The task of selecting important performances for any given time period is always a hazardous one when the enterprise relates to Hindi cinema. Part of the reason here is the associated politics and partisanship. However, the more important cause relates to the lack of a genuine film culture and criticism in India that might educate and enlighten the audiences. As such, even the 'intellectual classes' in India are far less equipped to 'read' a film than would be true for their counterparts in many other parts of the globe. For all these factors one always approaches the endeavor of drawing up lists with a certain degree of trepidation.

At the outset, it might be reasonable to consider some popular choices before moving on to a more serious or 'critical' list. These are male actors and performances who represent films that were accepted by the audiences to various degrees.

POPULAR BEST ACTOR PERFORMANCES 

1)Amitabh Bachchan -- Cheeni Kum

This performance has been summarised in the 'critical' category that follows.

2)Abhishek Bachchan -- Guru

Again this is discussed later on in the piece.

3)Shahrukh Khan -- Chak De India

For many years now the energy and flamboyance that defined Shahrukh Khan's best cinematic moments in the 1990s have not been in evidence. The actor showed the dangers of getting typecast relatively early in his career. When he then tried an image changing film like Swades he seemed strangely insipid in the role even if the effort came across as sincere. But Shahrukh Khan has now got the balance right in Chak De India. This is his most endearing performance in quite some time. He is suitably restrained in the part without appearing enervated as he did in Swades. His performance also complements the film's larger themes.

4)Akshay Kumar -- Bhool Bhulaiya

Akshay Kumar has by now mastered an over the top 'masala' brand of comedy. He is perhaps becoming too repetitive in this regard but no more so than some of his contemporaries in their respective genres. Akshay has had multiple releases this year and while it might seem an odd choice to pick out one from what is essentially the same performance in all the films, Bhool Bhulaiya perhaps reveals him in his element without succumbing to the dangers of 'bargain basement' entertainment as in Heyy Babyy or the somewhat more serious Namaste London where Akshay is simply not effective enough in the more dramatic portions.

5)Saif Ali Khan --  Tara Rum Pum

The film did not offer the most inspiring narrative around. Nonetheless Saif Ali Khan holds the film together here and surprisingly acquits himself better than in the admittedly underwritten role of Eklavya.

CRITICAL BEST ACTOR PERFORMANCES

Before a proper 'critical' list (which does not refer to a 'consolation prize' in the manner of various film awards) is attempted it might be important for the reader to comprehend that the 'signature' of a star or the 'effects' a star produces on screen is not reducible to something called 'acting'. A star can have extraordinary impact without really 'acting' in any traditional sense of the term.

The following list will be concerned with male actors who have 'performed' in important ways in the related films; whether or not they have also been effective in other ways will not be vital to the argument made in each case. Finally, the list is not ordered in any particular way and is also not superficially constrained by a minimal or maximal number in any sense.

1)Amitabh Bachchan -- Cheeni Kum & Nishabd
Bachchan still forms the inescapable reference point for all discussions on contemporary Bollywood. Even on a poor day his performances stand head and shoulders above most of his peers on their best days. To paraphrase Emerson on Plato, he is still the horizon beyond which we do not yet see. With age, volume and poor film selection, his craft is not always as richly on display as it might have been in the past but the florabundance of his acting gifts still lace his work to produce incomparable results.

In Cheeni Kum Bachchan is really the engine that powers a fairly witty though lowkey film that is not essentially plot-driven. With any other star the film might have run the danger of appearing 'flat' at points but Bachchan's control here is so authoritative that the film fluidly moves from one scene to another without losing narrative pace or interest.

Nishabd offers a remarkable contrast. If Bachchan's 'high gear' performance in Cheeni Kum provides the right doses of oxygen to the script, his turn in Nishabd is more restrained, more contained, and more in sync with the bass notes of the storyline. The introverted, conflicted character of the latter is altogether different from the somewhat 'over the top', alternately aggressive and humorous one of the former film.

Bachchan by delivering these two pieces of work in films separated only by a month or so in terms of release once again illustrates how he is still without parallel in Hindi cinema.

2)Abhishek Bachchan -- Guru and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

The most interesting actor currently in Hindi cinema, his own father notwithstanding, is Abhishek Bachchan. Many films could be brought forward to demonstrate this proposition in a different sort of piece. Of the ones under consideration here, Guru offers what is possibly the most important male lead performance in Hindi cinema since Amitabh Bachchan's Agneepath turn. Certainly this is along with the actor's Yuva the one performance that can hold its own even against such titanic efforts as Amitabh Bachchan's Khakee or his Black.

