When Audience went wrong - Part I
Top 10 Hindi Movies of last Decade (2010-2019) which failed at BO
First thing first, It has nothing to do with what critics said about the movie or how much the movie has earned at Box-office(BO). This is an entirely personal list and I have rated based on how I felt after watching the movie and how it affected me over a period of time.
There were a few movies which I liked but they were liked by many others too and found their audience so you may not find those films on this list. Most of these films failed at Box-office and were not popular in the mainstream.
So without wasting time lets start.
1. MASAAN (2015)
Cast: Richa Chaddha, Pankaj Tripathi, Sanjay Mishra, Vickey Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi
Director: Neeraj Ghaywan
Synopsis: Four lives intersect along the Ganges: a low caste boy hopelessly in love, a daughter ridden with guilt of a sexual encounter ending in a tragedy, a hapless father with fading morality, and a spirited child yearning for a family, long to escape the moral constructs of a small-town.
What I liked: Very rarely you see a movie which moves you inside out. Masaan is an experience and not a movie for me. A fine combination of weaving different stories in the same thread with amazing characters. Ghaywan told the story beautifully, shot good scenes of the city which deal with life and death for centuries. It wonderfully depicts the divide we have for sex, caste, class, and gender. The dialogues are top-notch and your heart might crumble sometimes when you hear "Ye dukh kahe khatm nahi hota hai be".It's a sheer joy to hear poetry like "Tu kisi rail si"...
2. UGLY(2014)
Cast: Ronit Roy, Tejasvini Kolhapure, Rahul Bhat, Vineet Singh, Girish Kulkarni, Siddhanth Kapoor, Surveen Chawla, Vipin Sharma
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Synopsis: A divorced aspiring actor draws a formal agreement with his wife enabling him to spend time with their daughter on Saturdays. One such day when he is busy discussing possible acting opportunities with his casting director, he leaves his daughter in his car. Within minutes, his daughter goes missing from the car. The abducted kid's stepfather - a police officer, joins her parents in a three-way lookout for her. Who cares more among the father, stepfather, mother and what ends they are ready to explore is what makes 'Ugly'
What I liked: Unsettling is the word that comes to my mind whenever I think of this movie. It is Anurag's best work to date. You will have a laugh at the start when you see the scene where the main lead goes to file a report in the police station and the inspector asks how a smartphone works and it turns bleak afterward. The climax is depressing. No matter how many good thrillers you have watched or good in picking thrillers, you can not predict the climax. Ronit Roy is in top form, other characters do justice to their roles too. It deals with many issues like Child Trafficking, Police Brutality, Systemic Apathy, Abuse of Power, Domestic Violence, Marital Dysfunction, Deception, greed & Envy. It's dark, intense, cynical, and intriguing.
3. ANKHON DEKHI (2013)
Cast: Rajat Kapoor, Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Maya Sarao, Brijendra Kala
Director: Rajat Kapoor
Synopsis: Ankhon Dekhi is a movie rotating around the main character Bauji and his joint family along with some additional characters. Bauji's daughter loves a boy, but as soon as the news is known to family, everything goes upside-down. Although this is just an incident in the movie as they further get married. The main thing is it triggers Bauji's questioning in the world, he decides to believe only what he can directly perceive with his senses. This makes him lose his job, family members get disappointed. A group of people joins him considering him as ideal - and the story moves ahead.
What I liked: The philosophy of the movie might be far-reaching but if adopted to a certain extent, life can be bliss. This is brilliant film making and big credit to the actors who have lived their role especially Sanjay Mishra and Seema Pahwa. The experience of the movie will stay with me forever. It depicts the reality of Indian societies, their problems, their stigmas, and a subtle way of living life. This low budget movie was missed by a large audience, but the people they manage to pull definitely take away food for their thoughts.
4. ALIGARH(2015)
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Raj Kumar Rao, Ashish Vidyarthi
Director: Hansal Mehta
Synopsis: Set in the state of Uttar Pradesh and based on true events, the plot revolves around Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras who taught Marathi at Aligarh Muslim University. He was sacked from his position of Reader and Chair of Modern Indian Languages, on charges of homosexuality. A sting operation was conducted by a TV channel that showed him in an embrace with a rickshaw puller, at his house inside the campus.
