National Film Archive of India's 125 Great Indian Films
In 1995, FIAF asked National film archives to send lists of films important in Film History, Film and The Other Arts, Film and Reality, and National Productions. This list has all the Indian films nominated by the National Film Archive of India. The first 26 in the first 3 categories, followed by 99 from the National category.
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125 titles
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsPinaki SenguptaSmaran GhosalKamala AdhikariFollowing his father's death, a boy leaves home to study in Calcutta, while his mother must face a life alone.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeSharmila TagoreAlok ChakravartyThis final installment in Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy follows Apu's life as an orphaned adult aspiring to be a writer.
- 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.
- DirectorKamal AmrohiStarsMeena KumariNasir KhanM. Kumar
- DirectorAdoor GopalakrishnanStarsJalajaKaramana Janardanan NairRajam K. NairThe protagonist is trapped within himself and is unable to comprehend the changes taking place around him.
- DirectorGuru DuttStarsWaheeda RehmanGuru DuttKumari NaazSuresh Sinha, a famous director, discovers star potential in Shanti, a woman he stumbled into one rainy evening, and casts her as the lead in a film. In a twist of fate, Shanti becomes a superstar and Suresh faces a decline in his career.
- DirectorDhundiraj Govind PhalkeStarsMandakini PhalkeNeelkanthPurushottam ParchureThe playmates of Krishna are insulted by a female villager who splashes water on them. They take revenge by stealing butter from her house. When they are beaten up by the woman, they again take revenge with the aid of Krishna. He receives a gift of fruit for his help but gives it away. Krishna then enters the room of a wealthy merchant and his wife at night and ties the man's beard to his wife's hair. These exploits lead to a large crowd complaining of Krishna's antics to his foster parents.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsKanu BannerjeeKaruna BannerjeeSubir BanerjeeImpoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.
- DirectorVishnupant Govind DamleSheikh FattelalStarsVishnupant PagnisGauriB. NandrekarThis film chronicles the life of Tukaram (17th century), one of Maharashtra's most popular saint poets, activating the 20th century resonances of his turning away from courtly Sanskrit towards vernacular rhythms of religious poetry which constituted the first major emancipatory movement against Brahmanical caste domination. The episodic plot pits Tukaram (Pagnis) against the Brahmin Salomalo (Bhagwat), who pretends to be the true author of Tukaram's songs while calling for his ostracization.
- DirectorMani KaulStarsMita VashishtMuhar BiswasRanjana SrivastavaAn impressionistic biographical look at Siddheshwari Devi (19081977), the classical Indian singer whose voice was appreciated by the maharajas and public alike. She was from Varanasi, India, known as Maa (mother). Born in 1907, she lost her parents early and was brought up by her aunt, the noted singer Rajeshwari Devi. She won many accolades during her career, including "Padma Shri" by the Government of India (1966). Despite living in a musical household, Siddheswari came to music by accident. Rajeshwari had arranged musical training for her own daughter, Kamleshwari, while Siddheswari would do small chores around the house. Once, while the noted sarangi player Siyaji Mishra, was teaching Kamleshwari, she was unable to repeat the tappa that she was being taught. Rajeshwari ran out of patience, and started to cane Kamleshwari, who cried out for help. The only person to help her was her close friend Siddheswari, who ran from the kitchen to hug her cousin, and took the thrashing on her own body. At this point, Siddheswari told her weeping cousin, "It's not so difficult to sing what Siyaji Maharaj was telling you." Siddheswari then showed her how to sing it, performing the whole tune perfectly, much to the amazement of everyone. The next day, Siyaji Maharaj came to Rajeshwari, and asked to adopt Siddheswari into his own family (they were childless). So Siddheswari moved in with the couple, eventually becoming a great friend and support for them. This moving incident was very vivid in Siddheswari's mind, and is detailed in the biography Maa, co-authored by her daughter Savita Devi.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsMadhavi MukherjeeBijon BhattacharyaAbhi BhattacharyaA man (Abhi Bhattacharya) opposes the love between his sister and the orphan (Satindra Bhattacharya) they adopted years earlier.
- DirectorKumar ShahaniStarsAmol PalekarSmita PatilShreeram LagooSethji is a widowed, a businessman and lives a comfortable life with his only daughter, Hansa, his son-in-law, Rahul, and a grandson, Munna. He has Rahul as his right-hand man, and a nephew named Dinesh who also assists in running the business. Petty rivalries and jealousies have grown in the family, and Sethji and Rahul feel that Dinesh is now trying to undermine the business. They would like to get rid of him, without attracting any attention to themselves. They do terminate Dinesh, but this affects Sethji's health, and he dies. Shortly thereafter, Hansa also dies, leaving Rahul to look after the business on his own. But there are many questions unanswered, like why was no one in attendance with the ailing Sethji; Hansa's death was a suicide, why was it covered up?; what of the affair that Rahul is having with Janki, their maidservant, who is full of venom against the family; and the involvement of Anita, Rahul's secretary, in his personal life. With the police getting involved, it is time for them to either come clean or go their separate ways.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeMadhavi MukherjeeShailen MukherjeeThe lonely wife of a newspaper editor falls in love with her visiting cousin-in-law, who shares her love for literature.
- DirectorArun KhopkarA documentary that captures the techniques and creations of three prominent artists in India.
- DirectorJohn AbrahamStarsKunhulakshmi AmmaNilambur BalanHarinarayanThe story revolves around the incidents following the death of a young Naxalite, upon whose death his friends travel to the village where his mother lives to inform her of the death of her only son.
- DirectorMani KaulA documentary which captures scenic views and sounds in the valley of Kashmir.
- DirectorS.N.S. SastryA documentary in which various 20 year old's from India are interviewed about their hopes and aspirations for the future.
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniSeveral stories depicting the landscapes and fauna of India are mixed with documentary footage.
- DirectorS. SukhdevDirector S. Sukhdev traveled the length of India to gather footage for his impressionistic portrait of the country in the year 1967.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsTripti MitraShaonli MitraSugata BurmanIn this quest narrative that makes the Odyssey look like a trip to the mall, four men, each peculiar in his own way, embark on a quest to reason with the estranged wife of the protagonist.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsKallol BoseSubir BoseNorman EllisThis documentary shows the life of the greatest Bengali talent of all time, Rabindranath Tagore. His work in Bengali culture and literature.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsPatricia WaltersNora SwinburneEsmond KnightThe growing pains of three young women contrast with the immutability of the holy Bengal River, around which their daily lives unfold.
- DirectorGovindan AravindanStarsBharat GopyJalajaV.K. SriramanBesides a long glittering river, some men raise a pole. A tent balloons up. Where there was wide sand and the sound of water lapping, there is now a truck, chairs, hoops, stools, ropes, goats, a lioness, a pair of fat girls, some bicycles, and an old man with a philosopher's dignity, putting on white paste. Across a dirt road, the circus truck comes to a village. The tent goes up. Schoolboys run to the tent. Village women come and watch an acrobat roll a hoop across a tightrope. A lion leaps from the edge of one stool - across darkness - onto another stool. A gap-toothed old woman gazes at a goat on a tight rope; her eyes are wide with curiosity. For three days the circus makes small ripples in the life of this village. Municipal permits are required. At a toddy shop, a soldier befriends the circus strongman; a pump attendant sits on a rock each day watching a village girl bathe and dry her hair. The dwarf brings back to the circus a watermelon larger than his head.
- DirectorRaymond DepardonThis documentary draws a sensitive, unsensational portrait of the desert and the people who inhabit it, the Toubous.