3. Ranbir Kapoor, Jagga Jasoos
We have frequently and righteously slammed the idea of grown men playing children in our movies that tend to indulge and infantilise superstars, but when someone like Kapoor - at 37 - can convincingly play a stiff-haired schoolboy, one must pause for thought. And for applause.
Jagga is a stammering sleuth whose eyes frequently open wide with curiosity when he's drinking in the facts and narrow noticeably with doubt as he scrutinises suspects and evidence. It is a comic-book performance with a character drawn up in broad strokes as the film musically sends him on a wild and twist-laden adventure.
As one of our most talented leading men, Kapoor brings to the part a visible intelligence as well as fragility. Jagga, who needs to break into song to string a sentence together, is an ace detective, sure, but is also a broken boy dealing with a broken girl and a broken father-figure. An inimitable and imperfect boy.
