Best Performances in Bollywood in the First Half of 2015

Akshay Kumar (Baby) - Akshay Kumar was in sublime form here channeling the life and emotions of an intelligence officer of a secret wing in the Indian army. It also helped that he got to play off the other actors in the film who helped elevate the film into the classic category. We can’t wait to see Akshay get back into the character of Ajay Singh Rajput in Baby 2 which releases on Republic Day 2017.

Cast of Dum Laga Ke Haisha: We could have easily included only Ayushmann Khurrana or newbie showstealer Bhumi Pednekar here but it would have been doing huge injustice to the other members of this brilliantly cast film. Dum Laga Ke Haisha wouldn’t have been the delightful and poignant story of Prem and Sandhya if it wasn’t for Sanjay Mishra’s Babuji, Alka Amin’s mummy, Sheeba Chaddha’s highly curious Bua. Even the actors who had a scene or two in the film shined in their roles.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Varun Dhawan (Badlapur) - We all expected Nawazuddin Siddiqui to blow us away with his Liak but we couldn’t have expected Varun Dhawan to perform the way he did as the angsty Raghu in Badlapur. And boy did they both act their pants off (almost literally)! Whereas Nawazuddin brought a comic touch to a despicable character who goes through a change of heart in the climax, Varun Dhawan played the angry man who emoted through his brooding eyes. We loved how the hero became the villain and the villain became the hero in the final scene of Badlapur.

Cast of Piku: Another well cast film where all the actors (the leads as well as the supporting ones) were in sublime form. Deepika Padukone gave a career best performance as the frustrating and yet lovable Piku who tenders to her father’s every needs. Amitabh Bachchan showed us all that he has still got it even though some felt he went a bit overboard with his Bengali accent. Irrfan showed his class with his sheer regalness and made Piku the film even more perfect. Moushumi Chatterji as the Massi was a pleasant surprise.

Kangana Ranaut (Tanu Weds Manu Returns): Kangana Ranaut gave the performance of 2015. Bar none. It would have to be a really good performance by an actor (man or woman) to better Kangna’s Kusum in Tanu Weds Manu Returns. She got the Haryanvi accent absolutely perfect and made us feel for the naive athlete who is rooted to her Indian values. And in the same movie she returned as the crazy, mohalle ki Batman Tanu. Kangana made us believe that those characters were being played by two different actors. And that is where her true genius lies.

Cast of Dil Dhadakne Do: The cool thing about Dil Dhadakne Do and the acting in it is that it doesn’t even feel like the actors are acting. It looked effortless on-screen, but we all know how much effort goes into acting effortlessly! To subdue Ranveer Singh into giving a chilled out performance like that of Kabir’s, is no small task. Priyanka Chopra polishes her acting chops as Ayesha. Anil Kapoor plays the self obsessed patron of the Mehra astutely. Shefali Shah is also perfect as the snobby and dominated South Delhi housewife Neelam Mehra. Anushka Sharma, Rahul Bose and Farhan Akhtar also make the right kind of impression in their respective roles.