Bollywood has always witnessed two kinds of films – ones in which you can confidently discount the acting part and the ones which cash in only and only on performance. Year 2016 offered us several films which belong to the second category. From Naseeruddin Shah’s Waiting to Manoj Bajpayee’s Aligarh to Randeep Hooda starrer Sarbjit and of course Amitabh Bachchan starrer Pink, viewers have been served some really good performances on their platter!
Here are the nominations for Best Actor with a Difference 2016:
Naseeruddin Shah : Waiting
Naseeruddin Shah is an actor who has always been known for his excellence in acting. Be it theatre or cinema, the veteran National Award winning actor has always left a mark. Naseeruddin and Kalki Koechlin starrer Waiting released in May, 2016. Even though the film didn’t do very good at the Box Office, it received critical acclaim. Naseeruddin fit perfectly into the shoes of Professor Shiv Natraj, an elderly man, who is waiting for his spouse of 40 years to recover from coma since the past 8 months. The film is bound to leave a deep impact on the viewer.
Manoj Bajpayee : Aligarh
There are a set of actors who make you relate to the character they are enacting. Manoj Bajpayee is one of then. Bajpayee is an actor whose eyes do the talking and is an absolute delight to watch him on screen! He has shown us his class time and again in films like Satya (1998), Shool (1999), Aks (2001), Pinjar (2003), Rajneeti (2010) and a lot of other films. His portrayal of Dr Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras in the film Aligarh, which released in February last year, is bound to make you empathetic towards the professor, who was suspended by Aligarh University for his sexual orientation. Aligarh was a film held in high esteem by critics.
Randeep Hooda: Sarbjit
Acting does not only mean shouting out your lines in front of the camera, it means homework, dedication and focus. Randeep Hooda is a combination of these three factors, which make him a brilliant actor. However, he is unfortunately one of Bollywood’s most underrated talents, who is yet to get the prestige he truly deserves. The 4o-year-old actor reportedly shed 18 kilos to fit into the shoes of Sarbjit! He essayed the role of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian farmer who was framed and convicted as a terrorist in Pakistan and after rotting for 22 years in Lahore jail, he was killed in 2013. Hooda was praised for his performance in every single review written on the film.
Amitabh Bachchan: Pink
Does Amitabh Bachchan really need an introduction? He is the megastar who has been ruling Bollywood since the past few decades. But what makes him a megastar? Not just his acting skills and baritone voice but his ability to fit into diverse characters with an unprecedented ease makes him stand where he stands today. His performance in films like Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007), Sarkar Raj (2008), Paa (2009), Piku (2015) and various other films bear witness to our statement. The 74-year-old actor essayed an ace lawyer, Deepak Sehgall in the courtroom drama Pink, which hit theatres in September last year. Big B dished out a powerful performance as a lawyer helping three girls fight for justice. His dialogues from the film also became very famous and could be seen doing the rounds in social media.