10 Gems Of Indian Cinema You Simply Cannot Afford To Miss

Melodrama, Loud Acting and Masala Content were the main ingredients of Indian Cinema in past. It had no relation to realism. Lately, Indian cinemas have divulged fundamentally by not limiting itself to just a mere source of entertainment. In present times Indian cinema has managed to create an impact on the viewers and has opened the room for discussion on several topics. It has given us some of the most amazing content which deserved more limelight and attention from the audience as well as the critics. However, these movies went unnoticed. So if stuck on what film to watch? We have you covered! We present you 10 gems of  Indian Cinema that you cannot afford to miss at any cost.

10 Gems Of Indian Cinema You Simply Cannot Afford To Miss

1) Hellaro (Gujrati Regional Cinema)

Abhishek Shah’s directorial debut Hellaro is a powerful slap against patriarchy. The film is about a group of women living in a kutch. The women in this village are suppressed and subjected to all sort of deprivation one can imagine. When a newlywed educated bride Manjhri arrives in the village, she takes fearless steps toward changing little things. The highlight of this film is the women meeting a dhol player Mulji who is carrying the burden of his own past.

Apart from women empowerment, it also highlights the need to discard superstitious beliefs and hypocritic practices from our daily life. Hellaro also won the National Film Award for the best feature film in the year 2019.

To watch Hellaro on MX Player click here

2) Thithi (Kannada Cinema)

Thithi is a splendid and pleasant look into the lives of a couple of interesting individuals. The story is situated in a town in Karnataka where the 101-year-old resident affectionately known as Century Gowda dies. The film focusses on Gowda family particularly the following three generations of his family- Gaddappa his son, Thammana his grandson, Abhi his great-grandson.

While Thammana and Abhi are men who carry on basically as we would anticipate them at their age. Gaddapa is the most intriguing character all through the film. Gaddapa is free-energetic and away from common joys. Thammana on other hand is recklessly determined twisted and need to acquire the land of Century Gowda which proves to be a difficult task for him. Abhi, a young adult is keener to pursue a girl and whos idea of romance has been quite influenced with typical Bollywood movies.

Saw THITHI the 4th time and it was funnier than it was ever before.I seriously envy this Ram Reddy, how do you make non actors act so well?

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 30, 2016

To watch Thithi on Netflix click here

3) Aligarh (Hindi Cinema)

Koi meri feeling ko teeen aksharo me kesa samjh sakta hai.Ye ek kavita ki tarah hai,Bhavatmak.An uncontrollable urge – Dr Siras

Hansal Mehta’s Aligarh, a concept changing movie. It not only focuses on homophobia or viewpoint of society towards homosexuality but it also highlights the problem of loneliness. The movie is based on a true story of the much wronged Dr Siras who is a Marathi professor at Aligarh Muslim University. Dr Siras finds himself in conspiracy planned by his colleague due to his homosexuality.

Siras identity as a human is narrowed down to a three-letter word “Gay”. Basic human rights are deprived just because of a person’s identity.  To overcome his loneliness Siras uses alcohol and Lata Mangeshkar’s Music as his pathway to feel like a normal human again.

To watch Aligarh onZEE5 click here

4) Court (Marathi / Multi-lingual Cinema)

Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court revolves around the arrest and court proceeding of aged folksinger/activist Narayan Kamble. The film addresses the weak Indian legal system and the way it functions. The apparent suicide of a sewage cleaner leads to the arrest of Dalit dissident Narayan. The film also focuses on the personal lives of the judge, public prosecutor & the activist’s lawyer as the case meanders it’s away across months courtesy of numerous excuses and delays.

The lawyers pursuing the case are no Bollywood-style lawyers banging their fists, good orators who pursue law only to fight for what is right and that’s the best part of the movie i.e. Honesty.

5) Ship of Theseus (Hindi / Multi-lingual Cinema)

As the planks of Theseus’ ship needed repair, it was replaced part by part, up to a point where not a single part from the original ship remained in it, anymore. Is it, then, still the same ship? Ship of Theseus is a film based on paradox. The film explores the question of identity, beauty, justice, meaning and death. The film recounts three totally various stories consistently.

Three stories. Three strangers. Three journeys. Questions of existence, consequences, worth, value, morals. And one intersection. The film also won the National Film Award for the best feature film in the year 2019.

6) Village Rockstars (Assamese Cinema)

Rima Das’s Village Rockstars is set in some distant town of Assam which is a rude awakening to us all who rest in solace with all courtesies. The movie highlights the gap between rural and urban India where rural India faces the brunt of poverty, natural disaster etc. Despite all these obstacles Dhanu and her friends dream to form a rock band.

Dhanu aspires and dreams to have a guitar and asks her mother to get one but the cost of the guitar is beyond their affordability. The movie asks us to keep dreaming which is quite relatable to the story of Rima Das who didn’t go to any film school. Rima Das is the writer, director, cinematographer, editor and also the producer of this movie.

To watch Village Rockstars on Netflix – click here

Also read: King Khan Shah Rukh Khan: The Man We Know, The Journey We Don’t

7) Tumbaad (Hindi Cinema)

Tumbbad is a mythological horror drama, that explores the myth of Hindu demon Hastar – the first son of Goddess of Prosperity, and the symbol of boundless greed. If we try to describe this movie in one line then it would be ” The world has enough for everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed”.

Tumbaad is an underrated gem. A story which is universal but presented with such elegance that it sets a tone for a visual treat to the audience. The best thing about Tumbaad is its realism. It was first shot in the year 2012 and later on film was re-written and reshot in the year 2015.

To watch Tumbaad on Amazon Prime click here

8) Rang De Basanti (Hindi Cinema)

“Koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota usse perfect banana padta hai”

Rang De Basanti a film by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra and co-written by Rensil D’silva. It is a story of a group of college students coming from different backgrounds and enjoying their lives in their bubble however world of revolutionaries stirs consciousness in these youths. As young people of this country, we can relinquish everything how it is, or another option is to stand against unjust and take the responsibility to change it.

To watch Rang De Basanti on Netflix  Clear Here

9) Ratsasan (Kollywood-Tamil Cinema)

An aspiring director who has written a script on a serial killer soon becomes a Police Sub-inspector who has to catch a psychopath killer who is abducting young girls from their schools and killing them. How in this cat and mouse pursue, our Protagonist begins carrying on with the lives of the characters he once made for his own film frames the essence of this Gruesome and unfeeling mental tension spine chiller.

Ram Kumar’s Ratsasan is very well made and keeps us hooked and one of the best psychological thriller movies made in India. Every single part of this film directly from cinematography, direction, sound design, editing is just great. This film has set bars for suspenseful thrill movies.

To watch Ratsasan on Hotstar click here

10) Harishchandrachi Factory (Marathi Cinema)

Paresh Mokashi’s National Award-winning movie Harishchandrachi Factory recounts the genuine story of the creation of India’s first element movie Raja Harishchandra (1913), which was coordinated by the pioneer Dadasaheb Phalke. The entire biography of Dadasaheb Phalke, his struggles and obstacles, probably also some depressing stuff about the British torturing Indians. But this is one whole of a fun ride

Harishchandrachi Factory, India’s official entry to the Oscars in 2010, is a diamond of an encounter that recounts an uncommon story of the unstoppable soul of a standard man.

To watch Harishchandrachi Factor on Netflix click here

Special Mention: Massan, Game Over, Trapped, Newton etc

Do comment and let us know which other movies deserve to be a part of this list.

Also read: Insights on Malayalam Film Jallikattu, India’s official entry to Oscars 2021