2008
was
a
year
when
quite
a
few
newcomers
made
a
mark
in
their
very
first
film.
Actors
like
Anushka,
Asin,
Adah
and
Prachi
Desai
made
a
thumping
impression
while
Genelia
D'Souza
saw
a
revival
in
her
career
with
Jaane
Tu
Jaane
Naa.
Katrina
Kaif
got
her
hits
but
there
wasn't
a
single
performance
that
could
make
the
cut
into
the
Top-10
of
the
year
while
big
guns
like
Priyanka
Chopra,
Aishwarya
Bachchan,
Bipasha
Basu
and
Kajol
continued
to
reign.
Joginder
Tuteja
looks
at
some
of
the
best
performances
by
a
female
actor
in
the
year
gone
by.
10
-
Prachi
Desai
(Rock
On)
Her
foray
into
the
big
screen
was
much
welcomed
with
Rock
On.
An
unconventional
way
to
begin
her
Bollywood
innings,
what
with
playing
the
part
of
a
married
woman
and
no
romantic
angle
per
se,
Prachi
Desai
was
courageous
enough
to
take
a
plunge
into
a
film
that
had
a
director
(Abhishek
Kapoor)
with
a
flop
tag
(Aryan
-
The
Unbrekable)
to
his
name.
Still,
with
people
like
Farhan
Akhtar,
Ritesh
Sidhwani,
Shanka,
Ehsaan
and
Loy
attached
to
the
project,
she
got
herself
a
start
with
Rock
On.
The
ploy
worked
and
how!
With
a
restrained
performance,
she
was
the
person
who
got
a
certain
'thehrav'
to
the
rocking
proceedings
of
Rock
On.
The
million
dollar
question
is
-
'Will
she
be
able
to
be
a
part
of
the
glam
brigade
from
here
on?'
9
-
Ehsaas
Channa
(Phoonk)
The
youngest
of
the
lot,
Ehsaas
impressed
one
and
all
with
her
performance
of
a
girl
who
was
possessed
due
to
black
magic
at
work.
Coming
up
with
one
of
the
most
intense
performances
of
the
year,
Ehsaas
was
a
revelation
as
a
girl
actor
after
working
in
quite
a
few
films
where
she
was
required
to
portray
a
boy.
One
wonders
how
she
would
have
worked
upon
her
psyche
after
being
a
part
of
cinema
where
her
character
was
required
to
go
through
tumultuous
times.
Director
Ram
Gopal
Varma
yet
again
succeeded
in
extracting
a
brilliant
performance
out
of
an
actor
and
one
now
looks
forward
to
how
this
girl
would
announce
her
arrival
as
a
lead
actress
a
decade
from
now.
8
-
Adah
Sharma
(1920)
It
was
the
year
when
possessed
females
made
an
impression
on
the
big
screen.
If
Ehsaas
was
psyched,
Adah
Sharma
was
indeed
scary,
what
with
her
character
being
almost
a
cannibal
in
appeal.
Made
to
play
a
part
which
could
turn
violent,
riotus,
frightened
and
ferocious
at
regular
intervals,
Adah
surprised
in
this
horror
flick
by
Vikram
Bhatt.
Not
just
she
helped
the
director
break
the
jinx
of
a
dozen
odd
flops
that
he
had
delivered
before
1920,
she
also
announced
an
arrival,
albeit
a
low
key,
to
Bollywood.
Though
she
was
mostly
non-glam
in
1920
and
was
made
to
wear
the
costumes
that
were
in
vogue
a
century
ago,
one
looks
forward
to
see
her
look
entirely
different
in
the
upcoming
films
of
hers
that
are
set
in
contemporary
times.
7
-
Asin
(Ghajini)
She
has
worked
in
more
than
a
dozen
odd
films
down
South
but
had
to
wait
a
while
before
the
best
opportunity
came
her
way
in
the
form
of
Ghajini.
Though
she
had
to
recreate
the
emotions
of
the
original
'Ghajini' in
which
she
had
already
starred,
she
did
it
with
full
gusto
in
the
reprised
version
as
well.
Going
through
a
gamut
of
emotions
that
required
her
to
be
naughty
as
well
as
emotional
at
heart,
she
didn't
disappoint.
Her
most
remembered
scenes
would
the
light
hearted
ones
that
she
shared
with
Aamir
and
her
death
scene.
However,
one
waits
to
see
many
more
histrionics
from
her
in
her
upcoming
films.
A
little
more
touch
of
glamour
would
only
help
the
cause.
6
-
Bipasha
Basu
(Race,
Bachna
Ae
Haseeno)
While
newcomers
like
Prachi,
Adah
and
Asin
were
busy
knocking
the
doors
of
Bollywood,
Bipasha
Basu
continued
her
femme
fatale
act
in
films
like
Race
and
Bachna
Ae
Haseeno
She
proved
that
girls
would
be
girls
and
women
would
be
women!
No
wonder,
she
approached
her
part
in
'Race'
with
such
style
and
sensibilities
that
one
didn't
mind
her
playing
the
gray
character
at
all.
Some
more
sizzling
dance
numbers
later,
she
was
the
darling
of
Race.