What I liked: This movie reveals the plight of homosexuals in conservative Indian society. The best part of the movie is definitely Manoj Bajpayee. The silences in his performance and vulnerability in his eyes perfectly depicts his anguish and loneliness. No dialogues yet so much to understand. Rajkumar Rao is very natural in his character. It's the silence in the movie which haunts the most.
5. THE LUNCHBOX (2013)
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Director: Ritesh Batra
Synopsis: By an improbable mix-up in the infallible lunch-box delivery system of the famous Mumbai Dabbawalas, two perfect strangers--the lonesome middle-aged widower, Saajan Fernandes, and the young but unhappy housewife, Ila--unexpectedly, will find their lives delightfully entangled. And just like that, when Ila's elaborate menus intended to win back her husband's affection mistakenly reach Saajan, a series of hand-written lunch-box messages explaining the situation will gradually prepare the ground for true friendship, and genuinely intriguing interest. However, are the two long-distance friends courageous enough to take the first and most crucial step in their relationship?
What I liked: The film captures the fragility of life, harrowing loneliness, and the hope of happiness. A wonderful reflection of humanity and how we deal with life's daily challenges. It shows the importance of the people that surround us and how we are all connected in some way even though we are not physically or geographically close.
It is simple yet matured romantic love story and It will leave you with unanswered questions. It's Irrfan's finest performance and Nimrat Kaur surprises you with the first main lead role she played in Hindi movies.
6. TUMBAAD(2018)
Cast: Sohum Shah, Jyoti Malshe, Ronjini Chakraborty
Director: Rahi Anil Barve, Anand Gandhi
Synopsis: Set in Tumbbad in the 1920s, the story revolves around the three generations of a family facing the consequences when they build a temple for the first-born of a goddess, named Hastar--he who must not be worshiped. Hastar is a terrible entity that can curse a person yet also can grant gold coins. And the story puts emphasis on human nature and the never-ending greed. The myth of Hastar is when the Goddess of Prosperity created the world she gave birth to Hastar followed by 16 Crore Gods and Goddesses. Hastar being her firstborn was her favorite child, but Hastar was very greedy. When the Goddess of Prosperity offered Hastar the ownership of all the gold in the universe or all the food, he took the gold as well as tried to take over the food in his greed fighting with his brothers and sisters. The 16 crore gods and goddesses overpowered Hastar and when they tried to kill him, the Goddess of Prosperity intervened and begged for his life. The 16 crore gods and goddesses accepted her request on one condition, that Hastar will never be mentioned in the Puranas nor he should be ever worshiped.
What I liked: I have never seen a horror movie in my life which is so beautiful. Tumbbad is an extraordinary film that shows how a man can sink in the ocean of his own greed. Greed is one of the worst enemies of mankind. But also, it is our own inability to have self-control on our desires and actions – that makes our subtle enemy stronger.The movie is visually so strong and appealing that it captures you right from the first frame. The entire movie is shot in natural light which lends a lot of authenticity to the visuals and to achieve this they have to shoot the movie for 6 years. There were consequential scenes of heavy monsoon and the makers have shot the film over 4 monsoons to bring out the authenticity and to keep the scenes convincing. This shows how passionate the makers were for the movie.
7. UDAAN (2010)
Cast: Ronit Roy, Rajat Barmecha, Manjot Singh, Ram Kapoor
Director: Vikramaditya Motwane
Synopsis: 16-year old aspiring poet/writer, Rohan Singh gets expelled from Shimla's prestigious Bishop Cotton School, and is sent home to Jamshedpur, where his furious widowed father, Bhairav, who had not visited him for 8 years, instructs him to work at their family business until lunch-time, and then attend engineering college. He also finds out that his father had re-married, is again a widower, and has a school-going son, Arjun; and he reluctantly attempts to fit in his father's plans. Things take a turn for the worst after Rohan gets arrested, and Arjun gets hospitalized.
