Bollywood 2018: From wedding bells to MeToo scandals, it has been a rollercoaster year for Bollywood and its stars. Here’s a peek at the yearlong performances of the key players of tinsel town amid the high profile marriages of top stars

Aamir Khan: It is a rare event when you have seen superstar Aamir Khan is apologizing to his fans for the debacle of his movie. Yes, this happened in 2018 when Aamir’s much-awaited Diwali release Thugs of Hindostan bombed at the box office and left millions of his fans disheartened.

Akshay Kumar: He started off with Padman where he was seen enacting the role of Lakshmikant Chauhan. The movie is based on the short story The Sanitary Man of Sacred Land from Twinkle’s book The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad. In fact, it is the life of Tamil Nadu-based Arunachalam Muruganantham, who created affordable sanitary napkins for the women of his village, who has been the main driving force behind the tale. The movie released in January and entered the Rs 100 crore club easily, based on its strong content and storyline. With Gold, Akshay turned his patriotic button on when he played Tapan Das, who brought the Indian team together to win the first Olympic gold as an independent nation. In November, he came out with his first southern debut with 2.0.in which he played a villainous character.

Ayushmann Khurrana: He had a perfect 2018 with all his movies- Andhadhun and Badhaai Ho- rocking at the box office. While, Andhadhun gave Ayushmann a chance to move out from his boy-next-door characters to play the perfect protagonist in the thriller, he was once again back in his usual cute avatar with Badhaai Ho.

READ | Bollywood’s unexpected hits of 2018

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Ash, the Bachchan bahu, was back on the silver screen this year with Fanney Khan. After a long time, she was seen pairing with her old onscreen partner Anil Kapoor. The movie, however, failed to impress fans.

Anushka Sharma: 2017 was a major year in her life as Anushka, the poster girl of Bollywood, tied the knot with Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli. Anushka was great on the big screen with horror movie Pari which released during Holi. She then arrived as the autobiographer in the biopic based on actor Sanjay Dutt’s Life-Sanju. Anushka ends the year with Zerowhere she once again pairs with Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif, her co-stars in 2012 movieJab Tak Hai Jaan. Mrs. Kohli also paired with Varun Dhawan for the first time in her career for Sui Dhaaga.

Alia Bhatt: Apart from her love affair with Ranbir Kapoor making the headlines in the year, actress Alia Bhatt impressed her fans with perhaps one of her best performances in Raazi. The Meghna Gulzar directorial Indian spy movie provided Alia the perfect platform to perform strongly the character of Sehmat Khan. The movie was appreciated both by fans and critics and surely provided the much needed momentum to Alia Bhatt’s glowing career. Away from Raazi, she was engaged in shooting for her upcoming movies which include Gully Boy,Brahmastraand Kalank. With Brahmastra, Alia will pair for the first time with Ranbir Kapoor. The announcement was also made about Sadak 2, in which filmmaker father Mahesh Bhatt will direct his daughter Alia for the first time.

Ajay Devgn: His major activity in 2018 was in the movie Raid. Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, the film is inspired by the real life incometax raid conducted by the officers of the Income Tax Department under the leadership of a courageous and upright Indian Revenue Service officer in the 1980s.

Amitabh Bachchan: From turning on the comedy switch with 102 Not Outto experiment by playing the character of a warrior named Khudabaksh Azaad in Thugs of Hindostan,Amitabh Bachchan still dominated the Indian entertainment scenario with ease this year. In the small screen, the old sound of hooters was back as Big B once again took the opportunity of hosting his favourite gameshow Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Deepika Padukone: The Bollywood beauty finally said ‘Yes! I do’. The dimplecheeked B-town queen, perhaps one of the most successful actors of this generation, tied the knot with another tinsel town heart-throb Ranveer Singh. Images of the wedding went viral on the internet as the entire nation rejoiced. On the working front as well, Deepika and Ranveer paired together for Padmaavat. Amid controversies and opposition by some Hindu activists, the movie was released amid positive reviews across the country, barring few where it was banned. The movie narrated story of Padmavati, a legendary Rajput queen. Deepika played the role of Padmavati in the movie.It also featured actor Shahid Kapoor in the lead role.

Hrithik Roshan: The actor did not appear on the silverscreen for a single time this year but anticipations over his 2019 release Super 30 is already quite high. He will be seen playing the character of a teacher portraying a simple look with a beard in the movie.

Irrfan Khan: Karwaan and Blackmail were perhaps two movies in which Irrfan appeared this year but it was the news of his cancer detection which left fans shocked across the globe. Irrfan has been receiving medication for the disease in the UK and has been away from India for a long time now.

Jacqueline Fernandez: Bollywood’s Sri Lankan diva Jacqueline returned onscreen with Kick co-star Salman Khan in Race 3. The Eid release made reasonably good business at the box office. The actress also tasted some social media trolls and criticisms over her move of experimenting to recreate Madhuri Dixit’s iconic “Ek Do Teen” song in her own way. The Baaghi 2 song remained one forgettable moment of the year.

READ | Bollywood: The journey this year

John Abraham: Bollywood’s hunk returned onscreen in his kickass avatar with two movies — Satyameva Jayate and Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran. Both the movies performed reasonably well at the box office. Satyameva Jayate will be specially remembered for the item number “Dilbar”. The recreation of the iconic Bollywood number of the 90s earned appreciation from moviegoers.

Kareena Kapoor Khan: The glam diva was back in action with Veere Di Wedding this year. The movie also grossed well though it was disliked by critics. Kareena shared screen space with other stars like Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania.

Katrina Kaif: The Barbie Doll of Bollywood made a poor start to the box office this year with her highly anticipated Thugs of Hindostan doing poorly. Katrina ended the year with another probable major movie of her careerZero. The film saw her unite with her old Jab Tak Hai Jaan co-stars Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma.

Priyanka Chopra: India’s international star had the most memorable 2018 as she tied the knot with US singer Nick Jonas in Jodhpur. Nick and Priyanka married just days after Ranveer and Deepika wedding, giving Indians a chance to celebrate two major Bollywood marriages back-to-back in one year. Priyanka appeared for one last time in the third season of her international TV series Quantico.  However, despite opting out from Bharat, Priyanka is currently busy with her much-awaited Bollywood return— The Sky Is Pink .

Ranbir Kapoor: After a poor show in 2017, Ranbir returned with a bang this year as Sanju. The biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt helped Ranbir shine at the box office. His transformation from Ranbir to Sanjay Dutt had become the talk of the town this year and Sanju remained one memorable film in his career.

Ranveer Singh: Officially scheduled for release on 1 December 2017, controversy surrounding his Padmaavatmovie had forced makers to delay its release till 2018. The movie finally released this year amid protests, violence and even ban on release in several states. However, the movie became a smash hit and Ranveer earned appreciation from both fans and critics for his strong performance onscreen. In 2019, Ranveer and Alia will pair up for director Zoya Akhtar’s much awaited movie Gully Boy.

Saif Ali Khan: He became a happy father in 2018 as his daughter Sara made her Bollywood debut with Kedarnath. On the work front, Saif’s two movies Kaalakaandi and Baazaar released this year. But the biggest takeaway for Saif this year is probably Netflix’s web series Sacred Games, in which he played the role of police officer Sartaj Singh.

Salman Khan: The blackbuck poaching case came haunting again for Salman Khan in 2018. After spending two nights in jail, the Bollywood superstar, who is convicted in the 20-year-old Blackbuck poaching case was granted bail by a Rajasthan court in April this year. Salman featured for the first time in Race movie series with Race 3 and the Eid release once again did not fail to entertain fans. Salman also made a special appearance in Zero for a special song Isaaqbaazi. He also hosted popular TV shows 10 Ka Dum and Bigg Boss this year.

Sushant Singh Rajput: The onscreen MS Dhoni was back with one special year end release Kedarnath where he was seen romancing Saif Ali Khan’s daughter Sara Ali Khan.

Shah Rukh Khan: He started 2018 with a teaser and now he is ending the year with the whole movie—Zero. So far, the teasers, trailer and even the songs of the movie, where SRK is playing the character of a vertically-challenged person, has left his fans quite impressed. Khan has paired up with director Anand L Rai and actors Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif.

Sunny Leone: She remained away from the Bollywood screen for the entire year. She was last seen in 2017 released movie Tera Intezaar, which had failed miserably at the box office. However, it was her biopic that made headlines in 2018. Titled Karenjit Kaur – The Untold Story of Sunny Leone, it was an original web-series by ZEE5. The series narrates her journey from a middle-class girl in Canada to becoming India’s most googled celebrity. Sunny portrayed her own character in the online series.

Varun Dhawan: After completing a successful 2018, Varun Dhawan appeared in two movies this year—October and Sui Dhaaga. While Octoberpassed silently, it was the other movie, which also featured actress Anushka Sharma, that made some bang at the box office. Both critics and fans loved the simple story of hopes and aspiration that made Sui Dhaaga one big hit of the year.

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Neha Dhupia: Another bold and beautiful actress of Bollywood-Neha Dhupia- also tied the nuptial knot with actor Angad Bedi in 2018 and the couple was blessed with a baby girl Mehr Dhupia Bedi in November. Neha appeared in two important releases this yearweb series Lust Stories and Kajol’s comeback movie Helicopter Eela.

Rani Mukherji: She made a return to the big screen as a teacher in Hichki having Tourette syndrome, who must prove herself by educating a group of underprivileged students. The film was loved by fans and it even made some international appearances as well. Hichki was screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival. It also released in China amid positive response.

Kriti Sanon: In 2017 she had a hit in Bareily Ki Barfi. This year, she returned with the item number for Stree. The unconventional horror movie roared at the Box Office but Kriti played an impressive part with her latkas and matkas for the song Aao Kabhi Haveli Pe, which became a popular party hit of the year.

Bhumi Pednekar: Another unconventional Bollywood actress, who had made her debut with Dum Laga Ke Haisha in 2015, returned with the bold step of performing in a web series—Lust Stories. Bhumi and her bold performance in the storyline proved strong enough to attract netizens to watch it online.

Shraddha Kapoor: Stree and its success as a horror movie would not have been possible without Shraddha, Her mysterious character and that too without a name left viewers spellbound. She was also seen in other major release of the year Batti Gul Meter Chalu, opposite Shahid Kapoor, but it went mostly unnoticed.

Tiger Shroff: How can one forget the new hunk in the town. Tiger Shroff, his dance steps and his fight sequences, made Baaghi 2one memorable roller coaster ride for young B-town fans. It is now time to see how he steps into the shoes of Sidharth Malhortra and Varun Dhawan who left a deep and everlasting impression in Student of the Year in 2012.

Disha Patani: She is just few films old but her performance in Baaghi 2was impressive enough to make her find a place in the list. Disha will be waiting for 2019 excitedly as it will mark her major Bollywood debut in Salman Khan’s Eid release Bharat.

Radhika Apte: From Akshay Kumar’s Padman to Ayushmann Khuranna’s Andhadhun, Radhika left her presence strongly felt in all of them. She was also seen in Saif Ali Khan’s Bazaar. With three big releases and her notable appearance in web series Lust Stories, Radhika dominated the world of Bollywood in her own way in 2018.

Sonam Kapoor: So she finally said Yes when she tied the knot with Anand Ahuja in May this year. On the working front, Sonam was in three popular movies-Padman, Sanju and Veere Di Wedding. All the three movies did well at the box office.

Rajkummar Rao: Mr. Consistent of the Year

There was a strong competition this year between Bareilly Ki Barfi co-stars Ayushmann and Rajkummar Rao to find the consistent performer of the year. But it was probably Rajkummar Rao who once again stole the show with the variety of characters he played all through the year. From a serious role in Omerta to the ghost hunting village simpleton in Stree, Rajkummar did it all to entertain his fans. He also appeared in two other major movies this year— Love Sonia and Fanney Khan.

RIP Sridevi

The Bollywood screen goddess, who ruled the hearts of her fans for decades, passed away in Dubai. When the news of her death broke, generations of Indians were shocked by the news. The heart stopped beating for the Julie girl very untimely. But then she would forever be the Hawa Hawai of the Indian film industry like none other. Sridevi, who died due to “accidental drowning” was just 54. She left a strong impression in the minds of Indian cinegoers with her films like Mr India, Sadma, Chandni, English Vinglish and Mom, and had gone to Dubai to attend a wedding ceremony when she passed away suddenly.