2024 in Hindi cinema wasn't as much about superstardom or showboating as actors shining in astutely written roles or rising from the sidelines to leave a lasting impact.
Good, bad, evil, we saw a gamut of emotions on display in their most stirring form as actors reiterated their worth.
Sukanya Verma lists the Top Male Performances of 2024, in no particular order.
Abhishek Bachchan
I Want To Talk
Career best performances have a tendency of scene stealing.
But Abhishek Bachchan loses himself wholeheartedly to embrace the survivor, sufferer and smarts of Arjun Sen's true life experiences as marketing virtuoso-turned-motivational speaker undergoing multiple surgeries following a terminal diagnosis in I Want To Talk.
He adds to the storytelling without taking away anything from it.
Bachchan is not a high point of I Want to Talk. He is its core.
Rajkummar Rao
Srikanth, Stree 2, Mr and Mrs Mahi, Vicky Aur Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video
Just the ease and skill with which Rajkummar Rao gets inside the skin of all sorts of men and moods without slipping into monotony makes him a comforting presence on the silver screen.
Whether he's capturing the struggle and success of blind industrialist Srikanth Bola in a eponymous biopic or playing a monster slayer, insecure half or fool on a mending spree in a spate of hits released within a short gap of each other, Rao brings a fullness to his performances without compromising on their quality.
Diljit Dosanjh
Amar Singh Chamkila
Punjab and singing are in Diljit Dosanjh's blood and being but his abandon and disquiet in Imtiaz Ali's biopic of Amar Singh Chamkila is a carefully thought out performance.
While portraying a 1980s folk star gaining fans and flak for his innuendo packed music, Dosanjh delicately brings out the essence of Chamkila's ingenuity and innocence through his unshowy yet deeply internalised artistry.
Raghav Juyal
Kill
A memorable action film is only good as its antagonist.
And the ruthlessly, relentlessly violent Kill finds its deadly devil in Raghav Juyal's creepy, demented freak dealing with his own daddy issues and repressions while wreaking havoc on a train full of unsuspecting passengers.
Not only does he make a meal of the best lines in the movie but infuses its breakneck bloodshed with humour at its leanest and meanest.
Vikrant Massey
Sector 36
Sector 36 is the very definition of feel-bad watch.
Based on the Nithari killings of 2006, this fictionalised take of a true-crime premise relies on its central protagonist to inhabit a human being at his most perverse and corroded.
Kudos to Vikrant Massey for giving it his all.
His unsettling portrait of a sicko is nauseating to sit through. And therein lies his greatest triumph as an actor.
Deepak Dobriyal
Sector 36
Offsetting Massey's cruelty with a belated change of heart and awakening in conscience is Deepak Dobriyal's low-ranking cop.
Dedicated to the cause of justice following a series of kidnapping of kids in his jurisdiction, Dobriyal's growing mortification hits hard as he goes from shame to shock in a system rotting in classism and depravity.
Mostly though, it's heartening to see the man's calibre shine outside comedy stereotypes.
Vijay Sethupati
Merry Christmas
Vijay Sethupati retains a lot of mystery as an actor.
Even when he's opening up, he has this curious ability to hold it all in.
I like the inscrutable impressions in his manner of communication.
Is it a part of some greater deceit or vulnerability on its way to explode? As an audience you're either figuring him out or fully fascinated.
Whatever the outcome, the approach fits just right into the mood of Merry Christmas, a unexpected romance in the guise of a gentle thriller.
Aparshakti Khurana
Berlin
Aparshakti comfortably breaks from the shackles of the hero's bumbling bestie to play a man resisting turning a puppet for the powerful in Atul Sabharwal's muted espionage drama.
Not only is Aparshakti's sign language interpreter a convincing figure but even his restraint and plainness heightens the significance of the efforts he's making by meddling in a murkily confidential territory.
Ishwak Singh
Berlin
Both Rahul Bose and Aparshakti Khurana do well as men locking horns when one's authority and another's freedom is undermined to suit their own agendas against Berlin's moody politics.
But it is Ishwak Singh's guessing game, as a deaf and mute suspect oscillating between sly and sweet that makes him crucial to the setup.
Unreliable narrators can be a gimmicky space but Ishwak's sentimentalised take reveals a softie, a tragic figure and an enigma we never really know but fully sympathise with.
Manoj Pahwa
Jigra
Manoj Pahwa is a PRO in fuzzy feeling fathers and fatherly figures.
In Jigra though, he is unconsciously winning over a sceptic young woman and making her realise he's worthy of her trust over the course of them dealing with their loved one's release in wrongly attributed convictions by foreign laws.
It's an unlikely friendship that warms the cockles of the heart and Pahwa’s endless reserve of humour and humanity has a lot to do with it.
Amitabh Bachchan
Kalki 2898 AD
From Amar Singh Chamkila to Alia Bhatt in Jigra, Amitabh Bachchan's influences loom large irrespective of generation, gender or genre.
At 82, the face of anger is still going strong as proved by his whistle worthy turn in a supporting but spectacular contribution to Kalki 2898 AD's action fantasy where his deep knowledge of cinematic grammar are in perfect tandem with his gravitas and aura.
As Ashwatthama, a centuries cursed warrior determined to undo the destruction caused by him, he is a force to reckon with.
Pratik Gandhi
Do Aur Do Pyaar, Madgaon Express, Agni
You want versatility. Two words. Pratik Gandhi.
The 'risk hai toh ishq hai' star continues his impressive track in another solidly turned out year.
2024 saw him characters as diverse as the Bengali entrepreneur confused between his affections for his wife and girlfriend in Do Aur Do Pyaar, a Gujarati NRI mamma's boy on a stoner trip with his pals in Madgaon Express and a unsung Maharashtrian firefighter craving acknowledgment from his family in Agni to such nimble perfection, it's like a superpower.
Akshay Kumar
Khel Khel Mein
Nothing about Akshay Kumar's chest-thumping antics in formulaic nationalistic fare has struck a chord for a while now. Giving us a much welcome break from the monotony, the Khiladi drops a surprise in his most puckish avatars in a long, long time.
Fibber, phony, rake or rascal, as the silver fox plastic surgeon taking vicarious pleasure in his circle's secrets and scandals, Akshay's rollicking return to mischief is duly appreciated.
Not to mention that bizarre cameo in Stree 2.
