For many years, the Indian Film Industry has intermittently churned out genuinely good films, which were made on a smaller scale but with top-notch (and often better) content compared to their blockbuster counterparts (barring a few exceptions).
This is the list of the top 5 of these underrated films that deserve more recognition and need to be seen by more people.
And the best part is: You can stream these films for free on Youtube:
1. 1971
A deftly made prison movie set in the year 1977, it revolves around six brave prisoners of the Indo-Pak War of 1971, as they try to make a daredevil escape from a POW camp to reach the nearby Indian border.
It comprises an ensemble cast including Manoj Bajpai, Ravi Kishan, Deepak Dobriyal, and Manav Kaul (my personal favorite act).
2. MAAZII (2013)
Another hidden gem, Maazi is loosely adapted from David Cronenberg’s A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, a slow-burning Hollywood thriller starring the charismatic Viggo Mortensen.
It’s the story of a sweet and seemingly innocuous man, whose peaceful family life takes is suddenly disturbed when he accidentally kills a gangster (Pankaj Tripathi in a cameo) and achieves overnight fame.
But soon after, his daughter is kidnapped, and in order to find her, he must finally gather the courage to deal with his dark past and his own inner demons.
3. MITHYA (2008)
An offbeat version of Shah Rukh Khan’s DON, Mithya is a well-made comedy-thriller which portrays Ranvir Shorey as a struggling actor, who is coerced into impersonating a look-alike underworld don.
But things go crazy when the actor suffers a head injury during an accident and experiences dementia, after which he starts believing that he is actually a crime kingpin.
Arguably the best film helmed by Rajat Kapoor, also starring Naseeruddin Shah and Vinay Pathak.
4. 3 DEEWAREIN (2003)
A near-cult crime film, 3 Deewarein revolves around three prisoners (played by Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff and Nagesh Kukunoor), and a documentary filmmaker’s (Juhi Chawla) attempt to record their reformation story.
If you liked Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption, then you should see this one. This film proves why India needs more filmmakers like Nagesh Kukunoor.
5. SHOOL (1999)
An honest police officer (Manoj Bajpayee) gets his new posting in a small town in Bihar which is controlled by a corrupt, uneducated MLA (Sayaji Shinde).
The idealistic ways of the cop make him the MLA’s No.1 enemy. Whether he can fight the rampant corruption from within the system or from outside it can only be seen in its hair-raising climactic reels.
Without a doubt, one of the best cop movies ever made.