Indian Movies To Watch
List activity
337 views
• 6 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
81 titles
- DirectorGoutam GhoseStarsNaseeruddin ShahShabana AzmiUtpal DuttThis is Goutam Ghose's speculative commentary on poverty and exploitation in rural Bihar, based on Bengali story Paathi.
- DirectorMahesh BhattStarsSulabha AryaPooja BhattSakshi BhattPooja has been brought up by her grandparents, and has no recollection of her mom and dad. She is told by her grandpa, Kantaprasad, that her dad had passed away. Years later, Pooja has now grown up. She starts getting mysterious phone calls from a male who merely says "I love you", and hangs-up. When her grandpa has these phone calls traced, the caller is Anand, Pooja's dad. Kantaprasad has him beaten up, and warns him against contacting Pooja again. When Pooja is being molested by a male in her apartment building, Anand comes to her rescue, and it is then Pooja comes to know that this shabby, alcoholic man is her dad. Will Pooja accept him, or will she follow her grandpa's advise and continue on with her life.
- DirectorMahesh BhattStarsKumar GauravShernaz PatelAnupam KherThe protagonist, Rahul, is an aspiring film maker but he does not have a good script nor the money needed to invest in making a movie. That's when his childhood friend steps in and mortgages his restaurant to come up with the money and claims that he is doing it for himself, for he believes in the capability of Rahul, and wants his own name to become immortal. Rahul is the son of a 1950's film director and his keep; his father also has a "legal" family which knows about the existence of Rahul and his mother and detest them to no end. Every time Rahul goes to their house to get some money, he is ridiculed by everyone in that household, including his father's mother and his lawfully wedded wife. His father, though, cares more for Rahul's mother than his own wife. Rahul also has a girlfriend who is very supportive of him and who eventually marries him. While Rahul is struggling to make his film and is short on money, every small gesture to fulfill his needs - like smoking - by his working wife flusters him, and the husband and wife have squabbles. When Rahul eventually completes his film, he is very disillusioned since it does not rise up to his expectations. That's when his friend suggests that a film successful film is that which is based on one's own trials and tribulations in life. This provides the necessary spark for Rahul and he starts scripting a new story based on his own life which revolves around his own illegitimate birth, his mother who worked as an extra in his father's films, his father's other family, and the other people associated with him. This story line prompts his father to file a lawsuit against Rahul for personal defamation. When the premier of the film is announced, Rahul is very desirous of his father coming to it even though there is a pending lawsuit against him. The last scene is the Award ceremony where Rahul's film Janam is announced the best film and when Rahul comes to the stage to receive his award he requests that the award be given to him by his father who is sitting in the audience. When his father comes up to the stage to give Rahul the award, he is filled with pride, and he says that this win is akin to when a horse wins a race, the people applaud the jockey, but the horse thinks that the claps are for him. On this note the movie ends whereby the Rahul, his mother, and his father are united even if for an ephemeral moment.
- DirectorChetan AnandStarsRafiq AnwarUma AnandKamini KaushalWealthy landlord's sewage diversion into village sparks protests led by Balraj against housing project. Sarkar's daughter Maya sides with villagers, falling for Balraj. Epidemic from sewage endangers villagers, threatening Sarkar's power.
- DirectorGirish KarnadStarsRekhaAmjad KhanKulbhushan KharbandaBased on the circa 2nd century BCE to 2nd Century CE, Sanskrit play "Daridra-Charudatta" by the famous Indian playwright Bhasa, "Utsav" faithfully follows Bhasa's story-line. Vasantasena, a courtesan who dances at the King Palaka's court hides in Charudatta's house while running away from the amorous attentions of the king's brother-in-law. She falls in love with Charudatta, though he is married and penniless. They have an affair. Meanwhile, the rightful heir to the throne - King Palaka's brother - escapes from prison. While he is being pursued by the king's troops, Charudatta helps him. The king's brother-in-law strangles Vasantasena when she refuses to submit to him and leaves her for dead. When Charudatta tries to have her jewels pawned, he is arrested for her murder. What happens to him and the other characters constitutes the final part of the film.
- DirectorGulzarStarsShabana AzmiUtpal DuttNaseeruddin ShahThe film is about married couples of urban India having extramarital relations and adultery. Based on Gulzar's own story "Seema", the film portrays the relationship between a theatre director, Sudhir, who neglects everything but his work and is struggling to establish his theatre group. His wife Seema is also the leading lady in the theatre group but is left alone as Sudhir is involved in his work. Things take a turn when Sudhir's friend TK turns up and woos Seema.
- DirectorShyam BenegalStarsGirish KarnadSmita PatilNaseeruddin ShahA young veterinary surgeon, Dr. Rao, who makes a visit to a village, where he intends to commence a co-operative society dairy for the betterment of the rural people.
- DirectorGovind NihalaniStarsShashi KapoorRekhaSupriya PathakAngad is a confused teenager trying to find himself and is caught in between the marital problems of his Maharashtrian mother Neelima and Punjabi fat.
