The Best Bombay Films Of All Time

10- Aamir (2008)

Forget the overrated 'Slumdog Millionaire' which claimed to be a thrilling plunge into Dharavi but turned out to be content with merely scratching the corrugated roofs of Juhu and Airport tenements. Raj Kumar Gupta's turbo-charged debut- a crackling take at the Fillipino thriller 'Cavite'- dug even deeper, taking its helpless and harried eponymous protagonist on a Hitchcockian-trip through the gullies and ghettoes of Bhendi Bazaar and Dongri. Sure, the film's politics seem muddled and the end is rather ham-fisted for a film boasting of such realism. But there is no denying the terse, taut punch of the spectacular first half. Aamir (Rajeev Khandelwal) is a chocolate boy doctor who is pulled and pushed into a secret conspiracy that also has him discovering harsh, never-before-seen truths of the city's communal underbelly. In between, the sweltering streets, the flea-infested restaurants and wet abbatoirs are bustling with anonymous spies. And in the backdrop, Amit Trivedi's breakout score brings poetry to the pathos.

9- Jewel Thief (1967)

If the 50s was about hungry capitalism and the 70s was about angry nihilism, the 60s in Bombay was all about the freewheeling fun and frolic that defined the same decade in other lands at the same time. Along with the jazz and cabaret, and the bootlegged liquor and bouffants, this was also the era of the rollicking Bollywood caper and Vijay Anand was at the helm of this game. As a welcome respite from the intensity of 'Guide', 'Jewel Thief' is a masterpiece of Bollywood at its most pulpy and preposterous. It is essentially a classic whodunnit armed with a genuinely classic twist and it boasts of some of the most seminal sartorial flourishes that Dev Anand was known for. But it is also a swinging Bombay potboiler- recreating the grand old jewellery stores of Hughes Road and the saucy cabaret clubs and frolicsome club pools with pomp and show. You cannot imagine films like 'Johnny Gaddar' and 'Bombay Velvet' without its undeniable impression. 

8- Rangeela (1995)

By the mid-90s, Indian directors had started giving up on Bombay. And it was then that Ram Gopal Varma made his mark- giving audiences his thrillingly gritty portraits of the sordid parallel city of crime and corruption in 'Satya' and 'Company'. But 'Rangeela' lingers even more distinctly in the mind as a portrait of a city at the turn of a paradigm-altering national revolution. To begin with, it sums up the city's still-throbbing fascination with films and filmflam. As we see the plucky Milli (Urmila Matondkar) make her way- from girl-next-door to screen sensation- we see all our starry-eyed dreams mirrored with shattering resonance. There is enough film snark to enjoy- to drunk party guests boasting of exploits to directors who try to be Spielberg- and there is the post-1991 middle class staring wide-eyed at new-found wealth and gushing about Suzuki sedans. And above all, there is Aamir Khan's street rat Munna, infusing reality and becoming a most delightful archetype Bombay tapori.

7- Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983)

Bombay comedies alternate from being lovably goofy Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee side-splitters to Sai Paranjpe's social satire. And yet it is Kundan Shah's rip-roaring, outrageously loony and perfectly pitch-black comedy that captures the city with astute perspective.Set in the backdrop of the uneasy early 80s, a time when the bigwigs recaptured the city, 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' is, for all its hilarious gags (the Mahabharata fiasco) and endlessly quip-worthy one-liners ('25 is a round figure'. 'Thoda khaao, thoda phenko'), the harshly all-too-relevant tale of a common man pitted fatally against the evils or urbanization. The film's arch villain, the devious Tarneja (played by a comically sly Pankaj Kapoor), is every bit the unscrupulous Bombay kingpin, building illegal skyscrapers, bribing bureaucrats with Swiss chocolate cake and having the last laugh in the tragic climax. And the film's heroes (played deliciously by Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani) embody the helpless disillusionment of the unfortunate Bombayite perfectly.

6- Choti Si Baat (1975)

Of all the Eastman Color comic yarns of the 70s, none of them brings out Bombay alive as vividly as 'Choti Si Baat'. Basu Chatterjee's beautifully simple film is about what Bowie could call a 'godawful small affair'. Arun (played by Amol Palekar with quintessential earnest charm) is an everyday office clerk who fancies his office crush Prabha (Vidya Sinha) but does not quite know how to win her heart. After every trick in the book goes kaput (from a rusty motorcycle to a restaurant date that goes awry), he seeks the consul of a ridiculously named aging colonel (Ashok Kumar) who teaches him a thing or two to make a lady go weak at the knees. So much for the plot, which is made hilarious and poignant by the way how Chatterjee lavishes love on his city. From the matchbox office skyscrapers of Nariman Point to the restaurants and streets of Churchgate and Colaba, this is a wistful Bombay locked in an elegant time-capsule. 

