Bollywood is famous for its dramatic larger-than-life song and dance formula films. But outside of this territory are several films that are reality based and wonderfully inspirational, often educational too. Many of these Bollywood films were probably not commercial successful and you probably haven't even heard of them unless you're an Indian. These fabulous Bollywood films are termed off-beat films and are totally worth your time.
5.
3 idiots (2009)
Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, 3 Idiots is a coming of age comedy-drama. The film revolves around two friends (played by R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi) trying to find their lost buddy (Aamir Khan) who had inspired them to think differently despite the world branding them as ‘idiots’.
3 Idiots was lauded by Indian as well as international audiences. In overseas they garnered more than US$65 million becoming the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in overseas markets. 3 Idiots was remade and is being remade in a number of other languages.
4.
Matrubhoomi (2003)
Written and directed by Manish Jha, the film is set in a village where there are no women left due to the high rate of female infanticide and female foeticide. The story parallels real-life instances where many Indian villages are largely populated by men. Matrubhoomi is like a future dystopia where gender imbalance is giving rise to bride buying and fraternal polyandry.
Matrubhoomi was widely raved and shown in festivals. At the 2003 Venice Film Festival, the film was presented at the Critic’s Week (Parallel Sections) and later it received the FIPRESCI Award.
3.
Udaan (2010)
Udaan is a coming of age drama by Vikramaditya Motwane. Regarded as a cult classic in Indian cinema, the film is said to be roughly based on Anurag Kashyap’s life who also happens to be have produced the film. The story revolves around Rohan (Rajat Barmecha) who after being expulsed from school returns home to an unloving father whom he hadn’t meet in 8 years.
Udaan was officially selected in 2010 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard (A Certain Glance) category. Udaan’s excellent music was composed by Amit Trivedi.
2.
PK (2014)
Pk is a satirical sci-fi comedy film directed by Rajkumar Hirani. It is the story of an alien (Aamir Khan) who lands in on Earth on a research mission but gets stuck. Faced with troubled circumstances he begins questioning human religious dogmas and superstitions. On its release PK had an extremely positive reception and became one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time . The film bagged two Life OK Screen Awards and five Star Guild Awards.
1.
Piku (2015)
It’s a comedy drama by Shoojit Sircar. Piku is an endearing journey of a dysfunctional father (Amitabh Bachchan), his keep-up independent daughter (Deepika Padukone) and a cab driver (Irrfan Khan) caught in their crazy life when he decides to drive them to Kolkata.
Deepika had to learn Bengali so as to look natural when saying the Bengali line. Eminent Bengali actors like Moushumi Chatterjee and Jishu Sengupta were in supporting roles. Anupam Roy composed beautiful music for this film. Piku opened to worldwide critical acclaim.
Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, 3 Idiots is a coming of age comedy-drama. The film revolves around two friends (played by R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi) trying to find their lost buddy (Aamir Khan) who had inspired them to think differently despite the world branding them as ‘idiots’.
3 Idiots was lauded by Indian as well as international audiences. In overseas they garnered more than US$65 million becoming the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in overseas markets. 3 Idiots was remade and is being remade in a number of other languages.
Written and directed by Manish Jha, the film is set in a village where there are no women left due to the high rate of female infanticide and female foeticide. The story parallels real-life instances where many Indian villages are largely populated by men. Matrubhoomi is like a future dystopia where gender imbalance is giving rise to bride buying and fraternal polyandry.
Matrubhoomi was widely raved and shown in festivals. At the 2003 Venice Film Festival, the film was presented at the Critic’s Week (Parallel Sections) and later it received the FIPRESCI Award.
Udaan is a coming of age drama by Vikramaditya Motwane. Regarded as a cult classic in Indian cinema, the film is said to be roughly based on Anurag Kashyap’s life who also happens to be have produced the film. The story revolves around Rohan (Rajat Barmecha) who after being expulsed from school returns home to an unloving father whom he hadn’t meet in 8 years.
Udaan was officially selected in 2010 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard (A Certain Glance) category. Udaan’s excellent music was composed by Amit Trivedi.
Pk is a satirical sci-fi comedy film directed by Rajkumar Hirani. It is the story of an alien (Aamir Khan) who lands in on Earth on a research mission but gets stuck. Faced with troubled circumstances he begins questioning human religious dogmas and superstitions. On its release PK had an extremely positive reception and became one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time . The film bagged two Life OK Screen Awards and five Star Guild Awards.
It’s a comedy drama by Shoojit Sircar. Piku is an endearing journey of a dysfunctional father (Amitabh Bachchan), his keep-up independent daughter (Deepika Padukone) and a cab driver (Irrfan Khan) caught in their crazy life when he decides to drive them to Kolkata.
Deepika had to learn Bengali so as to look natural when saying the Bengali line. Eminent Bengali actors like Moushumi Chatterjee and Jishu Sengupta were in supporting roles. Anupam Roy composed beautiful music for this film. Piku opened to worldwide critical acclaim.
Facebook Conversations