First of all, Binged team wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable Diwali. To enable our readers to enjoy the festival of lights to the fullest, we have hand-picked for you a list of five must-watch Indian movies that might have escaped your attention probably because they weren’t as popular as their blockbuster counterparts.
The good thing is that all these five well-made but rather forgotten films are currently streaming on various Indian OTT platforms. We hope you’ll enjoy these films, in case you have still not watched them, as much as we enjoyed making this listicle for you.
Abhay / Aalavandhan (Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, Eros Now, Sun NXT, MX Player)
Abhay is a psychological action thriller starring veteran actor Kamal Haasan in dual roles. The plotline revolves around the titular character Abhay, who is a mentally disturbed, schizophrenic man because of childhood trauma. Trouble ensues when he perceives his twin brother’s would-be wife (Raveena Tandon) as his evil stepmother and wants to kill her. The film’s animated action sequence had even inspired Quentin Tarantino to execute an anime sequence in ‘Kill Bill: Volume 1’ starring Uma Thurman.
Soundtrack (Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar)
The film follows a gifted musician Raunaq Kaul (played by Rajeev Khandelwal) who gets his first break as a DJ in a Mumbai-based nightclub. However, substance and alcohol abuse followed by an accident adversely affects his hearing ability and talent, and then he falls into depression. Eventually, he meets a woman (Soha Ali Khan) who tries to help him rekindle his passion for music. Can Raunaq ever hope to make a comeback?
Maharathi (Streaming on Voot, Jio Cinema)
This hidden gem was helmed by Shivam Nair, who later went on to direct ‘Naam Shabana’ and ‘Special Ops’ (with Neeraj Pandey). ‘Maharathi’ follows the story of a newly recruited chauffeur (Paresh Rawal) of a once-famous director (Naseeruddin Shah). The chauffeur teams up with his employer’s wife (Neha Dhupia) to get a 24-crore insurance claim.
Dhoop (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
Helmed by Ashwini Chaudhary, ‘Dhoop’ is a simple and profound tale with its heart in the right place. It follows an old couple (played by Om Puri and Revathy) whose only son (Sanjay Suri) gets killed in Kargil. They are offered a plot of land for setting up a petrol pump, by the government and reluctantly accept the offer. However, their misery is further aggravated as they must deal with rampant corruption in order to get the job done. How they deal with the situation forms the rest of the film’s plot.
3 Deewarein (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
This overlooked film follows three prisoners on a death row (Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, and Nagesh Kukunoor) who are interviewed by a documentary filmmaker (Juhi Chawla), who is dealing with her own personal problems. The film was immensely praised for its realistic setting and writing. Its riveting climax is worthy of a round of applause. The film was written and directed by gifted filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor.