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Stars we missed in 2009
Bollywood woke up to Ranbir Kapoor's brilliance whereas cousin Kareena Kapoor dropped a noisy watch in Akshay Kumar's unsuspecting gut.
Amitabh Bachchan gave up his genie ways to horse-back on 'Paa' Abhishek Bachchan. Abhay Deol sniffed, snuffed and gulped down numerous bottles of vodka to get over a certain Ms Paro.
A 12-in-one Priyanka Chopra dished out a four-hour long dissertation on zodiac signs. Meanwhile, Shahid Kapoor turned a speech hurdle into a trendy lingo. Fuperb, isn't it?
Bipasha Basu went back to her arm-candy days while beau John Abraham showed off his beefy, bulky body to New York and the rest of the world.
Imran Khan tried too hard to grow out of his chocolate boy skin even as Katrina Kaif channeled the cutesy Sandra Dee within.
If Aamir Khan swapped perfectionism for idiocy, Saif Ali Khan bombed planes and Salman Khan? He, finally, scored a hit, casually.
Clearly, the last 12 months witnessed crazy, abundant star play. Nevertheless, some noteworthy entertainers were pretty much AWOL. Time to show some love, guys. And so here's a look at the stars we missed a great deal in 2009.
Chitrangada Singh
Okay, so the woman can generate a seductive scene out of a biscuit commercial and make a tempting cover girl.
And that is precisely why Sudhir Mishra's promising discovery has no business giving us nothing else to look forward to.
It's been six years since Chitrangada stole the scene with her intense portrayal in Haazaron Khwaishein Aisi only to follow it up with little seen, independent fare like Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow and Sorry Bhai.
Often likened to Smita Patil, it's a shame Chitrangada is yet to hit the big league.
Coming in 2010: Navdeep Singh's Basra (Abhay Deol), Sudhir Mishra's Homecoming (Arunoday Singh).
Shah Rukh Khan
Shah Rukh Khan had an unusually notorious year. Be it for his team Kolkata Knight Rider's dismal performance at the IPL, getting detained at the Newark Airport, the title controversy over his production Billu, or his on-off war of words with colleague Aamir Khan.
As for movies, a four-song cameo in Billu or a guest appearance in Luck By Chance proved barely enough to whet the appetite of King Khan's massive fan-following.
Coming in 2010: Karan Johar's My Name is Khan (Kajol).
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
The year 2009 may not have seen a lot of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on the silver screen unless you count her eye-candy turn in abysmal The Pink Panther 2 as a real role.
Off screen, however, the Bachchan bahu was on a roll. Awarded with the prestigious Padma Shri, the actress also sparkled in a brand new glamorous Lux commercial with hubby Abhishek in tow for the very first time. The duo also made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, a second for Ash, being introduced as one of the World's Most Famous Couple. Not bad.
Coming in 2010: Mani Ratnam's Raavan (Abhishek Bachchan), Shankar's Endhiran (Rajnikanth), Vipul Amrutlal Shah's Action Replay (Akshay Kumar) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish (Hrithik Roshan).
Mallika Sherawat
Besides hobnobbing with the who's who of Hollywood, Mallika Sherawat believes in connecting to her audience via her prolific tweeting.
Having said that, it feels like an era has passed since the sex symbol with a sassy attitude struck on screen or off it.
Next year looks promising with her slipping, literally into the slithering skin of a giant serpent in Jennifer Lynch's Hissss, not to be confused with a Himesh Reshammiya caper.
Coming in 2010: Jennifer Lynch's Hissss (Irrfan Khan).
Hrithik Roshan
Hrithik Roshan began the year showcasing his celebrated dancing skills and impressive histrionics as a self-mocking superstar in Zoya Akhtar's engaging Luck By Chance.
Only it was a super special cameo as the film essentially revolved around Farhan Akhtar's journey inside show business. Apart from relentless rumours of marriage troubles with Suzanne owing to a reported liaison with his Kites co-star Barbara Mori, Duggu has maintained a conspicuous low-profile this year.
Coming in 2010: Anurag Basu's Kites (Barbara Mori, Kangna Ranaut), Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan).
Tabu
It's a pity that we get to see so little from an actress of Tabu's stature.
While one can never get enough of this sensitive actress of films like Maachis, The Namesake and Maqbool, Tabu continues to maintain a consciously modest profile with sporadic public appearances and quirky movie choices.
Even so, it was wonderful to witness a sensual Tabu grace the cover of Vogue's issue early this year.
Coming in 2010: Vicky Chopra's Season's Greetings (Shreyas Talpade, Sohail Khan) and Chandraprakash Dwivedi's The Legend of Kunal (Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal).
Kajol
Everybody loves Kajol. And with good reason. The actress, irrespective of how good or bad a movie is, seldom disappoints. But it's been rather long since her last outing, U, Me Aur Hum and we are anxious to see more of this powerhouse performer.
And no, not just selling soups or candy pops to hungry tots and greedy crocodiles. The coming year seems to answer all our prayers with Kajol returning to create magic opposite her best co-star of all times, Shah Rukh Khan in Karan Johar's keenly awaited My Name is Khan. She also plays Susan Sarandon's role in Johar's adaption of Stepmom co-starring Kareena Kapoor in the titular avatar. Excitement unlimited!
Coming in 2010: Karan Johar's My Name is Khan (Shah Rukh Khan), Siddharth Malhotra's untitled adaptation of Stepmom (Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal).