Happy Birthday Sonam!  So many birthdays in early June!  But that’s no reason to ignore Sonam.  She blew me away in Neerja, and then she blew me away again with her intelligent interviews on the status of female stars and female lead films in the industry. (this is an updated and reposted post from last year)

1. I love you because you had a horrible debut in every way, a bad movie with a bad character with bad styling and bad promotion, but you have moved on and can even laugh about it now.

2. I love you because you also got a bad boyfriend out of that bad movie, and you can laugh about that now too.

3. I love you because you didn’t get another movie for 2 years, but when you did, you gave it your all, even in a small part.

4. Your launch may have been horrible, but I have a secret liking for this one particular song.

5. I love every single song from Delhi-6, that soundtrack is brilliant, this one in particular really shows your own brand of onscreen energy.

6. And then you were in a movie with a much less ambitious soundtrack, but I have to admit that I loved this one too.  And the visuals for this song are kind of cool, right?  Showing the movie within the movie?

7. I love you because you followed your first taste of success with an immediate attempt to take control of your own career, through a movie designed around your personality and produced by your family production house.

8. I love you because, flop or hit, you stayed in the public eye through the sophistication and perfection of your fashion sense.

9. I love you because you have honed your sense of what parts work for you and what parts don’t, whether it is Khoobsurat or Neerja or Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.

10. I love you because you were barely in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, but you still gave all you had to your character, even in fantasy scenes.

11.  I love you because you were the whole movie in Khoobsurat, and you carried it off with aplomb.

12.  And finally, I love you because Neerja was freaking brilliant, and you were brilliant in it, and you were also brilliant to take a chance and agree to be in it.

Oh, and I promised a baker’s dozen, so here’s a bonus song that just makes me happy (a nice palate cleanser after Neerja)