Here are my top 10 Bollywood films of 2018 Hindi cinema, including mainstream indie and mindie mainstream indie films
Illustration/Uday Mohite
Here are my top 10 Bollywood films of 2018 - Hindi cinema, including mainstream, indie and mindie (mainstream+indie) films.
1. Raazi by Meghna Gulzar: Starring Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal. A Kashmiri woman agrees to marry a Pakistani army officer, in order to spy on Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. A sophisticated, yet popular film, that explored feminism, the contribution of women in war, a nuanced exploration of patriotism and humanised the enemy.
2. Andhadhun by Sriram Raghavan: Starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte. Smart thriller on a blind pianist, who is involved in the case of a murder he did not see. Or did he? But a rabbit changes the destiny of the protagonists.
3. Manto by Nandita Das: Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rasika Dugal. Das follows up her debut feature Firaaq (Quest), which examined the psychological scars of the 2002 Gujarat riots. Manto, one of the great writers of the Indian subcontinent, moved to Pakistan after Partition, but sadly, it proved more conservative and oppressive for a writer. Siddiqui is magnificent as Manto.
4. Gali Guleiyan/In The Shadows by Dipesh Jain: Starring Manoj Bajpayee, Neeraj Kabi. Powerful psychological drama about a paranoid man, who is trapped in the walls of old Delhi, and also lost in his own mind. Compelling performance by Bajpayee.
5. October by Shoojit Sircar: Starring Varun Dhawan, Banita Sandhu, Gitanjali Rao, written by Juhi Chaturvedi. After an accident incapacitates, and later takes the life, of a fellow intern, a hotel management trainee is forced to consider if he was in love with her - or himself?
6. Bhonsle by Devashish Makhija: Starring Manoj Bajpayee. This powerful film was selected at the Busan and Mumbai film festivals. The clash between local Maharashtrian right-wing fanatics and migrant Biharis in Mumbai forms the incendiary backdrop to a retired cop story.
7. Tumbbad by Rahi Anil Barve, co-directed by Adesh Prasad: Starring Sohum Shah, Jyoti Malshe. It was at the Venice Film Festival. It is a parable about a mythological goddess who created the universe. But soon after a temple is built to her, greed takes over. A compellingly shot horror universe in a period Maharashtrian setting.
8. Stree by Amar Kaushik: Starring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi. In Chanderi, the men live in fear of an evil spirit named Stree. A delicious horror-satire written by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, with gender role reversal, in which the men scurry home, afraid that a woman, a female ghost, may abduct them at night.
9. Garbage by Q: Starring Tanmay Dhanania, Trimala Adhikari, Satarupa Das. A medical student flees to Goa on discovering that her ex- has leaked 'revenge porn videos', featuring her, online. Politically very daring feature, this film frontally takes on the right-wing, religious babas and misogynist patriarchy, yet with empathy. It is also sexually very provocative and explicit, in Q's signature style.
10. Lust Stories: A sequel to Bombay Talkies, this anthology film, with shorts directed by Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap, explored love, sex and relationships in modern India. Refreshing, compelling, sharp and funny.
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Special mentions would include Mulk, Manmarziyaan, Mukkabaaz, Hamid, Padman, Karwaan, Badhaai Ho and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety.
Meenakshi Shedde is South Asia Consultant to the Berlin Film Festival, award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at meenakshishedde@gmail.com
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