2012. What an eventful year for Indian cinema. So many wonderful films. So many fantastic events. Page 3 parties. Film launches. Airport sightings of superstars. Magazine covers dominated by Bollywood celebrities. Some painful memories. Deaths. Funerals.
Snapshots in time…
And here, much like an annual year-end business report, we bring to you the year 2012 gone by: in photographs. Click on each month to view the best of the best…
January 2012: The year began on a superstarry note: with Abhishek Bachchan going all out to promote his multi-starrer ‘Players’, the entire Bachchan clan at Dilip Kumar’s birthday bash, Ekta Kapoor and Vidya Balan celebrating the success of the cult classic film ‘The Dirty Picture’, Farhan Akhtar initiating ‘Don 2’ promotions. Shah Rukh Khan took his daughter Suhana for a bicycle ride and also arrived at the Opus book launch, Salman Khan received an Audi as a present, and Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise came to India for the MI4 premiere!
February 2012: Feb was quiet time in Bollywood, where we saw a handful of activities seeing celeb presence. Of these, noteworthy were Hrithik Roshan’s innovative ‘Agneepath’ promotions at McDonalds, Karisma and Kareena Kapoor launched diet specialist Rujuta Diwekar’s new book, Shah Rukh Khan and his lovely wife Gauri were attendees at the Zee Cine Awards and Vidya Balan paid a visit to BIG FM studios.
March 2012: The wedding month, for March saw Riteish and Genelia tie the knot. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made a rare appearance at their wedding, and Imran Khan was spotted at a ‘Kareena’ photo exhibition. The effortlessly stylish Rahul Khanna was spotted at the classy Moet Chandon soiree, and Shah Rukh Khan launched a book on ‘Devdas’.
April 2012: Summertime in Bollywood was heralded by Manisha Koirala at Baskin Robbins, and Neil Nitin Mukesh promoting Swiss tourism for ‘Lonely Planet’. Priyanka Chopra attended the Femina Most Powerful Women event, style diva Sonam Kapoor launched L’Oreal Paris Shampoo range and Vidya Balan celebrated ‘Kahaani’s success at a huge bash.
May 2012: Akshay Kumar ushered in May with his appearance on ‘Dance India Dance’, Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan joined the Gillette shave or crave movement, Priyanka Chopra endorsed Nikon’s cameras, Salman Khan attended the ‘Bittoo Boss’ screening, and yesteryear superstar Waheeda Rahman appeared on an NDTV chat show.
June 2012: June saw Chopra cousins: Parineeti and Priyanka party hard post the success of ‘Ishaqzaade’, Katrina Kaif launched Nakshatra jewelry range, Shah Rukh Khan launched Tag Heur’s new collection at a classy event, Shilpa Shetty gave birth to her little bundle of joy, Sonam Kapoor took off for the Cannes film festival and Vidya Balan did her best to promote ‘Ferrari ki Sawari’.
July 2012: July was somber as Raj Kumar Hirani’s father passed away and Aamir Khan attended the funeral. However, Bollywood still let the show go on; Bipasha Basu attended a rock concert by Madonna, Gauri Khan took off for London, Hrithik Roshan holidayed with his family in Mexico, Nargis Fakhri unveiled the cover of ‘Women’s Health’, and Salman Khan watched ‘The Avengers’ with his family and ex-girlfriend Sangeeta Bijlani.
August 2012: A month that saw quite a few Bollywood happenings, including success parties and promotional events, among many others. Deepika Padukone seemed to be everywhere: unveiling Pooja Makhija’s book ‘Eat Delete’, on the cover of a women’s health magazine, and at the success party for her super-fabulous film ‘Cocktail’. Her ex, Ranbir Kapoor too was out and about: at Pritish Nandy’s book launch, at the first look of ‘Barfi!’ along with Priyanka Chopra and Ileana. Dara Singh’s funeral saw Vindu Dara Singh and others in attendance, as did superstar Rajesh Khanna’s chautha: which saw the ultimate homage being paid to the legendary, departed superstar.
September 2012: a month that was dominated by Bollywood film promotions. ‘Barfi’s cast initiated their rounds of TV shows with an appearance on ‘Indian Idol’, Bipasha Basu took to the streets of Mumbai to promote ‘Raaz 3’, Dharmendra and Hema Malini were seen on one platform on ‘Indian Idol’, Hrithik Roshan promoted his film at a dahi-handi event in Mumbai and his rumoured ex-flame and erstwhile Begum of Pataudi Kareena Kapoor Khan showed up for the ‘Indian Idol’ grand finale. Rani Mukherji unveiled the first look of her now-disastrous comeback vehicle ‘Aiyaa’, Priyanka Chopra and Nita Ambani were spotted at the mijwan show, Shah Rukh Khan was caught at the airport, returning from Kashmir post the ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ shoot, and Saif and Kareena were snapped post returning from Paris.
October 2012: October was a month of reclusive star-spotting. Saif Ali Khan was seen grooving at his wedding bash at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai.
All the reclusive B’towners decided to come out of self-imposed exile, and did their rounds of film promotions et al. Sridevi was poised for a spectacular comeback with ‘English Vinglish’, was snapped at Maheep Kapoor’s jewelry show. Aamir Khan and Rani Mukherji, two bundles of talent yet Bollywood recluses, were out and about promoting ‘Talaash’ at the film’s music launch. Hema Malini launched a book titled ‘Sexy at Sixty’, and Juhi Chawla came out of hiding to play dandiya. Sadly, Yash Chopra succumbed to dengue and passed away at the end of the month, before his magnum opus ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ saw its theatrical release.
November and December 2012: The last two months of the year were all about the superstars of Bollywood. Aamir Khan was everywhere: at the ‘Talaash’ success party, at his son Azad’s first birthday bash, at Mecca during his Hajj pilgrimage. Aishwarya Rai Bacchan too was seen on World Aids Day, and her once-upon-a-time co-star Akshay Kumar went all out promoting ‘Khiladi 786’ on the sets of reality TV show ‘Bigg Boss’. Farhan Akhtar revealed his daredevil side to us, by promoting skydiving, and Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma turned RJ’s for the day at Red FM studios. Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh had a dinner party with tennis legend Andre Agassi, and the ‘Dabangg 2’ couple Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha went all out promoting their film on several reality TV shows. The year ended on a positive note, with Bollywood’s “fourth Khan” i.e. Vidya Balan ‘Bagchi’ tying the knot with her long-term boyfriend Siddharth Roy Kapur in a simple, non-starry wedding.
