The year is coming to an end and it is time to see what worked for us and what didn't. There have been good films, there have been really good films. There have been bad movies and there have been really bad movies. 2018 has been a year when a Ranveer Singh and a Ranbir Kapoor film enters the Rs 300 crore club while a Salman Khan and an Aamir Khan film struggle to even reach anywhere near the Rs 200 crore mark. Aamir Khan's Thugs of Hindostan, Salman Khan's Race 3, Ranbir Kapoor's Sanju - Ranking All Rs 100 Crore Grossers of 2018 From Most Profitable To The Least!
There have been some memorable films that came out this year. there have also been some very memorable scenes -some in a good way and some not so! In this special year-ender feature, we will look at 20 such scenes in films this year that were completely WTF (read...incredulous/ridiculous/Shocking) in their conception or execution!
Padmaavat
The Scene: The bathtub
Sanjay Leela Bhansali slyly underplays Alauddin Khilji's bisexuality and his rumoured affair with his servant Malik Kafur. This results in a very weird scene involving Ranveer Singh (Khilji) and Jim Sarbh (Kafur) in a bath-tub, with the former giving orgasmic expressions, only for us to realise Kafur has already left the tub.
Aiyaary
The Scene: 'Sir, gun!'
Neeraj Pandey's spy thriller squanders a good idea with a badly-written and directed film. There were some ridiculous scenes in the movie, but the best was when Manoj Bajpayee and Sidharth Malhotra's character get in a shouting match with their guns out and Rakul Preet, who plays Sidharth Malhotra's romantic interest, trying to stop them from shooting each other accidentally, keeps saying, 'Sir, gun!'. It was a serious scene that was ruined by some unintentional hilarity.
Welcome To New York
The Scene: Karan Johar Coming On To Rana Daggubati
Welcome to New York could be the most ridiculous film that came out this year. Sorry, let me clarify - it is the most ridiculous two-hour long IIFA advert ever made. The movie is filled with some very silly scenes, including Katrina Kaif giving acting tips and Salman Khan getting orgasmic tickles. However, the most WTF moment is when Karan Johar, after being rescued by Rana Daggubati, tries to come on to him. Who wrote this shit?
Baaghi 2
The Scene: Tying a man to the jeep
When Major Gogoi tied a suspected stone-pelter to the front of his jeep in Kashmir, the army-man got a lot of flak when it was revealed that the tied person had nothing to do with the stone-pelting. So it was with shock that we saw the makers of Baaghi 2 recreate this scene in the movie, just so that hero has a sense of 'nationalism'. Wonder what the makers will think now when the same Gogoi is now under investigation for cavorting with a minor girl!
Nanu Ki Jaanu
The Scene:
Poor Patralekhaa, despite being featured prominently in the posters, had only a couple of minutes' screen-time. And what little we saw of her in the movie was laughable indeed, when she appears as a ghost in the end and suddenly dives into a sermon of safe driving and importance of wearing helmets. What the eff!
Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran
The Scene: The 'Mannequin' Scene
Bollywood has this annoying habit. If they catch on a trend, they keep repeating it in everything, even if not required. In the climax of Parmanu, after India successfully conducts the nuclear tests, the blast makes everyone in the room fly away from their seats with the impact, giving the movie a totally needless 'mannequin' shot. And yet no one got injured or killed with that kind of impact!
Veere Di Wedding
The Scene:
The masturbation scene in Veere Di Wedding was definitely the most talked about scene in 2018. It came out of nowhere and surprised and shocked the hell out of us. The purists went on to troll Swara Bhasker with their 'granny was insulted' tweets, but the rest of us had a hearty laugh over it!
Race 3
The Scene: Flying Human
Remo D'Souza finally gave Salman Khan, what the rest of directors fell short of doing - wings! The makers of this absurd action thriller failed to release the difference between gliding and flying, as Bhai easily navigated the skies (twice) to reach wherever he wanted. Well, as long as Salman is off the roads, we are happy!
Sanju
The Scene: Dutt Sleeping With His Friend's Girlfriend
Contrary to rumours before the release, Karishma Tanna was not playing Madhuri Dixit in Bollywood's biggest white-washing project. Instead, she played the girlfriend of Dutt's friend (Vicky Kaushal), who sleeps with Dutt when the latter passes out drunk. This scene hardly matters in the film, apart from causing a barely passable friction between the two friends who soon forget it in lieu of bigger issues ahead. So why was it here?
Dhadak
The Scene: Trolling Sairat fans
Dhadak was an unnecessary, watered-down paint job of Nagraj Manjule's much-superior Marathi film, Sairat. While it was nearly a copy of Sairat's narrative, the makers decide to give the fans of the original a troll-moment in the much-dreaded climax. While the original had both the leads killed by the girl's family, in Dhadak, the climax subverts expectations as it keeps on building tension to finally kill off Ishaan's character and the child, while Janhvi's character screams her lungs off at their deaths.
Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3
The Scene: The Swimming Pool Kill
In the blood-soaked climax, Sanjay Dutt's Gangster goes on a killing spree on the killers of his girlfriend. One of his targets is his uncle (Kabir Bedi) who hides in the swimming pool, though we are not shown this. We see the Gangster walk out to that room, wait for a couple of seconds and then see Bedi's character suddenly rise from the water, after feeling breathless. He is shot instantly, leading a tinge of hilarity in a grim scene, though we are not sure if it was intentional.
