100 years of Indian Cinema – Romance
100 years of Indian Cinema – Thriller/Horror
100 years of Indian Cinema – Introduction
100 Years 100 Movies
(When I got the brief to work on this article for Culturama, listing 100 Indian must-watch movies to coincide with 100 years of Indian Cinema, my list ran to 182 movies before good sense (the editor’s) and a deadline prevailed! Not the most definitive of lists, but I loved working on it immensely, especially with the challenge of keeping each movie review below an average of 40 words! An edited version of the following article was published in Culturama’s May 2013 Issue.)
There’s no such thing as a definitive movie list for the Indian film industry, with its many languages, numerous dialects and diverse sensibilities. But there is such a thing as a mash-up of critically acclaimed, much-loved and innovative movies, which usually straddle genres.
It has to be kept in mind is that Indian movies have always had a fair representation of adaptations from regional and English literature. Also, more than one movie can have the same name. For instance, Devdas is a novella in the Bengali language that has been adapted to cinema in over 16 versions across languages and over decades. Do refer the storyline, language and the year – watching the newer version of something called Junoon (1992) could leave you learning quite a bit about Indian weretigers and how to slay them – not quite the effect that the earlier Junoon (1978) may have intended!
Each genre is arranged as a separate post.
COMEDY
ROMANCE
ACTION
CHILDREN’S CINEMA
PATRIOTIC CINEMA
SOCIAL DRAMA
THRILLER/HORROR
FAMILY DRAMA
BIOPIC/PERIOD CINEMA
MISCELLANEOUS
COMEDY
ROMANCE
ACTION
CHILDREN’S CINEMA
PATRIOTIC CINEMA
SOCIAL DRAMA
THRILLER/HORROR
FAMILY DRAMA
BIOPIC/PERIOD CINEMA
MISCELLANEOUS
100 Years, 100 Movies – Children’s Cinema
Indian childrens’ movies are not just about about puppies, animated street dogs and invisible superheroes, they are also about football, dyslexia and village governance!SHYAMCHI AAI (1953) – Marathi – Based on the autobiographical story of social activist and writer, Sane Guruji, the movie is about a mother who inculcates morals and values in her son even as the family is sinking into poverty.
MY DEAR KUTTICHATHAN /CHOTA CHETAN (1984/2011) – Malayalam/Hindi – This was India’s first 3D production and a digitized updated version was released more recently. Three children come across a friendly little spirit generically called Kuttichathan who awes them with his magic tricks and becomes their playmate. But the evil sorcerer who owns Kuttichathan has other plans for him.
MR. INDIA (1987) – Hindi – Arun, who runs a shelter for orphaned children, is barely able to make ends meet. He finds an invisibility watch invented by his father and decides to fight anti-social elements by becoming a superhero called Mr. India, upsetting the sinister Mogambo’s plans to take over India.
HALO (1996) – Hindi – An adorable puppy strays into the life of lonely motherless seven year old Sasha. She names him Halo and he becomes the focus of all her attention. When Halo disappears, Sasha goes to great lengths to find him.
MAKDEE (2002) – Hindi – Chunni agrees to an evil witch’s demands for one hundred hens in exchange for turning her twin sister Munni back from hen to girl. When the witch claims to have turned her school teacher into a puppy, Chunni suspects that something is not quite right.
TAARE ZAMEEN PAR (2007) – Hindi – Fed up of trying to discipline eight year old daydreaming Ishaan, his father sends him off to boarding school. There, an unconventional art teacher realises that the boy is dyslexic and takes him under his wing to nurture his exceptional art talent.
ROADSIDE ROMEO (2008) – Hindi – When Romeo, a pet dog raised in the lap of luxury is thrown out on to the streets, he joins the local dog gang. Romeo falls in love with a singing dog called Laila and with a little help from his new friends, manages to escape the dog-catcher too.
PASANGA (2009) – Tamil – Anbu, the new boy in class wins the hearts of the students and the approval of his teachers, annoying his classmate Jeeva no end. The boys vie with each other, even dragging their parents into the fray.
PUTTANI PARTY (2009)– Kannada – This film is about the impact of one village’s elected childrens’ committee in tackling social ills like alcoholism with spunk and determination.
LITTLE ZIZOU (2009) – English/Gujarati/Hindi – Siblings Xerxes and Art are caught in the crossfire between their father, a man-of-faith Khodaiji and the newspaper publisher, Pressvala. A funny story of families and conflicts set in the Parsi community in India.
An edited version of the article was published in Culturama’s May 2013 Issue.