5- No Smoking (2007)

Among all the new generation directors, no one captures Bombay as spectacularly as Anurag Kashyap. From the gritty street flavour of 'Black Friday' to the barely furnished suburban landscapes of 'Ugly' and 'Raman Raghav 2.0' to the gold-tinted Technicolor glory of the vastly underrated 'Bombay Velvet', his portrait of the city is versatile, immersive and exceptionally nuanced. And 'No Smoking' stands out because how it creates a surreal, dream-like Bombay that we have never seen in movies. Its twisted Kafka-meets-David Lynch tale- of a chain smoker forced to give up his habit- takes the arrogant K (a perfect John Abraham) on a soul-scorching tour- from svelte South Bombay highrises to the sordid innards of Dharavi tenements, from bizarre underground hellholes to jazz clubs named after Bob Fosse. Regular lensman Rajeev Ravi shoots both the dust and the neon and Kashyap unfolds a nightmarish vision of a city where the normal Bombay ground rules dont quite apply. 

4- The Lunchbox (2013)

The most recent film on this list is Ritesh Batra's stunning and soul-stirring debut- a most unusual epistolary romance set in motion by a lunchbox packed with a wife's love and delivered to the wrong (?) address. To begin with, it is Bombay's very own near-flawless system of tiffin carriers which brings together, by written word and miracle, disgruntled Saajan Fernandes (a superbly nuanced Irrfan Khan) and the lonely and lovely Ila (Nimrat Kaur). The two exchange secrets, reflections and sweet nothings through their now-magical steel containers while, in the background, Bombay aka Mumbai pops out and becomes another compelling character. Through Michael Simmonds' naturalistic visuals, Batra laments the changing times- the isolation of the old and the corruption of the young as well as the old facades being destroyed for urbanization. But, with equally beautiful nuance, he praises Bombay for still being capable of wide-eyed wonder and wistful romantic longing, of both beauty and sorrow and ecstasy and agony. 

3- Shree 420 (1955)

Those, who think that Raj Kapoor was inspired only by Charles Chaplin, had it all wrong. Sure, his Raj, the leading man of this immortal classic, had borrowed the butter-fingered, bumbling demeanour from the Little Tramp but the actor-director also had the Nehru-era milieu of urban capitalism in his mind. As we see Raj making his foolhardy way, from sleeping on the city's pavements to falling in love to rising illegitimately to the elite of scoundrels at the top, we see the everyday tale of rise and fall from grace of every Bombay struggler who wishes to make it big even today in the City Of Gold. Never mind the wonderfully cheerful climax in which Raj regains his innocence. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas' whip-cracking script, Shailendra's astute lyrics ('Mudh Mudh Ke Na Dekh' is Bombay's de facto anthem on moving on without regrets) and Radhu Karmakar's immersive black-and-white visuals of a glittering 1950s Bombay make 'Shree 420' as an everlasting portrait of the sinfully thrilling allure of this city. 

2- Parinda (1989)

Get this right- without 'Parinda', we would have never got 'Satya' or any of those thrilling Bombay gangster films that have now become so commonplace. Back in 1989, Vidhu Vinod Chopra was not quite the cash cow filmmaker that he is now; hell, he was still the lean and mean storyteller with a flair for tension and bold violence. So, never mind that 'Parinda' has its own share of well-worn Bollywood formula. Sure, the plot is extremely pulpy- Anil Kapoor's doe-eyed Karan is tugged away into a world of darkness and vengeance after a bitter tragedy. However, the beauty of 'Parinda' lies in how it alternates from gushing lightness (those frothy moments of friendship and that lovely 'Tumse Milke' ballad) to gritty gunplay in the ghettoes. Through its tense, sweltering tale of ruthless crime and corruption, Chopra directs a rollercoaster ride of a city where hope and horror co-exist. Iconic locations play a great role too- from a blood-splattered murder at Kabutar Khana to Renu Saluja's brutal editing cutting from an anguished Kishen (a superb Jackie Shroff) to the roaring crowds at the Gateway Of India.

1- Deewar (1975)

Where would all our Bombay films be without 'Deewar'? By the mid-1970s, Yash Chopra has comfortably proved his mettle as a formidable Bollywood filmmaker, with more populist fare like 'Waqt' and 'Aadmi Aur Insaan' contrasted with the more daring 'Daag' and 'Ittefaq'. And yet, 'Deewar' is not only his finest hour as a teller of powerfully entertaining cinema; it is also the finest film about the city- a film which has made Bombay an indelible canvas for the silver screen. 

Essentially, there is little new in 'Deewar'. Like the other blockbuster of the same year, the plot- of a pulpy ideological war between blood brothers- is about at least a decade old. And yet, everyone and everything in Chopra's film fires on all all cylinders. The direction is enthralling, Salim-Javed's narrative packs in incredible dialogue, drama, action, emotion and romance into the film and that extraordinary cast- Amitabh Bachchan playing the vengeful Vijay with gusto and emotion- works miracles from the material. And in the process, 'Deewar' leaves us with a rich wealth of the city's various shades to choose from- from the docklands, where we can imagine long-legged heroes taking on local gangsters to Vir Nariman Road, where we can still imagine boys with boot polish, from the railway tenements to the sexy highrises and down to a nocturnal chase in the city's streets. Today, take a trip inside the twisted gullies of Bandra and you may still find Vijay, with a wrongly painted red shirt, on the walls of an old bungalow.