Ten films that told thrilling tales with terrific performances. Ten films that need to be celebrated for breaking boundaries. Bring on the applause.
10- Sanju
Dir- Rajkumar Hirani
This is a seriously flawed film, an unabashedly whitewashed portrait of a controversial Bollywood leading man. Then again, we were perhaps naive to expect a deconstructionist biopic when the man at helm is one of our most adroitly manipulative storytellers. However, it is hard to deny that Sanju, regardless of its sincerity, is pot-boiler cinema served with stirring, if overwhelmingly dramatic, conviction. Ranbir Kapoor pulls of a staggeringly anti-heroic portrait of Sanjay Dutt with charisma and credibility and is ably anchored by Vicky Kaushal's infectiously endearing Kamlesh, working as the film's skewed moral compass, and Hirani's uncanny ability to wring out tears and laughs at the most unexpected moments.
9- Bhavesh Joshi Superhero
Dir- Vikramaditya Motwane
Not many watched Vikramaditya Motwane's well-intentioned and convincingly performed, if slightly unwieldy, drama that, contrary to its sensationalist title, explores quite nimbly just what vigilantism means in India today. Armed with subversive digs at toxic jingoism and petty bureaucracy so ubiquitous in our country, the film first portrays how young idealism falls at the face of brutal realities; the slickly shot second half ratchets up a blissfully dreamlike masked avenger yarn with some spiffy action and a climax that actually makes sense. It is just the probing, subtly incisive and even coolly sardonic slice of agitprop cinema that we need in a screen flooded with bluster.
8- Manto
Dir- Nandita Das
Nandita Das' well-crafted Manto, populated with an incredible ensemble of cameos, proves that some of the most intriguing biopics portray both the illustrious genius and personal demons of their subjects. It shows just how much of his own predicament and dark inspiration did the Urdu legend Saadat Hasan Manto pour into his brutally beautiful tales that stunned readers and cynics alike. Traversing between the cinematic glory of 1940s Bombay and drunken disillusionment in post-partition Lahore, between real violence and their vivid scenes in his pages, this mesmeric film, propelled by Nawazuddin Siddiqui's compulsive, thrillingly unyielding performance, shows that even a mind raging with brilliance can be a No Man's Land.
7- Manmarziyaan
Dir- Anurag Kashyap
He might have landed more powerful punches with his other powerful cinematic outing this year but it is Manmarziyaan that lingers as the more slyly subversive film from Anurag Kashyap. Written cleverly by Kanika Dhillon, spiced with a mustard-scented Punjabi flavour and armed with the most rambunctious and enthralling soundtrack this year, this seemingly linear post-modern romance tweaked and twisted its own regular tropes. As Kashyap plunges us into the swirling romantic ambiguity of the bold and bubbly Rumi (a fiery Tapsee Pannu), we are also challenged, compellingly to decide between heady, reckless love (an infectiously spunky Vicky Kaushal) and a marriage of gentlemanly courtship (a surprisingly charming and vulnerable Abhishek Bachchan).
6- Stree
Dir- Amar Kaushik
Like the other subversive horror film in this list, Amar Kaushik's directorial debut has a lot more on its mind than just yet another parody of the genre. Stree, set in a town full of pig-headed cuckolds, is not just a film with real smarts but also real stakes and a very resonant statement for today's times. The film balances, with admirable neatness, both effectively pulpy jump scares and cheeky, even ironic, laughs and even pads both the terror and tomfoolery with well-aimed jabs at sexism and misogyny. The always stellar Rajkummar Rao leads a fascinating ensemble, rounded out with small but sensational turns from Pankaj Tripathi and Vijay Raaz. Yes, even Shraddha Kapoor looks endearing this time around.
5- Raazi
Dir- Meghna Gulzar
Patriotic cinema, in today's time, is crammed with chest-thumping jingoism. That is only one reason as to why Raazi, directed with rare sensitivity by Meghna Gulzar, stands out. As the story of a brave-hearted yet believably tormented girl who spies on her own family to do her duty to the nation, it is unexpectedly a superbly balanced and even poignant meditation on just what patriotism, on both sides, means and the unbearable sacrifice that it demands. On top of that, it is a reasonably grown-up drama of espionage and the moral compromises that it entails. And, most notably, it is shouldered more than capably by Alia Bhatt turning in a performance of courage, grace and pathos.
4- Pataakha
Dir- Vishal Bhardwaj
Great filmmakers take the bare bones of a story and flesh it with something ingenious and intelligent. Full marks should be given rightfully to the assuredly eclectic Vishal Bhardwaj to turn a mere 6-page short story about quarrelling sisters into the most sparkling comedy this year. As Champa and Genda (played with furious and combustible spontaneity by newcomer Radhika Madan and Sanya Malhotra) fight over beedis, boyfriends and even budding aspirations, the director fashions Orwellian metaphors on the love-hate dynamic between us and our neighbour across the border. It is a rough-edged gem of a film decorated with devilish quirks, dialogues that you can quote and a character named Dipper, so called for his blinking eyes.
3- Tumbbad
Dir- Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad
2018 was a year of exemplary accomplishments but of them all, it was Tumbbad that deserves the highest praise for breaking ground with phenomenal effect. Horror cinema in our country is inevitably schlocky and almost intentionally mediocre but this ambitious, atmospheric and meticulously crafted period piece delivered more than just eerie chills and full-blown monster mayhem that would do Guillermo Del Toro proud. Shot with a pulse-pounding beauty and intensity by the extraordinary Pankaj Kumar and graced with a lean yet beautifully cryptic narrative that has even the allegorical symbolism of There Will Be Blood, Barve and Prasad's film bleeds with pure sensation, with horror and wonder at everything unearthly, with irony and disgust at the depths of human greed.
2- Mukkabaaz
Dir- Anurag Kashyap
An enthralling drama that equates boxing superbly with the everyday battles of life and livelihood. A sardonic and unsparing indictment of the corruption and mediocrity found in sport in our nation. A full-throated cry of defiance against the prevalent communalism and casteism. Anurag Kashyap's Mukkabaaz is all these powerful and punchy films at the same time. But above all, it is an incredible romance, a love story with such stirring wit, warmth and despair, that you root for it to win against all the insurmountable odds. The vivacious Zoya Hussain speaks volumes with only her eyes, Jimmy Shergill is frighteningly good as the monstrous villain named Bhagwan and Vineet Kumar Singh makes for an unforgettably rough but rousing hero who fights back for glory and dignity.
1- Andhadhun
Dir- Sriram Raghavan
At the top of a monumental pile of brilliance sits Sriram Raghavan's astounding, always startling Andhadhun, a film which will be rightfully treasured as the Bollywood thriller to beat all Bollywood thrillers, even as the legacy of Johnny Gaddar, from the same maker, will remain intact. Indeed, not since then has there been a potboiler so assuredly intuitive, so wickedly inventive and so intelligent as to trust its audiences to assemble the jigsaw puzzle themselves, even as it keeps on pulling every conceivable rug beneath their feet.
It is also a giddily sinful pleasure to see it turn from a whodunnit into something else completely, staying devilishly one step ahead of us always. Meanwhile, we are spellbound by the beautifully melodic twists and turns, the undisguised affection for vintage Bollywood, quirks that feel almost surreal and the kind of audaciously brilliant writing that we just don't see much of these days. Add to that a cocksure blind pianist and also an ensemble of uniformly fantastic actors playing self-serving yet slippery characters that we need not talk much about, including one of our greatest actresses in crackling form, and we get more than what we bargained for, a film impossible to look away from. Watch it once to be bowled over, watch it again to believe what you just saw.
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