A little bit of Bollywood
Posted by amitbehere on December 30, 2007
If you remember, a long time ago I had expressed my disillusionment with Hollywood and my increasing admiration for Bollywood. Bollywood for the longest time has been making formulaic, melodramatic movies. The song and dance types. While they had their own charm, I have been more and more impressed by the new age Bollywood movies. And I do not mean the Karan Johar, Farah Khan, block-buster bullshit. I am talking about movies most people do not even know about. Movies which do not usually have big stars but have good stories to tell. Here a few of the best I have seen in the last few years.
1. Tango Charlie.
A hugely under-appreciated movie. I always thought Bobby Deol had excellent script sense (his only talent). This is a movie about the Bodo insurgency in Assam and the story of a soldier who never really wanted to be a soldier. It has an excellent script and some scenes that will shake you up. I would really, really recommend this movie with one warning. It is a little bloody.
2. Black Friday.
A very well-done dramatization of the Bombay bomb blasts that happened in 1993. It is a story every Indian needs to see and hear. The destruction of the Babri Masjid, the resultant Islamization of the Indian mafia and their role in the Bombay bomb blasts are honestly depicted.
3. Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Limited.
A non-intense, non-serious movie for a change. Story of six couples on a road trip to Goa. Very funny, quirky and a lot of fun. As a side note, I saw this with a guy friend of mine since we could not get tickets for Black Friday. All around us were couples. Boy, did I feel gay ! 
4. Iqbal.
A story of a poor, deaf and dumb cricketer who dreams of playing cricket for India. This is your usual feel-good movie. What makes it stand out is brilliant direction and superb performances by the lead actors.
5. Johnny Gaddar
A classic crime caper full of twists and turns. You have to watch it to see how good it is. Bonus points for Dharam paaji pulling a Harrison Ford, “It is not the age, it is the mileage”
6. Bheja Fry
I have never seen a movie more aptly named. Vinay Pathak in one of the greatest roles essayed in modern Bollywood. I am very partial to comedies and this is one of the best I have seen in a while
There are so many more that are worth a mention like Chak De India, Dhoka, Hat-Trick, Ek Haseena Thi, Ab Tak Chappan, Metro, Gandhi-My Father, Manorama-Six Feet Under etc. I feel a bit sad that Bollywood is still thought of as a song and dance industry. But it is not an unfair depiction. Even today most of our big budget movies are fluffy romances with 10 songs and big stars. And no substance. Movie gems like the ones I mentioned above generally go un-noticed. Hopefully, if some of you go ahead and watch a few of these movies, this post would be worth it.
