You gotta watch 'em all. What could be better proof for how great a year it's been for Bollywood
Don't care for ladders too much. With good films, it doesn't matter if somebody considers one better than the other. You gotta watch 'em all. What could be better proof for how great a year it's been for Bollywood: I tried putting together the top 10, ended up including 13, and yet, very unfairly missed out on so many other worthies, right from the Thalaiva (Rajinikanth) double-bill - Pa. Ranjith's Kaala (most potent mainstream pic on caste), to Shankar's 2.0 (a tech marvel).
Or the much-recommended Akshay Kumar back-to-back - R Balki's Padman, Reema Kagti's Gold - or, indeed, Rahi Anil Barve's Tumbbad - an absolute art-house gem. And there's still more. Be that as it may, if you were living under a rock, and somehow missed out on the following films in theatres, never too late. We tell you where they're playing now. Just push, play (and never mind the order you view it in).
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1. Meghna Gulzar's Raazi (available on Amazon Prime) + Sriram Raghavan's Andhadhun (Netflix)
Two thrillers: taut, riveting, full of twists, and turns. And yet they couldn't have been more different from each other. Gulzar's is a realistic espionage drama, empathetically set in Kashmir and Pakistan.
The other is in the full-on noir space, that few other than Raghavan can so strikingly embrace. Both movies, needless to add, hold you by the eyeballs.
2. Anurag Kashyap's Manmarziyaan (Eros Now) + Mukkabaaz (Zee 5)
No better testament that Kashyap, arguably among India's greatest filmmakers ever, is in top form - with a true-blue romance, on one hand, that doesn't give you the blues; and a chilling sports film, on the other, that brilliantly veers towards the heart of India's darkness. And what frickin' performances in both - arguably the year's best!
3. Shoojit Sircar's October (Amazon Prime)
Keep your tissues handy. Cry your heart out in this absolutely soul-stirring, rare, non-cynical film, on unconditional love.
4. Lust Stories (Short films' anthology; Netflix)
Top filmmakers - Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap - for lack of a better word, celebrate lust, in different forms, with curiously diverse, yet classy content, that totally tops Bombay Talkies, a similar short films' anthology that was an ode to cinema.
5. Luv Ranjan's Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (Amazon Prime) + Amit Sharma's Badhaai Ho (Hotstar)
Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety is a bro-mantic sex-comedy, a tough genre, that connoisseurs are usually unfair/unkind to.
And Badhaai Ho is a stellar family drama with more than a touch of lovely, earthy humour. Both are a hoot.
6. Amar Kaushik's Stree (Jio)
Superb genre-bender that seamlessly mixes horror with humour, to incredible effect, with fine text, and even finer sub-text. Sassy, and so, so stree(t) smart!
7. Rajkumar Gupta's Raid (Hotstar)
Crackling, mainstream thriller, set primarily inside a mansion, displaying Ajay Devgn kinda heroism, and based on a true-life story of an infamous Income Tax raid in 1981, Lucknow. In case you missed it at theatres, here's the raid-alert: catch it at the closest screen near you.
8. Shaad Ali's Soorma (Netflix)
A heart-breaking, real life story of Indian hockey's 'drag-flick wizard', Sandeep Singh - told subtly, portrayed sensitively by Bollywood's first sardar star, Diljit Dosanjh. Taapsee Pannu, never the one to disappoint, aids him well on the field. You get a rather under-rated sports film, that just never drags.
9. Anubhav Sinha's Mulk (Zee 5)
An urgent conversation more than just entertaining cinema, dealing with Hindu-Muslim 'polarisation' - a word that entered our lexicon only recently, and intends to partition us forever. Engaging, very exact, Mulk was by far the most important film of the year.
10. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat (Amazon Prime) + Rohit Shetty's Simmba (in theatres)
Actor Ranveer Singh started 2018 with a bang, playing the anti-hero Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat, like a beast. He ended the year with the proverbial roar as Simmba, playing a role that only '90s super-stars, up until now, convincingly could.
Pluck Singh out of either picture, and it won't work. At least Simmba won't. Clearly, it's been his year, through and through. Catch both movies, ideally back-to-back, and you'll agree.
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