- DirectorSantosh SivanStarsAyesha DharkerK. KrishnaSonu SisupalA young female terrorist goes on a suicide assassination mission, but her resolve to complete it is put to the test.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsChhabi BiswasGangapada BasuPadmadeviDepicts the end days of a decadent zamindar (landlord) in Bengal, and his efforts to uphold his family prestige even when faced with economic adversity.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsAnil ChatterjeeMadhavi MukherjeeJaya BachchanLife at home changes when a house-wife from a middle-class, conservative family in Calcutta gets a job as a saleswoman.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSharmila TagoreKaberi BoseSimi GarewalFour carefree, jaded middle-class bachelors from Calcutta head out for a holiday in the wilderness. Before long, each man undergoes their own journey of self-discovery.
- DirectorAnand GandhiStarsAydah El-KashefYogesh ShahFaraz KhanThe film explores questions of identity, justice, beauty, meaning and death through an experimental photographer, an ailing monk and a young stockbroker.
- DirectorPrashant BhargavaStarsNawazuddin SiddiquiMukkund ShuklaSeema BiswasIn the old city of Ahmedabad, amid India's largest kite festival, a family duels, spins and soars like the countless kites in the skies above.
- DirectorMani RatnamStarsShamiliRevathiRaghuvaranAfter a few years, Chitra learns that her child, who was believed to be dead, is alive but is suffering from a mental illness. However, her family faces many challenges while looking after her child.
- StarsPankaj KapurDeepa SahiAmrish PuriThis TV miniseries ("Darkness" in English) became famous in India in the mid/late 80s for its realistic depiction of the partition of the Indian subcontinent. In 1947, the sub-continent became India, East (now Bangladesh), and West Pakistan (today's Pakistan). The series pretended to keep memories and truths about the partition alive, at a time when many Indians and Pakistanis seemed to be forgetting this historical tragedy. The miniseries became a landmark 297-minute, 35mm film, now shown mostly at Indian Film Festivals. The film is based on the book by Bhisham Sahni, himself a refugee to India from West Punjab, now in Pakistan. Thus fittingly, this epic looks at Partition from an Indian Punjabi perspective, as the fate of Sikh and Hindu families in West Punjab is emphasized. The first part also underscores the Muslim viewpoint: the provocations they suffered from Sikhs and especially Hindus, and their ultimate supremacy in West Punjab, which became the heart of Pakistan. The "Darkness" of those times of religious intolerance and civil war highlights two stories of refugee families, one Sikh and the other Hindu. These victims of hate and their Muslim counterparts had, until 1947, been brothers and co-existed for over a thousand years throughout the Indian subcontinent. With "modern freedom", the lands of this once "one people" was partitioned into Muslim and Hindu republics. Non-Muslim religious groups, however (Sikhs, Christians, and many Muslims - as many as in Pakistan), migrated to the new India. Pakistan became, "de facto", exclusively Muslim.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsSupriya ChoudhuryAnil ChatterjeeGyanesh MukherjeeA selfless young woman (Supriya Choudhury) sacrifices her own happiness for her unappreciative family.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsRosy SamadKabori SarwarRawshan ZamilAfter their wedding night, a fisherman's young wife is kidnapped on the Titas River in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.
- DirectorGovind NihalaniStarsOm PuriBharat GopyPankaj KapurMadhav Verma (Om Puri) is a dedicated, honest, and diligent union representative. He represents the majority of the employees in an organization, which recognizes his union. However, there is a rival in the shape and form of Rustom Patel (Naseeruddin Shah) who is attempting to break the union so as to establish his majority, through his henchman Krishnan (Gopi), and will not hesitate to stoop to any level to get what he wants. Chhotelal (Pankaj Kapoor) loses his legs in an accident, and must be hospitalized. Krishnan takes advantage of the situation and puts pressure on Chhotelal and his brothers (Achyut Potdar and Harish Patel) to enroll in his union, and he will get him a higher compensation package than his regular union. Madhav must use his utmost diligence and consistently uphold his principles as they will be put to a test before all logic gives way to violence, anarchy, apathy, and corruption.
- DirectorSai ParanjpyeStarsShabana AzmiNaseeruddin ShahSudha ChopraAnirudh Parmar is blind, but he does not let this impairment bind him down. He runs a school for the blind as a Principal. He meets with social worker, Kavita. Kavita is attracted to him, and he slowly also gets attracted to her. When marriage is proposed, both agree to marry each other. Then Anirudh starts having doubts whether this marriage is going to succeed, as he feels he is being patronized, and pittied.
- DirectorMrinal SenStarsShabana AzmiAnnu KapoorPankaj KapurSubhash is a photographer from the city, who has come to take pictures of some old temples and ruins in a village. Ruins fascinate him. While in the village, he gets acquainted with a young woman, Jamini, who has had her heart broken in the past, by another visitor from the big city. Will history repeat itself, or will she find a way out of the ruins at last?
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsUtpal DuttDipankar DeyMamata ShankarA well-off family is paid an unexpected, and rather unwanted, visit by a man claiming to be the woman's long-lost uncle. The initial suspicion with which they greet the man slowly dissolves as he regales them with stories of his travels.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeWaheeda RehmanRuma Guha ThakurtaA taxi driver attempts to introduce his cab service in rural Bengal against many odds.
- DirectorMahesh ManjrekarStarsTabuSachin KhedekarMohnish BehlHappiness of Shrikant and Aditi's twenty seven year old marriage is over. After it's reveled that Aditi is beneficiary to the property of late Malhar Kamat. Which opens many streets from the past.
- DirectorShyam BenegalStarsRajeshwari SachdevRajit KapoorRavi JhankalIndia's caste system depicted in film within a film