5 Unconventional Indian Films

For the geeky, the nerdy, the true believers in cinema, this one for you. A mass of very fascinating factoids about your favourite flicks that you can hand off either to the choruses of cheers hails of boos or the friendly nod in pubs up and down the country. Everyone has their favourites, which is why it can take hours (or, in our cases, a lifetime) to discuss what makes the best movies of all time. Could one list ever exist to rule all of them? Updated with today's game changers, a canon, as we critics want to term it, that will look at all tastes, all genres, all nations, all eras, match effect with value, brains with heart?

Posted On October 27th, 2020

Nagar Kirtan

An instance of near-perfect cinema is Kaushik Ganguly's film Nagarkirtan. The filmmaker offers us a movie that is strong on the one side and delicate on the other, a scathing critique on the lives of transgender people in contemporary Indian society on the one side, and a romantic love story on the other, after a string of unimpressive directorial projects over the last few years.

Tumbbad

The plot, set in Tumbbad in the 1920s, revolves around the three generations of a family facing the repercussions of constructing a temple for the first-born of a goddess called Hastar, who is not to be worshipped. Hastar is an awful being that can curse a human but can supply gold coins as well. And the plot stressed human nature and relentless greed.

LOEV

Wall Street dealmaker Jai (Pandit) and Mumbai-based music producer Sahil (Ganesh) reveal the story about two friends with a complicated history. On a road trip into the hills and canyons of Maharashtra, where opportunities are overlooked, realities are avoided and an unlikely passion develops, the two spend an emotional weekend.

Veerapan

Under his smuggler-uncle, Sevi Gounder, Veerappan, a youth, trains and becomes a notorious dacoit. He does his utmost to foil the authorities as he hears of a secret plot to apprehend him

Charulata

Charulata (Madhabi Mukherjee) is an isolated, artistically inclined woman in 1870s India who sees less of her busy husband, Bhupati (Sailen Mukherjee), a journalist. He persuades his cousin, Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee), to spend time with Charulata and nourish her artistic instincts by recognising that his wife is alienated and depressed. Amal himself is a fledgeling artist, and he and Charulata bond over their mutual art passion. Yet over time, with heartbreaking consequences, a sexual desire develops.