With the ever-growing content libraries of Indian OTT giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus Hotstar, SonyLIV, and Zee5, etc., you may have already seen most of the recent Indian films streaming on these platforms.
But alongside well known post-2k Indian films, there are many movies streaming on Indian OTT platforms which were released during the 1990s period and yet they remain underrated. In the second follow-up to our last weeks’ articles, we have compiled another list of five such relatively underrated yet brilliant Indian movies from the 90s which you can watch on various Indian OTT platforms.
Saaz, 1997 (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
Helmed by legendary filmmaker Sai Paranjpye (Katha, Chashme Buddoor), the musical drama follows the journey of two music-loving gifted sisters Mansi (Aruna Irani) and Bansi (Shabana Azmi). They come to Mumbai to kickstart their singing careers but eventually become fierce rivals. How Bansi tries to keep her career going despite resistance from her own sister forms the film’s underlying premise.
Gardish, 1993 (Streaming on MX Player)
Directed by Priyadarshan, the action drama featured Jackie Shroff in the role of an aspiring Police Inspector Shiva, who is trained by his father (Amrish Puri), a police constable. But the goings-on take a dramatic turn when Shiva’s father is assaulted by a dreaded criminal (Mukesh Rishi).
Akele Hum Akele Tum, 1995 (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
The heartrending film was Mansoor Khan’s take on Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep starrer ‘Kramer vs Kramer’. The story revolves around two aspiring singers Rohit Kumar (Aamir Khan) and Kiran (Manisha Koirala) who fall in love and get married to each other. However, the wife leaves the husband and their child (Adil) owing to their marital discord. This leads to an ugly legal battle between the still struggling Rohit and the now-famous actress Kiran for the custody of their son.
The hard-hitting film follows the story of an upright and honest police officer (Manoj Bajpayee in one of his career-best performances) who gets transferred to a place where he crosses paths with a powerful and corrupt politician called Bachhu Yadav (Sayaji Shinde). The film also featured Raveena Tandon in an important role.
Daud, 1997 (Streaming on Jio Cinema, Zee5, Eros Now)
This was Ram Gopal Varma’s tryst with the action-comedy genre but is certainly an offbeat, acquired taste. The story revolves around a small-time thief Nandu (Sanjay Dutt) who is given a mission to smuggle a mysterious package to a psychopath mafia don Pinky (Paresh Rawal). His partner in crime is a street-smart cabaret dancer Bhavani (Urmila Matondkar). But the duo gets more than what they had bargained for after knowing about the content of the package and the intentions of Pinky.