Bollywood movies tend to be synonymous with cheesy entertainers where the hero and heroine break into song and dance out of nowhere, the plots are high on melodrama and usually low on content. However, in 2021, it is time these overused stereotypes were dispelled.
Hindi cinema is a commercialized culmination of a rich tradition of storytelling in ethnic India whereby performers would include music, dance, colorful costumes, and drama in their bits to attract audiences across rural India. Today, Hindi movies continue to rely heavily on music, yet that is not all there is to it. Movies, for many years now, are driven by script, plot, characters, and while they still give fans a taste of the immense talents in India’s film music industry, content plays a very crucial role. So what are some of the must-watch for someone who is just being inducted into the world of Hindi movies?
Gully Boy (Available on Amazon Prime Video)
Inspired by the lives of real-life Mumbai street-rappers, Naezy and Divine, this is India’s first rap musical about young Murad, a kind of desi slumdog from Mumbai’s Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum-settlement. Murad is torn between his dreams of becoming a rapper and his humble background until he meets MC Sher, another street rapper with similar aspirations.
Peppered with some refreshing rap and beatboxing, the narrative weaves in the brutal class distinctions, where each class is expected to simply toe the line and pursue the occupation accorded to it by society. While the movie doesn’t necessarily dig deeper into the spaces that define Mumbai’s ‘gully’, i.e street scene, it at least makes an attempt to take a peek into the city’s burgeoning hip-hop culture and into the lives of all the Murads who dare to dream big.
Andhadhun (Available On Netflix)
A cleverly crafted comedié noir, this movie is a well-scripted thriller with a touch of the Hitchcockian as well as the theatre of the absurd. At the same time, it celebrates the 1960s-70s Hindi cinema albeit with a dark spin.
The movie revolves around a musician who fakes blindness to draw in more sympathy from the public and ends up witnessing a murder. He manages to keep it to himself until the murderers realize he is not so blind after all. The National Award-winning actress, Tabu, pulls off a stunning act as the femme fatale.
Kahaani (Available On Netflix)
Yet another thriller, the movie follows Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant young woman who lands in Kolkata looking for her missing husband.
Her arrival and curiosity as she tries to piece together her husband’s possible whereabouts knock open a can of worms into what turns out to be some very dangerous waters replete with contract killers and terrorists on the run. There is also another catch. Is the pregnant Vidya as innocent and helpless as she appears?
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Available On Amazon Prime Video)
Possibly the most beloved romance for an entire generation of movie-goers, this movie catapulted into overnight fame the superstars Shahrukh Khan and Kajol who have since gone on to become probably the most iconic screen couple in contemporary Bollywood.
The movie revolves around two second-generation non-resident Indians born and brought up in London and how they win over the heroine’s dad, who has spent his entire life clinging to traditions and is dead against his daughter choosing her own life partner. DDLJ, as it is popularly known, has set a record as the longest-running movie in the country, having run for 25 years in a single show in Mumbai. This was also the first Hindi language movie that attracted a tremendous global audience, appealing to fans worldwide.
English Vinglish (Available On Eros Now, realeyz)
This fun-filled movie traces the empowering journey of a woman called Shashi, a docile homemaker with magic in her fingers when it comes to making delectable Indian sweets. However, Shashi is not conversant in the English language, having completed her education in institutions with Hindi as the medium of instruction.
She is mocked and teased at every step by her own husband and brattish daughter who look down upon her for not knowing English. The story then brings a twist as Shashi ends up alone in Manhattan, NY, for her sister’s wedding, and sick of being made to feel small, she takes charge of her life. Shashi enrolls in an English language course all by herself, making friends, learning a new language, and even breaking a heart. When she finally stands up and gives her speech in English during her niece’s wedding, her own family is left ashamed and humbled.
3 Idiots (Available On Amazon Prime Video)
3 Idiots is a laugh-riot with a significant message about the pressures of the education system that expects students to cram themselves with information to attain the highest score in their exams but doesn’t necessarily inspire them to experiment and invent new things.
The movie led from the front by the well-known Indian actor, Amir Khan, is full-blown entertainment with an exceptional script, brilliant acting, and characterization. The movie remains one of the best Hindi language movies in the history of Indian cinema and is a must-watch for anyone, irrespective of whether or not they are just getting started with Hindi movies.
Chak De! India (Available On Amazon Prime Video)
Starring a ruggedly handsome Shahrukh Khan, this sports drama sees Kabir Khan, the discredited former captain of the Indian National Men’s Hockey Team, take charge of the National Women’s Hockey Team as a coach. After much conflict with the players themselves as well as the management, he builds a strong team with an iron hand that qualifies for and eventually wins the Women’s Hockey World Cup.
The movie won critical acclaim for its fresh storyline, crisp, tight-knit script, and Khan’s character that saw him step out of his stereotypical romantic avatar and take on a far more realistic, intense role. Moreover, sports drama is an all-time favorite and Chak De! India stands out as one of the best in this category.
Sholay (Available On Amazone Prime Video)
An all-around entertainer, Sholay is a classic. This was India’s first movie to be shot in the 70 mm format and there is hardly any Indian household that hasn’t watched this gritty drama, if only for once. The revenge drama revolves around two petty thieves, Veeru and Jay, whose lives change when they get a call from a retired policeman, Thakur Baldev Singh. The latter wants them to help him avenge his family’s murder by killing the amoral dacoit Gabbar Singh whose tyranny over the Thakur’s tiny village is becoming more intolerable by the day.
The movie, starring some of the most celebrated names of 197os Bollywood, such as Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, and Amjab Khan, was a phenomenal success at the time and has gone on to gain iconic status in the annals of Indian cinema.
Maqbool (Available On Amazon Prime Video)
One of the best Hindi movies ever made, Maqbool is a take on Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. Internationally acclaimed actor Irrfan Khan starred as the lead character with the lovely Tabu playing the inimitable Lady Macbeth.
The movie adapts one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies by placing it in the dark underbelly of Mumbai as powerplay within a gang masquerade as the dilemmas faced by Macbeth. Maqbool became a breakout role for Irrfan who eventually went on to star in acclaimed international movies such Slumdog Millionaire, A Mighty Heart, Life Of Pi, and Inferno.
Shatranj Ke Khiladi (Available On Amazon Prime Video)
Based on a short story by the famed author, Premchand, Shatranj Ke Khiladi is an unusual story of two friends in the princely state of Awadh, present-day Uttar Pradesh, in the 1850s. Mir Roshan Ali and Mirza Sajjad Ali are obsessed with the game of chess which makes them oblivious to everything around them, including their wives, and the fact that Awadh itself is getting annexed by the British.
Directed by Satyajit Ray, a master of the craft, who was later awarded the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement, the movie was a subtle political satire narrating the tale of these two chess-fanatics, in the backdrop of the downfall of Awadh’s ruler, Wajid Ali Shah. As the friends immerse themselves in the game, the state changes hands, and instead of the chess pieces, real armies complete with canons move into Awadh, which is the latest in a string of conquests by the colonialists.