Abhishek Bachchan in Guru offers the rare spectacle of an actor playing a character who in turn plays other characters. His Guru is a marvellously theatrical character who operates differently in public as opposed to private life. In the former instance the 'Guru' is usually playing a 'part'. When alone he is more connected to his earlier self at the film's beginning. However as the film progresses these margins become blurred and the public persona starts taking over even in private moments. Yet there is a separation between the two. All of this might more usefully be expanded into a longer piece but it is sufficient here to state that the lead star in Guru succeeds in portraying what is one of the greatest challenges for any actor -- that of representing 'acting' itself.

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is another example of the actor's range, specially following on the heels of Guru. Unfortunately the intensely negative reactions this film evoked precluded any serious discussion of the star at its center. The film was essentially a zany parody of various Bollywood tropes, not a failed comedy as is often assumed, and therefore needed characters who were more attuned to the 'spoofish' tone of the film. Abhishek Bachchan and Piyush Mishra were the only two actors who understood the film's essence and played their parts 'right'. The two halves of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom differ markedly in critical ways and Abhishek Bachchan to his credit recognizes these shifts in tone and style and is similarly 'different' in each half of the film. The other actors here more or less do 'comedy'.

3) Kay Kay Menon -- Black Friday

Kay Kay while not an actor of great range is nonetheless far more deserving of better opportunities than the ones Bollywood has afforded him. His role as the 'steely cop' in Black Friday combines a fine sense of reserve with genuinely vital flourishes and an understated empathy. The actor provides the narrative with possibly its only 'moral scale'.

Black Friday is Kay Kay's finest moment as an actor so far even if he has hardly been allowed to do more than relatively stock types in uninteresting films. The one notable exception occured in Milan Lutharia's Deewar but most of his other directors have really gone in for his innate 'sullenness' and rendered him a 'type' as opposed to building on his persona and giving him space to do more.

In Black Friday Kay Kay fashions a somewhat enigmatic character who rewards reviewing perhaps more than the film itself. One can only hope for better things for this actor.

4)The Namesake -- Irfan Khan

Unlike Kay Kay, Irfan Khan has been fortunate enough to get a number of interesting roles in his career. The Namesake though forms his best outing so far. Tabu and Irfan Khan together, deliver an acting clinic in the film but finally it is Khan who who with his more subtle resources steals the film. This becomes more obvious as one revisits the film.

Irfan Khan gets everything right in this role. All the nuances, all the linguistic modulation, but furthermore he draws empathy in every moment he is associated with. He is the true center of this film and totally convincing in the role of the 'little man' negotiating his life between two cultures, somehow becoming a 'casualty' of this paradox, and forever using a literary moment of illumination to bridge all his life's divides.

Irfan Khan generates tremendous empathy in this role and the film is extremely moving whenever he is around or later on when his 'absence' becomes the film's focal point.

It is hard to think of another performance this year (the Namesake had a limited release in the West at the end of 2006 but released in India in 2007) that matches the fluency and command of the ones listed above. The year however still promises the release of Tare Zameen Pe and one can be almost certain that Aamir Khan will get a slot on this list with that film's release. Aamir Khan along with the father-son Bachchan team has been in recent years the most interesting star-actor in Bollywood.

Perhaps the debut of Ranbir Kapoor also deserves a mention here. This was an assured debut in many ways even if the performance was not completely consistent at all times.

Finally, an exercise here should be useful in determining what the writer's choices might have been in another year. 2006, having the advantage of the recent, is as good a place to start as any. For this year the top male choices along the lines of the present list would have been Aamir Khan for Rang de Basanti and Fanaa, Saif Ali Khan for Omkara, possibly Abhishek Bachchan for Umrao Jaan if his role here could be considered a male lead.

Any year which has either Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan or Aamir Khan in lead roles ought to have these actors well represented on those lists. The only other star-actor who comes to mind other than these three is Saif Ali Khan. Of course any time one gets to see actors like Irfan Khan or Kay Kay in proper lead parts is always a bonus.

There are stars like Sanjay Dutt or Akshay Kumar or Shahrukh Khan (less so in recent years) who are infectious on screen but ultimately less than pure actors. This does not mean that these stars (and indeed others of the same breed) cannot have better 'acting' moments. One thinks of Dutt in LoC, Akshay Kumar in Khakee, Shahrukh Khan in Chak De India (and of course this has been cited above in the popular category). But this segment of the discussion has been about stars or actors who are usually more intrinsically connected with the idea of an interesting performance.