FAVOURITE INDIAN FILMS

By: Kenji

Great job by Apursansar as manager of India in our world cup, reaching the final. A country of over 1 billion people, extraordinary cultural and scenic diversity, the world’s #1 film poducer, which with its growing economic clout, should finally get proper credit for its cinematic riches. Satyajit Ray, a polymath (like the Nobel-prize winning writer Rabindranath Tagore) is in my opinion among the handful of finest directors there has been worldwide, Ritwik Ghatak is another with great masterpieces to his credit, and The Name of a River, a tribute to him, is a hidden treasure, a match for virtually anything the last decade has given us. There is far far more to Indian cinema than escapist kitschy Bollywood musicals (though the best classic musicals are a marvel too), there have been serious intellectual and politically motivated directors aplenty.

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Meena Kumari in Pakeezah

The River (Renoir) is great, and an influence on Ray, so i think i’ll include it after all. I would have picked the 1981 version of Umrao Jaan among my favourites but it’s not on mubi

Here’s a long list of significant Indian films, based on my reading and some suggestions- many of which i’ve not seen (films i have high hopes of are asterisked). Further suggestions welcome.

1912 Pundalis (Tipnis)

1913 Raja Harischandra/King Harishchandra (Phalke)

1924 Prithvi Vallabh/The Lord of Love and Power (Joshi)

1925 Savkara Pash/Indian Shylock (Painter)

1927 Baliban/Sacrifice (N.Gandhi)

1928 Shiraz (Osten)

1929 Prapancha Pash/A Throw of the Dice (Osten, Pal)

1931 Alam Ara (Irani)

1932 Maya Machhindra/Illusion (Shantaram)

1934 Amritmantham (Shantaram)
Mazdoor/The Mill (Bhavnani)

1935 Devdas (Barua)*
Hunterwali (Wadia)

1936 Sant Tukaram (Damle, Fattelal)

1937 Mukti (Barua)

1939 Pukar (Modi)
Thyagabhoomi/The Land of Sacrifice (Subramanyam)

1941 Ashok Kumar (Chandrsekhar)
Khazanchi/The Cashier (Gidwani)

1942 Kannagi (Mani)

1943 Kismet (G.Mukherjee)

1944 Udayer Pathey/ Towards the Light (Roy)

1945 Humayun (Mehbob Khan)
Meera (Duncan)
Swargaseema (Reddi)

1946 Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani/The Immortal Journey of Dr Kotnis (Shantaram)
Neecha Nagar (C.Anand)

1948 Aag/Fire (Kapoor)
Chandralekha (Vasan)
Suhaag Raat (K.Sharma)

1949 Andaaz (Mehbob Khan)
Barsaat (Kapoor)
Mahal (Amrohi)

1950 Babul (Sunny)
Chinnamul/The Uprooted (N.Ghosh)
Ezhai Padum Padu/Plight of the Poor (Ramnoth)

1951 Awaara (Kapoor)

1952 Aan/ Savage Princess (Mehbob Khan)
Baiju Bawra (Bhatt)
Nagarik (Ghatak)

1953 Anarkali (Jaswantlal)
Daera/ The Division (Amrohi)
Do Bigha Zamin/Two Acres of Land (Roy)

1954 Amar (Mehbob Khan)
Boot Polish (Arora)
Taxi Driver (Anand)

1955 Devdas (Roy)
Mr and Mrs 55 (Dutt)
Pather Panchali (Ray)
Shree 420 (Kapoor)

1956 Aparajito (Ray)
Cid (Khoshla)
Jagte Raho/Stay Awake (A.Mitra, S.Mitra)

1957 Ajantrik (Ghatak)
Do Aankhen Barah Haath/Two Eyes Twelve Hands (Shantaram)*
Mother India (Mehbob Khan)
Nayah Daur (Chopra)
Pyaasa (Dutt)

1958 Jalsaghar/The Music Room (Ray)
Madhumati (Roy)

1959 Apur Sansar/The World of Apu (Ray)
Dhool ka Phool/Blossom of Dust (Y.Chopra)
Dil Deke Dekho/Give Away Your Heart and then See (Husain)

Kaagaz ke Phool/Paper Flowers (Dutt)- with Waheeda Rehman
Sangtye Aika (Mane)
Sujata/Untouchable Girl (Roy)

