What is a good performance? Is it the one that makes you clap in delight, whistle in excitement or make you acknowledge that talents of an actor? We believe it is something above all this. A good performance is one where no one really notices that an actor is making a conscious effort to act. A good performance is one where an actor behaves like the character, becomes the character. There are instances when the performance is so good that the line where the actor disappears and the character emerges is a blur. Such performances do not elicit visible, audible or palpable responses because the audience sometimes forgets to distinguish between the performer and the character. That is where an actor truly reaches a pinnacle. We try to single out performances in 2009 that got close to this idealized description of great acting.

It is difficult to separate performances after a certain point. Each one of them has so many inherent merits that it would seem unfair to put anyone ahead or behind any other.