Fanney Khan
The Scene: The Police Clapping for a Kidnapper
Anil Kapoor's character kidnaps Aishwarya Rai's rockstar so that she can ensure a better future for his ungrateful, aspiring singer of a daughter. Though the rockstar elopes with Fanney's friend, the police corners Fanney in a warehouse thinking he still has the woman. Fanney, in turn, demands the police to let his daughter perform at a finale of a singing show, which not only do the police and the channel organisers agree, but they also cheer for him when the singing ends. He is a kidnapper, you idiots!
Gold
The Scene: Changing the Final Match
In the real 1948 Olympics final, India easily beats England 3-0 because the former was the stronger team by miles. However, for the sake of cinematic liberties, the makers of Gold added enough tension in the final match, getting the Chak De India vibe and trying to make India the underdog. A novice might not make a big deal out of it, but how do you feel if the final match of the 1983 Cricket World Cup is shown ending on a final ball win in Ranveer Singh's upcoming '83? Don't mess with the truth, people!
Satyameva Jayate
The Scene: The Thane Challenge!
When Veer (John Abraham) and the cop Shivansh (Manoj Bajpayee) have their first phone banter, Veer challenges the latter by saying, 'agle baar police wale ko tere thane mein gus ke maarunga!' It actually translates to 'next time I will kill a policeman right in your station'. Later, Veer kills a petrol pump at a petrol pump, which is located, you will never guess it, Thane! Yes, the writers made a whole challenge out of a homophone!
Stree
The Scene: The Cliffhanger
After the heroes drive away the spirit by cutting her hair off, they bade Shraddha Kapoor's mysterious character goodbye as she embarks on a bus. On the bus, she reveals that she has the cut braid which she merges with her hair and disappears. The last scene has Stree return to the village again. So who is Shraddha's character and why does she want to be Stree? Why do you leave things unexplained?
Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se
The Scene: Sunny Deol Stops a Fast-Moving Truck Bare-handed!
I thought there was a limit for Sunny Deol to do in a movie. Guess he can do more!
Paltan
The Scene: War Starts Because of a Slap!
Paltan is based on a real-life battle between the Indian and Chinese factions that India had won. In the movie, while JP Dutta managed to almost convincingly show the simmering tensions between both the armies, he failed to restrain himself from unneeded melodrama. The actual battle starts because of one quite unnecessary slap delivered by an Indian soldier to a Chinese general, just when they were working on a compromise. Such a thing never happened IRL, so this film makes the battle feel like a grisly effect of an overreaction.
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
The Scene: All Those Sexist Jokes!
The second half of BGMC focuses on a courtroom drama, which could have lent itself to some strong material on its subject, Instead what we got was a totally one-sided drama with Shahid Kapoor's greenhorn lawyer completely in charge of the situation. Not just that, he even makes completely sexist remarks on the defense lawyer, played by Yami Gautam, which even the court ignores too!
Loveyatri
The Scene: Helmet-less driving
As Aayush Sharma's Gujju boy takes his crush (Warina Hussain) for a spin around Ahmedabad on his scooter, she asks him why he is not wearing a helmet. He replies that no one in Ahmedabad wears a helmet. Then after they move out of the screen, we hear him say that he was joking (which felt more like a late addition). Considering that Loveyatri was produced by Salman Khan, we understand why the movie has no care for traffic rules!
Helicopter Eela
The Scene: Anu Malik
In the universe where Helicopter Eela is set, the remix of Ruk Ruk Ruk (from Vijaypath) is a bigger hit than the original and they even brought in Anu Malik (as well as some other '90s music icons) in a scene. The only issue is that a couple of days before the movie came out, Anu Malik was accused of sexual harassment by a couple of women during the #MeToo movement. Awkward!
FryDay
The Scene: Govinda Lusting After a Three-Decade Younger Diganngana
I think the description says it all!
Namaste England
The Scene: The Twist
The first half of Namaste England is somewhat decent, as Parineetis character is desperate to get to London, and Arjun, who plays her husband, is somewhat supportive. Then she tells him she finally got a visa and everyone's happy. It's only at the interval we learn the truth - she has agreed to be a make-shift wife for an NRI boy so that she can get the UK visa. Not only does this show her in a poor light making fool of her loving husband, but also the movie falls into even more ridiculous levels of absurdity from thereon.
Thugs of Hindostan
The Scene: Firangis Talking to Each Other in Hindi!
In a scene in the film, John Clive, the main baddie, is seen talking to his subordinate, another firangi officer, in Hindi for some strange reason. Even when they are alone! Hey Aamir Khan, didn't expect this oversight from you after giving us memorable British characters in Lagaan!
2.0
The Scene: 2.0 = A Sexual Harasser!
For a movie named after him, 2.0 (Rajinikanth) takes nearly 75% of the movie to get over to make an entry. And when he does, he puts up some really creepy moves on Amy Jackson's cyborg, even unzipping her! And this is the guy we are supposed to root for!
Kedarnath
The Scene: 'The Door Holds One' Scene!
We have already covered how similar Kedarnath was to Titanic in terms of its characters and plot development. Well, the capper has been the scene where a helicopter tries to save a few people stranded at the Kedarnath temple, including the hero and heroine. After sending nearly everyone up, the helicopter goes on overload and only one person could climb in. The hero, Mansoor (Sushant Singh Rajput), sacrifices his chance for a total stranger as his girl, Mukku (Sara Ali Khan) screams no from the helicopter. As the vehicle flies away, the ground under Mansoor gives away and he dies. Oh, poor Jack....I mean, Mansoor!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 11, 2018 10:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).