letdown.

What an item!
Some latka-jhatkas, some cool naach and yes...a little bit of controversy was the recipe behind the rocking item songs of the year. While 'Munni Badnam Hui' got audiences drooling, it also had its share of controveries (the song was alleged to be a rip-off of a Pakistani qawali from a 1992 film, there were also claims that it was a copy of the Bhojpuri number "Launda badnam" and a balm company even wanted the producers to pay damages for using their brand name in the song without prior permission); while a sexy and trimmer Katrina's moves and grooves in 'Sheila Ki Jawani' got enough eyeballs from the moment the promos came on air. The latest is: PILs have been filed against both songs for violating the basic norms of decency. The debate continues!

Come back
superstars
The year 2010 saw Prince Mahesh Babu's return with "Khaleja" and Pawan Kalyan with "Puli", the films got talked about more for their title controversies than their performance at the BO. Overnight the reclusive Mahesh became accessible and visible all over town with his multiple appearances to promote the film and endorse a leading garment brand.

They are taken!
T-town's eligible bachelors broke a lot of nubile hearts and found their perfect soulmates this year - NTR Junior is slated to tie the nuptial knot with family friend Lakshmi Praneetha and Allu Arjun got engaged with Sneha Reddy at a hush-hush ceremony. Adding grist to the rumor mills was news of Ram Charan Tej's reported engagement with Upasana Kamineni which he denied eventually.

Shaadi Story
This year led us to all sorts of conjugal ceremonies. From the bride's trousseau to the couple's honeymoon destination, everything made news. Among all the shaadi stories, one that stood out for controversies was the Sania- Shoaib nikah. Amidst ayes and nays and much mud slinging, the marriage finally took place drawing attention towards even minutest of the allegations and counter allegations.
Russel Brand-Katy Perry's marriage was also followed closely as the couple tied the knot in Ranthambore in a traditional Hindu wedding. Among other weddings that got the nation hooked were the Vivek Oberoi-Priyanka Alva's which made news for all it's hungama and jamboree, its band, baaja and baraat. While Vivek's wedding made waves right from its first ritual, the wedding of the Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's secret and low-profile marriage with Sakshi Singh Rawat got the fans and media in a dizzy stir.

Among the notable engagements were those of Mahesh Bhupathi with the Bollywood beauty Lara Dutta, and Imran Khan's with long time girlfriend Avantika Malik.

Movies that rocked
If you find yourself humming to the tunes of 'Hud Hud Dabangg' even now, don't blame yourself. The song was catchy and the film was even more infectious. With a scorching run on the box office, catchy dialogues and oodles of masala, "Dabangg" surely broke all the records. Another movie that created much buzz and even more number of Rajnikanthisms (jokes depicting Rajnikanth as a man of extraordinary and supernatural powers) was "Robot". The movie made on a budget of `150 crore once again wooed and wowed Rajni's fans who poured out in large numbers to watch the superstar's big budget movie.

Apart from the above two names, "Peepli Live" has also been in limelight not just for its oozing comic satire but also for its controversies. All said and done, it is India's entry to the Academy Awards in the best Foreign Film Category. In Tollywood while "Leader" and "Ye Maya Chesave" bought the much-needed respite to a year replete with commercial flops, "Prasthanam" and "Vedam" garnered critical acclaim for their offbeat themes.

Shows that stirred
Indian television had its share of hungama. Early in the year, shows like "Emotional Atyachaar" faced the ire of the I&B ministry when they were issued notices for their explicit content. The incident repeated itself when the shows "Bigg Boss" and "Rakhi Ka Insaaf" had to change their time slots to 11 pm, following protests and notices from the ministry.

From Pamela Anderson's visit to the onscreen coziness between Veena Malik and Ashmit Patel, from Sara Khan's controversial wedlock with Ali Merchant to Dolly Bindra's brashness, "Big Boss" has managed to generate more and more controversies with every passing week, even if the TRPs haven't exactly sky-rocketed in inverse proportion. "KWK" too grabbed eyeballs whether it was Kareena and Priyanka's verbal duel or Deepika's wish to gift Ranbir "a pack of condoms". While Madhuri Dixit's entry with "Jhalak Dikhla Jaa 4" made her fans happy, Big B's charisma got his fans glued to KBC-4 too and changed the channel's fortunes too.

Crossovers
Telugu films have made their presence in Bollywood. B-Town biggies were in a tussle to shop for the remake rights of "Kick" and "Ready", while waiting to be remade are "Arundhati" , "Don Seenu" and "Magadheera" to name some. B-town blockbusters that are getting a Tollywood makeover are "Love Aaj Kal" and "3 Idiots". This was also a year when the southern stars took their all-important first bow in Bollytown - Trisha in "Khatta Meetha", Suriya in "Rakth Charitra 2" and Priyamani in "Raavan



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