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Chances are you know Stan Lee as the comic book creator who co-created beloved characters like Spider-man, Iron Man, Black Widow, the Fantastic Four etc etc. His list of professional credits also includes this entry in IMDb: “Rejected Wedding Guest: in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). Stan Lee was very much Marvel's cameo king, making appearances that were like a wink to the fans and a tribute to his legend. While few cameos can match up to Lee’s, this year delivered quite a star-studded set of short-duration performances that lingered in memory for a long time .
Salman Khan as Tiger makes a heroic cameo in Pathaan, but who knew that he and Shah Rukh Khan would be so darn cute together? Tiger comes to save Pathaan and at one point, the two of them sit, bruised and battered, and Shah Rukh says, “You know, sometimes I think it’s time to stop. It’s been 30 years.” Salman looks unconvinced and the two Khans then discuss, without naming names, who they can pass their mantle on to, only to arrive at the conclusion that there’s no one. With that familiar twinkle in his eye and wrinkle upon his brow, Shah Rukh tells Salman, “Bachchon pe yeh sab nahi chhod sakte (Can’t leave the hard work to the kids).”
Shah Rukh returned the favour (and how) with his fabulous, save-the-day (and the film) appearance in Tiger 3. His energy lifts the film and is even able to add a little zing to Salman’s attempts at acting. Returning as Pathaan, with his characteristic wit and agility, Khan dignifies Tiger’s Hulk-Smash rigidity. The scenes with Shah Rukh and Salman include a little tribute to Sholay (1975), which was delightful and when the two men are on screen together, Tiger 3 briefly becomes an enjoyable buddy comedy with lots of explosions.
In a film bustling with incredible talent, we see Gary Oldman playing Harry S. Truman, the thirty-third president of the United States of America. After dropping the bomb on Japan, Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) grapples with guilt and the looming spectre of an arms race. With presidential authority, he says, "You think anyone in Hiroshima or Nagasaki gives a damn about who built the bomb? They care who dropped it. I did. Hiroshima isn't about you." As the music intensifies post this steel-eyed exchange, Truman calls Oppenheimer a crybaby just as he's making his exit. Goosebumps, chills and many thanks for the privilege of being the generation that gets to watch Oldman do his thing.
Be honest: If you had to pick an Hollywood actor to play an alien in a comedy, who better than Jeff Goldlum, who has lumbered through a 49-year long career in which he’s acted in the biggest blockbusters but also established himself as an indie darling? Long-limbed, wide-eyed and filled with both sardonic wit and wonder, Goldblum is revealed as the human inside the alien when Asteroid City pulls back the curtain to show what’s going on behind the scenes of the staged performance that we’ve watched on screen. Wes Anderson’s sublime exploration of isolation, grief, the healing power of art, and the blurred lines between make-believe and reality has a tentative and inventory-oriented alien at its heart. The alien only becomes all the more hilarious when it’s revealed that under the costume is a serious-minded theatre actor, played by Goldblum, who informs us, “I don’t play him as an alien, I play him as a metaphor.”
In Jawan, a pan-Indian cinematic spectacle, we get to witness an exceptional ensemble with a cast that includes Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara in addition to Shah Rukh in a double role. Adding an extra layer of delight, we see the ever charismatic Sanjay Dutt as the police officer Madhavan Naik, sent to set the vigilante Azad straight. He's in a rush to handle a critical situation fuelled by the promise to return home for Onam Sadhya with his wife. Dutt, sporting a white mundu with a golden border, manoeuvres through the chaos on a scooter, swooping in to save the day. In the extended version of Jawan that was released on Netflix, Dutt has a couple more scenes which suggest that he was very much part of Azad’s partner in crime. Cute is not a word that regularly comes to mind when we think of Dutt, but he definitely fits that description as Madhavan Naik in Jawan.
The best part of the convoluted Neeyat comes at the end, when it turns out that this entire film is effectively the backstory for a new crime solving duo. Shefali Shah makes a wonderful cameo that comes in the film’s final scenes — it is wicked in the best way. Shah’s stern demeanour has a shade of the school principal about it, which works because she’s very much there to school the befuddled crowd. Until she arrives to disclose the elaborate plot that Vidya Balan’s character had hatched, Neeyat borders on turgid, but if it’s the setup for a crime fighting duo made up of Balan and Shah, we’re here for it.
The casting of Rakhi Sawant as a version of herself – a quintessential striver in a sea of posers – is a masterstroke. Sawant, whose antics we have come to love, spills over into Bilkis. The inherent honesty and never-say-die attitude that Sawant is known for on social media shines through in Bilkis, creating a connection that feels authentic. The parallels between Sawant and Bilkis — both have been assistants to Saroj Khan and Sawant, like Bilkis, is happy to convert to a different religion at the drop of a hat — are many. It helps that Sawant doesn’t hit a false note as the ambitious dancer-choreographer who is kind to Nanhe and unabashedly uses more powerful (and abusive) men to climb the social ladder. Her idiosyncrasies — her persistent eye-rolls, the way she says “payment” and her dance moves — are filmed with affection and admiration. It doesn’t feel like a stretch to say that if there is anyone in Mast Mein Rehne Ka who really embodies the spirit of Mumbai, it’s Rakhi Sawant as Bilkis.
With inputs from Rahul Desai, Anupama Chopra and Deepanjana Pal.