If 2017 was the year Bollywood faced both creative and financial lethargy then 2018 is the Hindi film industry’s rebound year. This is the year in which Bollywood underwent a remarkable artistic renaissance – small budget films with larger-than-life stories to tell resonated with the masses while films typically thought of lucrative – asinine masala blockbusters films starring mega stars- didn’t.
That’s right, after thirty years of omnipotence, the Khan Trimurti have been brought down a peg or two with the humiliating failures of Race 3, Thugs and Zero while commoners with incredible talent (and scripts) like Ayuushman Khurrana, Vicky Kaushal and Rajkummar Rao continue to soar to stratospheric heights.
There has been for the first time in eons a surplus of great content in the Hindi film industry this year but these were the films that spoke to me personally.
5. ‘Manto’
A quietly harrowing depiction of both pre-partition India and one of its greatest laureates, Saadat Hasan Manto. Actress turned astute filmmaker, Nandita Das, once again reminds us, as did she in her debut film about the Gujarat riots, Firaaq, that whether it’s 1947, 2003 or 2018 – sectarianism will never stop trying to kill India’s spirit.
4. ‘Sanju’
An inaccurate, rosy account of Bollywood’s prodigal son, Sanjay Dutt, that’s also meticulously crafted, gorgeously shot and most importantly for a masala blockbuster, highly entertaining. Word of advice: treat the film as a work of fiction in order to revel in this emotionally rewarding technicolor dreamland.
3. ‘Lust Stories’
Bollywood’s most prominent filmmakers – Zoya Akhtar, Dibanker Banerjee, Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap deliver their best (yes, Karan too, hard to believe) in a surprisingly cohesive, heartbreaking anthology film that explores all the pain that lust can bring. Hindi cinema icon, Manisha Koirala, and Bhumi Pednekar have both turned in inspiring performances in the past but there’s a palpable rawness in their portrayal here as women trapped by societal restrictions that burrows inside the skin.
2. ‘Badhaai Ho’
Badhaai Ho is plenty funny – the funniest film to come out of Bollywood in ages, in fact – but there’s also a special intelligence to the film and a hearth-like warmth.
Neena Gupta delves deep playing a mother clutching at straws to keep her family and herself together during tumultuous times while Surekha Sukri is a comedic genius, playing a temperamental grandmother whose tongue is laced with acidic bon mots.
1. ‘Andhadun’
Bollywood’s most criminally underrated filmmaker, Sriram Raghavan, subverts the institutions of David Lynch, Hitchcock and the Coen Bros to create a decidedly Hindi film that is his most accomplished work to date. A black comedy that is searingly original and deliciously wicked.
ARTWORK BY RACHNA RAVI
How come no raazi or stree?
I personally didn’t enjoy Raazi although I know a lot of people did.
As for Stree, I thought it was a great film but I found these five better.