What I liked: The film has everything going for it, it has a touching story, proficient performances & striking direction. gives you the hope to live your dreams. It mesmerizes you with its storytelling which includes the outstanding confrontation sequences between the father and the son about their different styles of living and choice of professions. Both Rajat Barmecha as the young boy and Ronit Roy as the father truly excel in their scenes together. You will realize why and how mothers are important in life after watching the movie.
8. TITLI (2015)
Cast: Ranvir Shorey, Shashank Arora, Amit Sial, Shivani Raghuvanshi
Director: Kanu Behl
Synopsis: In the badlands of Delhi's underbelly, Titli, the youngest member of a violent car-jacking brotherhood, plots a desperate bid to escape the 'family' business. His schemes are thwarted by his unruly brothers, who marry him off against his will. But Titli finds an unlikely ally in his new wife, Neelu, who nurtures her own frustrated dreams. They form a strange, mutually exploitative pact to break the stranglehold of their family roots. But is escape the same as freedom?
What I liked: This is not your typical Indian movie and takes you into a world that no one really wants to be a part of. This movie had an unfolding picture of the Indian suburbs which lies in the family situated in there. The screenplay is slightly gritty. The movie shows how the circumstances in which a poor and ambitious person gets into causes him to take shortcuts and involve in evil means. How the rich and powerful and the so-called 'friends' try to take advantage of your situation. It is Ranvir Shorey's best work to date and Shashank Arora just nailed it.
9. SHAHID(2012)
Cast: Rajkumar Rao, Kay Kay Menon, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Synopsis: ‘Shahid’ is a story based on real-life human-rights and criminal lawyer, Shahid Azmi, who was slain while defending the wrongly accused by the law in terrorist activities. She is an ordinary citizen with an extraordinary commitment to justice.
What I liked: Truth is pure, natural, and simple and this is true for Shahid. Hansal Mehta's Shahid focuses on the state of mind of a common man. It's so simple in presentation yet hard-hitting at the same time. The movie is brave, honest, relevant, and important in the times we are living in. This movie is about a real-life hero and it talks about hope. This was the first time I got impressed with Rajkumar Rao's acting skills, he totally nailed the character. Hansal's direction is top-notch too.
10. SONCHIRIYA (2019)
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey, Ashutosh Rana, Bhumi Pednekar
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Synopsis: This is the story of a group of rebels in Chambal. The year is 1975. The Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, has declared Emergency in the country. Man Singh (Manoj Bajpayee) meanwhile leads a gang in Chambal, a region that more or less is lawless. Vakil Singh (Ranvir Shorey) and Lakhna (Sushant Singh Rajput) are important members of this gang. Man Singh is in need of money to procure new arms. Based on a tip from Lacchu (Jaspal Sharma), he and his men descend to Brahmpuri village. Marriage is taking place in this hamlet where the groom is about to get a huge amount of gold and cash. Man Singh and his gang reach the marriage venue in order to loot this wealth. However, the cops, led by Virender Gujjar (Ashutosh Rana) ambush the gang. In the tough fight, Man Singh and half of the gang get killed. Vakil, Lakhna, and others escape. Vakil, now the leader of the gang, accuses Lakhna of betraying them and calling the cops. Lakhna is fed up with being a rebel and wants to surrender. Meanwhile, as they are running from the cops, they bump into Indumati Tomar (Bhumi Pednekar). She's accompanied by her sister Sonchiriya (Khushiya) who has been brutally raped. Sonchiriya needs to be taken to the hospital urgently and she asks for Vakil's help. The gang agrees. They halt to seek blessings of their goddess at a temple where Indu's husband and other family members arrive. She is accused of killing her father-in-law and they ask the gang to hand over Indu and Sonchiriya. Vakil agrees but Lakhna realizes it's not just and hence revolts.
What I liked: It's gritty, haunting, raw, original, violent, and engaging at the same time. Sushant delivered his career's best performance in the movie. This movie deserves a special mention for the star cast. Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Ranvir Shorey, bhumi pednekar, and Sushant Singh Rajput in a movie is the reason itself to create hype still it bombed at BO. This movie captures the soul of Chambal and dialect pretty efficiently. It stays with you.
Part II- Next Week
टिप्पणियाँ