Flashback 2009: Stars who had a great year!

As the year draws to a close, Bollycurry takes a look through the performance charts of B-Town's high profiles, to pick out ten stars who tasted sweetest success this year.

Katrina Kaif - Kat surely has no reason to complain! Known widely as Bollywood's barbie doll, the gorgeous actress was immortalised this year when she became the actual model for Mattel's Bollywood Barbie. Furthermore she silenced cynics by shedding her glam look and achieved critical as well as commercial success with her early year release, New York, opposite John and Neil. Though the year may have ended on a downer with the news of Kat's operation; we have no doubt that she will storm through 2010 as well! Now if only we could stop the Ranbir-Katrina-Salman rumours...

Priyanka Chopra - The previous year was the highest professional peak for Priyanka yet, but 2009 has sailed by smoothly enough! What with donning a series of different avatars - from that of a tough Marathi girl in the megahit Kaminey to... well, a dozen different looks in What's Your Raashee,Priyanka has affirmed her versatility in cinema, even more her daring to experiment and evolve. And while the latter may have bombed at BO in general, it did secure her a nomination for an entry in to the Guinness book of World Records for the most characters played in a movie. Meanwhile, with promotions going high for Pyaar Impossible opposite Uday Chopra, her next venture seems promising enough. All in all, her career graph seems to be going at a steady pace, and doting the audience sems to multiply ever more; Piggy Chops should have no reason whatsoever to complain!

Ranbir Kapoor - Saawariya was a flop (as bad perhaps, as a debut venture could ever have been) and Bachna Ae Haseeno rated fair at the BO, possibly only for having cast the then much talked of Ranbir-Deepika duo. 2009 however, has turned tables for the Kapoor lad, and all for the best! Romantic comedy by Karan Johar, Wake Up Sid, has helped raise bars significantly for him, as well as for the young director Ayaan Mukherjee. With a followup in the form of the later megahit, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani opposite Katrina, Ranbir's popularity has shot through the roof, surpassing, as per a certain survey, even the popularity of the formidable Khans! His third and final movie for 2009, Rocketsingh- Salesman of the year, has not marked a hat rick in that sense; nonetheless, for Ranbir, this year has set the much needed firm platform upon which he can only further grow.

Kareena Kapoor - Riding high on Brand Bebo, Kareena has been showered with endorsements this year; not to mention lucrative movie deals that paired her opposite the big-wigs of Bollywood! Ambitious Akshay-starrer Kambaqht Ishq raked in the moola; even if it wasn't a critics favourite, and Mr and Mrs Khanna saw Kareena opposite Salman. However, her best this year - despite attracting controversy for her bare back posters - must have been Kurbaan opposite beau Saif. And Aamir's 3 Idiots can only be a success!

Rani Mukherjee - Dil Bole Hadippa may not have been a Box Office proclaimed hit, but the unprecedented Punjabi romp provided a much needed platform for 'Queen' to win many hearts all over again with her much awaited comeback!

Abhay Deol - Not one in the list of typical commercial heroes, Abhay however, breaking his family legacy, has achieved critical acclaim very early and very surely in his career. He has with all odds and opposition stood firmly beside intelligent cinema. Dev. D, a modern take on the classic Bengali novel Devdas, was embraced wholeheartedly by the media, critics and public alike. We don't get to see him shaking his leg that often but this is one actor we hope to see around. And with Aisha, his next venture opposite the glamorous Sonam Kapoor, a movie inspired by Jane Austen's Emma, we are going to see, yet another shade in the range of character portrayed by Abhay Deol.

Vivek Oberoi - 2009 seems to be a year of comebacks! After Rani it was Vivek's turn to shine and prove why he deserves his place in B-Town. With his role in Kurbaan being much appreciated and the trailers of his 2010 release Prince already circulating, we hope that this actor is back for good.

Neil Nitin Mukesh - Niel has remained consistent in terms of performance and deliverance to all roles he has so far portrayed. With both commercial and critical acclaim for New York and significant praise for Jail, 2009 has been a picture of bright colors only! And although his insistence on serious, meaningful drama alone, has put him firmly on the B-Town map, one could expect that he would sooner in future indulgeinto a greater variety of roles, and prove versatility.

Akshay Kumar - Chandni Chowk To China was a terrible showdown at BO, taking some as far as to have predicted that Akki's career may very well be on the consistent decline hereon. Tasveer proved to be a blink and miss film. There was, then, the infamous zipper case at the Lakme India Fashion Week that caused a stir amongst protesters. Kambhaqht Ishq and De Dhana Dhan, although nothing major in ratings, or acclaim, have definitely outdone the earlier failures of the year. And what must have come as tremendous relief to his ailing career chart, was Blue! With much ado over his extreme stunt and risk undertaking, the movie although not a clean sweep, was well received by the audience in plenty and has since uplifted his hope. 2010, a new beginning, looks promising with Akshay signed on for Farah Khan's next.

Shiney Ahuja - Thy name, shall say it all!

And now we hand it over to our readers....Who else, in your opinion, had a great 2009?