As Bollywood says goodbye to 2010, we bring to you a quick recap of what we loved and what we didn't. Here is the year in entertainment: the good, the bad and the downright ugly.
Dabangg's triple whammy of first timers – heroine Sonakshi Sinha, director Abhinav Kashyap and producer Arbaaz Khan – pulled a rabbit out of the Bollywood hat, helped along by Salman Khan as the larger than life Chulbul Pandey. The numbers speak for themselves: 212 cr at the box office cash register
Director Prakash Jha meshed politics and violence in the gripping drama. Hot property Ranbir Kapoor discarded his chocolate boy image to flex some serious histrionic muscle but the surprise package was a saree-clad Katrina who delivered her difficult dialogues with aplomb.
Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi and gang returned with a third installment of laugh-a-minute Golmaal. The movie was the second highest money spinner at the Bollywood box office
The God of Small Things was looking out for director Anusha Rizvi's small-budget, no-star debut Peepli Live which became a sleeper hit with it's tongue in cheek examination of hard-hitting issues and authentic performances. Did we mention the producer was Aamir Khan?
At 45, Salman proved His Name Was Khan as musclebound maverick cop Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg. His other movie of the year, Veer, tanked but the Dabangg actor owned the box office and ended the year as People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive
Southern superstar Rajinikanth showed Bollywood who was king with Robot, the dubbed Hindi version of his record breaking double role treat Endhiran.
Abhishek's fair lady hit us like a ton of bricks with Raavan, Robot, Action Replayy and Guzaarish. Not all were box office gold, but nothing could dim Aishwarya's luminous screen presence.
Kat may have lost a boyfriend in 2010 but she gained serious Bollywood credibility. At the box office, the only way for her to go was up with a career defining performance in political thriller Raajneeti.
And just when we thought the year couldn't get better, along came the hip-shaking Sheila Ki Jawani from next year's big release Tees Maar Khan.
The Good: Item No. 1 Munni: But before Sheila, there was Munni. Original item queen Malaika was a small town dream with her Badnaam act in Dabangg. Indian males had much to thank her for, as did Emami, makers of Zandu balm, who rode to the top of the finance graph on the Munni effect.
After winning an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Slumdog Millionaire, musicmaker A R Rahman scored a second Golden Globe nomination with Danny Boyle's 127 Hours.
Bollywood's original dancing diva Madhuri Dixit who had been missing from the big screen for some time now staged a comeback to the world of showbiz as a celebrity judge on reality dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Ja. She was last seen in Aaja Nachle which was a box office dud.
It was just like old times on the new season of Kaun Banega Crorepati with Amitabh Bachchan's return as the quiz show host
The Good: Ranbir Leaves the Fold: Rishi's little boy proved he had truly inherited the Kapoor chromosomewith versatile performances in political thriller Raajneeti and feel good love story Anjaana Anjaani.
The combined forces of Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Southern superstar Vikram couldn't save Mani Ratnam's Raavan from crashing and burning. A disaster both commercially and critically, the much hyped movie had a good opening but then went thanda in week one itself
The Bad: Veer Hits Rock Bottom
Two leading ladies, Kareena and Kajol, could not make a happy home for Karan Johar's box office dud We Are Family.
All flops and no hits put Abhishek Bachchan in the corner despite his valiant effort as the vilaainous Beera in Raavan and the revolutionary Surjya Sen in Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se.
Director Ram Gopal Verma's Satya and Rangeela days seem to be ancient history now with a string of turkeys, the latest of which were the gutwrenching Rakta Charitra Parts 1 and 2.
Bollywood's prodigal babe Mallika Sherawat attempted a comeback of sorts as a snake woman in Hisss, taking her usual route of skin show and publicity stunts, but the box office spoke to her with forked tongue.
RGV took Vivek Oberoi down with him in the Rakta Charitra debacle, even as things looked up for Ash's ex with his wedding to Bangalore girl Priyanka Alva.
The Commnwealth Games emerged a winner from the ashes of controversy but not so A R Rahman's song for the occasion, India Bula Liya. The maestro apologized for letting us down with his ‘not upto the mark' anthem but it was too little, too late.
The Bad: Rakhi In Trouble Again
Only a film old, Sonakshi Sinha's fledgling career as a Bollywood babe received an unwelcome boost as fake magazine cover with an image of her face morphed onto a bikini clad body spread like a virus across the cyberworld.
Controversial reality shows Bigg Boss 4 and Rakhi Ka Insaaf found there was only so much indecency and vulgarity they could get away with after a televised wedding night and a contestant's suicide prompted the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to push both shows into the twilight zone of TV viewership.
The Ugly: Deepika, Sonam vs Ranbir: Heartbreaker Ranbir Kapoor found himself under the scanner of ex-flame Deepika and rumoured ex-flame Sonam who held forth, on national television, about his low sex appeal and need of condoms.
The Ugly: Priyanka vs Kareena
The divorce rumours just won't go away for Karisma and Sanjay Kapur who have kept us guessing right through their 6 year marriage, despite two children together.
The Ugly: Rahul Mahajan's Reality Hell: Just months after their marriage made in reality heaven, Rahul Mahajan's new wife Dimpy accused him of domestic abuse. The couple made shaky peace and the jury is still out on this one
Bubbling under is Bollywood veteran Shatrughan Sinha's daughter Sonakshi who hit the jackpot with her debut as demure village belle Rajjo in the blockbuster Dabangg. Up next: Joker with Akshay, Kick with mentor Salman and Race 2 with Saif.
Southern superstar Saravanan ‘Suriya' Sivakumar got a ticket to Bollywood with the RGV debacle Rakta Charitra.
There's a new Kapur in town - Karisma gave birth to son Kiaan Raj in March. Bollywood's future face? We'll be watching.
Kajol followed her We Are Family outing by becoming a real life mommy, again, in September. The new Devgn boy is called Yug and given his lineage there's only one way for him to go when he's all grown up
There were two reasons to celebrate as Sanjay and Maanyata Dutt brought home twins, daughter Iqra and son Shahraan.
