These days, a film's trailer makes as much, if not more impact than the film itself. As such, our guest columnist Sal lists the film trailers that he thought made the cut. Do you agree with his list? Do let us know in the comments below, in the first of our sparkling end of year countdown features!

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NH10

The year’s most chilling Bollywood film made its intentions clear in its first trailer itself. NH10’s tight, economical promo cuts, at first, between the glamorous lead couple (Anushka Sharma and Neil Bhoopalam) in happier times and Anushka’s character, bedraggled and impassive, dragging a rod down a deserted street. And the dread just keeps mounting. This trailer is a spare, brutal showcase of the unrelentingly violent film it’s selling, and it refuses to pretend that it’s going to be remotely easy watching.

DETECTIVE BYOMKESH BAKSHY!

The divisive DBB!’s first trailer practically crackled with the buzzing, ominous energy that made it seem like a potentially unmissable thriller. Director Dibakar Banerjee is very clever at taking very little and making it look like a lot, and Bakshy! looked, at first glance itself, like a film of epic scope and scale (although its budget was probably a fraction of Bombay Velvet, that other dark period drama from a celebrated indie auteur). The anachronistic metal score isn’t my steeze, but it is undeniably effective in animating the film’s period detail and giving the visuals a thrum of violent energy. Also notable: the fascinating-looking Swastika Mukerjee as the femme fatale of the piece.

MASAAN

This indie darling’s trailer, right from the sweet opening couplet to the closing shot of the Ganges before sundown, had so much soul that one suspected this was going to be the sort of film that left one with the good kind of heartache. I was struck by the unobtrusive, assiduous care with which everything had been shot. (The location photography is glorious in its attention to the changing tints of the sunlight and river.) Also, the four principal characters, their conflicts established clearly but not over-explained, seemed immediately compelling, particularly the quicksilver Richa Chadda.

TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS

I may not have loved this blockbuster sequel to 2010’s sleeper hit, but its trailer highlights all that is wonderfully right with the film: Kangana Ranaut perfecting the fine art of swagger in not one but two badass incarnations (and a range of fantastic outfits — that trench-chiffon-saree-aviators combo is sure to be iconic); Deepak Dobriyal’s hilarious reprisal of Pappi from the first film; a crackerjack score; and lovingly evoked heartland atmosphere that has the sort of specificity that director Aanand L Rai is by now known for.

MAIN AUR CHARLES

This quasi-biopic of the notorious “Bikini Killer” didn’t make too many waves post-release, but the trailer was a glorious showcase for its biggest asset — a purring, silken, unbelievably sexy Randeep Hooda. Also, it was packed with mood, style, and dark wit, and had me looking up everything I could find about Charles Sobhraj.