As
for
Bachna
Ae
Haseeno,
she
was
indeed
such
a
'bit%^'
(as
she
proclaimed
in
the
film
too)
that
one
wouldn't
mind
being
her
slave
at
all,
as
did
Ranbir
Kapoor
in
the
film.
5
-
Kajol
(U
Me
Aur
Hum)
It's
a
pity
that
'U
Me
Aur
Hum'
didn't
go
the
distance
that
it
deserved.
Though
the
film
did
reasonably
well
at
the
box
office,
one
would
have
expected
much
more
buzz
around
Kajol's
act
in
the
film.
As
a
troubled
woman
suffering
from
Alzheimer
disease,
she
was
near
perfect
in
the
film
which
was
directed
by
her
husband
Ajay
Devgan.
The
usual
spunk
was
missing
from
her
performance,
as
per
the
demand
of
her
character
since
she
was
required
to
be
all
tense
and
pensive
for
most
of
the
film's
duration.
As
for
her
future
films
too,
expect
some
more
serious/meaningful/hard
hitting
characters
to
be
played
by
her,
something
that
she
seems
to
be
opting
for
considering
her
status
of
being
a
'veteran'
actor
already.
4
-
Anushka
Sharma
(Rab
Ne
Bana
Di
Jodi)
It
is
not
every
day
that
one
sees
a
debutant
leading
lady
being
offered
an
author
backed
role
in
a
commercial
Yash
Raj
film
outing
where
she
is
seen
in
almost
every
frame
of
the
film.
This
way
Anushka
Sharma
was
really
lucky
since
she
didn't
just
get
an
opportunity
to
be
a
part
of
a
film
which
told
a
new
story
and
allowed
her
to
display
her
acting
talent;
it
also
made
her
stand
next
to
Shah
Rukh
Khan
in
almost
every
scene.
Anushka
grabbed
the
opportunity
provided
to
her
with
both
hands
and
went
all
out
in
coming
up
with
a
sparkling
act.
Add
to
that
her
modeling
background
and
some
good
dancing
skills
and
we
could
be
looking
at
yet
another
star
material
in
the
offering.
3
-
Aishwarya
Bachchan
(Jodhaa
Akbar,
Sarkar
Raj)
While
it
is
hardly
a
breaking
news
that
Aishwarya
Rai
looks
beautiful
in
every
outing
of
hers,
what
is
turning
out
to
be
a
pleasant
surprise
are
some
consistently
good
performances
from
her
year
after
year.
In
2007
it
was
Guru
and
this
year,
the
films
where
she
came
up
with
some
good
performances
are
Sarkar
Raj
and
Jodhaa
Akbar.
Though
her
Jodhaa
Akbar
turned
out
to
be
a
good
money
spinner
and
got
her
quite
some
accolades,
it
is
Sarkar
Raj
where
she
impressed
even
more
in
the
role
of
a
businesswoman.
Watch
out
for
her
scenes
with
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
you
know
that
she
is
confident
enough
to
be
standing
in
front
of
the
best
of
the
talents
and
still
make
her
presence
felt.
Credit
must
go
to
Ram
Gopal
Varma
who
went
beyond
her
beauty,
made
her
wear
business
suits
for
most
of
her
scenes
and
still
made
her
performance
noticeable.
2
-
Genelia
D'Souza
(Jaane
Tu
Ya
Jaane
Naa)
The
'home
coming'
award
for
the
year
2008
should
go
to
Genelia
D'Souza
who
came
back
from
hibernation
(as
far
as
Bollywood
is
concerned
since
she
was
busy
with
her
work
down
South)
and
came
up
with
a
flawless
performance
in
Jaane
Tu
Ya
Jaane
Naa.
Even
though
the
film
took
close
to
2
years
in
the
making,
spark
in
Genelia's
performance
could
be
witnessed
in
each
of
her
scenes.
Simply
brilliant
and
the
heart
of
Jaane
Tu
Ya
Jaane
Naa,
she
impressed
on
all
quarters,
whether
it
was
her
delivering
her
dialogues,
being
natural
in
front
of
the
camera
or
looking
just
like
the
character
she
was
required
to
portray.
A
powerhouse
of
talent,
she
should
be
much
more
visible
in
Bollywood
from
here
on.
1
-
Priyanka
Chopra
(Fashion,
Dostana)
And
this
would
well
be
the
comeback
of
the
year!
With
as
many
as
six
flops
behind
her
-
Salaam
E
Ishq,
Big
Brother,
Love
Story
2050,
Chamku,
Drona,
God
Tussi
Great
Ho
-
any
other
actress
would
have
just
given
up.
But
not
Priyanka
Chopra
who
just
looked
at
Fashion
and
Dostana
as
the
opportunities
that
could
bring
her
back
into
the
reckoning.
While
most
of
her
flops
were
long
in
the
making,
she
concentrated
completely
on
these
two
films
which
promised
to
present
in
a
different
light
altogether.
While
Madhur
Bhandarkar
gave
her
a
author
backed
role
in
Fashion'
Karan
Johar
ensured
that
she
turned
out
to
be
the
scorcher
of
the
year
with
Dostana.
She
impressed
on
both
counts,
whether
it
was
acting
(Fashion)
or
looking
beautiful
(Dostana)
and
announced
loud
and
clear
-
'I
Am
Back'.