This New Year's eve, there will be no champagne-popping parties at most Bollywood homes. The cold wave of flops has the film fraternity in its chilly grip. The industry that pumped crores into films this year can count its hits, just five to be precise: Dabangg, Golmaal 3, My Name Is Khan, Rajneeti and Housefull .
Needless to say most actors are moping about their fate in 2010. Ajay Devgn, the actor with the most number of releases this year (five), is the only exception. He has enough to celebrate about with the birth of a son and a hit-filled year. No other actor and none of the actresses either have been able to match that success. Deepika Padukone and Aishwarya Rai clocked the most number of films with four releases each and just one hit to their name. On the flop-o-meter, Hrithik Roshan was the most ill-fated with both his big-ticket releases biting the dust. On the weighing scale of hits versus flops, we check out what 2010 doled out to our performers.
Ajay Devgn
He is bankable yet not in the league of the Khans. But Ajay proved his detractors wrong by inching up the ranking's ladder, posting one hit after another. His year began with the quiet Atithi Tum Kab Jaaoge which turned out to be a surprise package, making good money for the producers. Next up was Prakash Jha's Rajneeti in which he played a pivotal role. The film was a huge success. Once Upon A Time In Mumbai gave him his third success of the year which he followed up with the hard-hitting Aakrosh . The man had a bumper Diwali for the fourth time in a row with his Golmaal 3 . He still has one more film awaiting release — Toonpur Ka Superhero , his family production with wife Kajol.
Salman Khan
Salman had such a sad start to the year with Veer that anyone would have given up on the actor, especially after the spate of bad films last year. Almost written off once more, Salman pulled off the unpredictable. Dabangg has proved to be the biggest hit of his career and it broke all existing collection records set by the smash hit 3 Idiots only six months back. Salman is back on track and with this being a home production, he has more reason to celebrate.
Akshay Kumar
Four releases ( Tees Maar Khan expected December 24) for the only non-Khan big league actor and just one hit ( Housefull ) means Akshay too didn't quite have a comfortable 2010. Action Replayy and Khatta Meetha were both flops, and he can only hope to reverse that trend with Farah Khan's Tees Maar Khan which the director is making minus her good luck charm and erstwhile best friend, Shah Rukh Khan. If that too bites the dust, Akshay will have to rethink a lot of things.
Shah Rukh Khan
King Khan had just one film releasing in the beginning of the year. It had the winning combination of Karan, Kajol and Khan but the baggage of the tepid response to Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) and the flop Billu (2009) was too heavy to carry. The magic worked for the man and My Name is Khan went on to do good business and became one of the reasons to smile about not just for the industry but also for the hit-starved actor.
Ranbir Kapoor
This man was riding high when the year started and hit the bull's eye with Rajneeti , a critically acclaimed role and a moolah-raking venture. But the year has ended on a dismal note for the young Kapoor scion with Anjaana Anjaani , for which the expectations were sky-high.
Hrithik Roshan
First there was no stopping this man's success. Now there seems to be no end to his plunge! After Kites failed to soar, Hrithik was hinging his career on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish . The film has been praised by one and all but has met with a rather mediocre response. Apparently, the actor has not taken his failures too well. After all, he had spent a good two years preparing for both these roles.
Abhishek Bachchan
With Raavan to his name, Abhishek retained his reputation of doling out one turkey in a year. With Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se , he could not salvage any damage done.
Shahid Kapur
Shahid was flying too high last year with the single hit Kaminey, but 2010 brought him down to the ground. All his films this year (with the exception of Badmaash Company , which did average business) have flopped. The list includes Chance Pe Dance, Paathshala and Milenge Milenge .
John Abraham
What can be worse than having no releases in a long, long time? Having two releases and both flopping miserably would be John's answer. Aashayein and Jhootha Hi Sahi both came and disappeared without a murmur, making 2010 a depressing year for the beefy actor.
Deepika Padukone
Deepika left others of her tribe far behind with the most number of releases this year — Karthik Calling Karthik, Housefull, Break Ke Baad and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se . Sadly, she had just a 25 per cent success rate with only Housefull turning out to be a huge hit. That too with an ensemble cast.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
The actress had a very hectic year with four releases too, a first in all her years in the industry. She was back in Bollywood after a tryst with Hollywood and was hoping to have a dream run. She was rudely woken up with her first release alongside hubby Abhishek — Raavan — bombing at the turnstiles. While Robot , with her in a marginalised role, made up for ego bruise, Action Replayy with Akshay and Guzaarish with Hrithik sank without a trace.
Kareena Kapoor
Kareena had a roller coaster year too. She began with the absolutely trashy and outdated Milenge Milenge , dipped further with the flop We Are Family and bounced back with the mindless hit Golmaal 3 .
Kajol
No longer a mere comeback actress, this second-time mom had three releases in 2010 (the third – Toonpur Ka Superhero is slated for a year-end release). With her favourite co-star Shah Rukh, Kajol opened the year with a big hit but followed it up with the unimpressive We Are Family .
Priyanka Chopra
This spunky girl had a bad 2010. Reportedly been paid an obscene amount of money for Pyaar Impossible to star opposite Uday Chopra, Priyanka at least had that for comfort as the film expectedly tanked. But she must have not half expected her Ranbir flick Anjaana Anjaani to follow the downward route. Yet it did and that's a minus two for her this year.