1960 Anuradha (H.Mukherjee)
Chaudvin ka Chand (Sadiq)
Devi/The Goddess (Ray)
Ganga (Tarafdar)
Meghe Dhaka Tara/Cloud-Capped Star (Ghatak)

1961 Junglee (S.Mukherji)
Komal Gandhar/ E Flat (Ghatak)
Teen Kanya/Three Daughters (Ray)

1962 Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (Alvi)

1963 Bandini (Roy)
Mahanagar (Ray)

1964 Charulata (Ray)
Haqeeqat (C.Anand)
Jotugriha (Sinha)
Sangam/ The Confluence (Kapoor)

1965 Chemmeen/The Wrath of the Sea (Kariat)
Guide (V.Anand)
Kapurush/The Coward (Ray)
Subarnarekha (Ghatak)
Waqt (Chopra)

1966 Kanchenjungha (Ray)
Teesri Kasan/The Third Oath (B.Bhatacharya)
Teesri Manzil (V.Anand)

1967 Hatey Bazarey (Sinha)
Jewel Thief (V.Anand)
Upkar (M.Kumar)

1968 Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne/The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (Ray)
Padosan (Swaroop)

1969 Aranyer Din Ratri/Days and Nights in the Forest (Ray)
Bhuvan Shome (Sen)
Khamoshi/Silence (Asif Sen)
Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai (Maheshwari)
Olavum Theeravum/Waves and Shore (Menon)
Satyakam (H.Mukherjee)*
Uski Roti/Our Daily Bread (Kaul)*

1970 Anand (H.Mukherjee)
Mera Naam Joker (Kapoor)
Samskara (Reddy)

1971 Anubhav/Experience (B.Bhattacharya)
Calcutta ’71 (Sen)
Pakeezah (Amrohi)

1972 Letter from the Wife (Patri)
Maya Darpan/Mirror of Illusion (Shahani)
Pratidwandi/The Adversary (Ray)
Seeta Aur Geeta (Sippy)
Titash Ekti Nadir Naam/A River Called Titash (Ghatak)

1973 Abhimaan (H.Mukherjee)
Ankur/The Seedling (Benegal)
Ashani Sanket/Distant Thunder (Ray)
Avishkar/Discovery (B.Bhatacharya)
Bobby (Kapoor)
Duvidha (Kaul)
Garam Hava/Hot Winds (Sathyu)
Kaadu/The Forest (Karnad)
Nirmalayam/The Offering (Nair)

1974 Jukti Takko Aar Gappo/Reason Debate and a Tale (Ghatak)
Uttarayanam/Throne of Capricorn (Aravindan)

1975 Deewaar (Chopra)
Sholay (Sippy)

1976 Manthan/The Churning (Benegal)
Mrigaya (Sen)

1977 Amar Akbar Anthony (Desai)
Bhumika/The Role (Benegal)
Ghatashraddha/The Ritual (Kasaravalli)
Kodiyettam/ The Ascent (Gopalakrishnan)*
Oka Oorie Katha/The Outsiders (Sen)
Shatranj Ke Khiladi/The Chess Players (Ray)
Swami (B.Chatterjee)

1978 Agraharathil/Donkey in a Brahmin Village (Abraham)
Junoon (Benegal)
Muqaddar ka Sikandar (Mehra)
Zameer Ke Bandi/Prisoners of Conscience (Patwardan)

1979 Cheriyachente Kroora Krithyangal/ The Wicked Deeds of Cheriyachan (Abraham)
Ek Din Pratidin/ And Quiet Flows the Dawn (Sen)
Kummatty/The Bogeyman (Aravindan)*
November 1828 (Karya)
Shankarabharanam (Vishwanath)

1980 Aakrosh/ Cry of the Wounded (Nihalani)
Akaler Sandhane /In Search of Famine (Sen)
Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai (Mirza)
Bhavni Bhavai (K.Mehta)
Oppol (Sethumdhavan)
Satah Se Uthata Admi/Arising from the Surface (Kaul)
Sparsh (Palanjape)

1981 Deliverance (Ray)

Rat Trap (Gopalakrishnan)
Thaneer Thaneer/ Water Water (Balachander)
36 Chowringhee Lane (A.Sen)
Umrao Jaan (Ali)

1982 Arth (M.Bhatt)
The Case is Closed (Sen)
Mangal Pandey (Malhotra)
Namkeen (Gulzar)
Satyajit Ray (Benegal)
Shakti (Sippy)

1983 Aardh Satya/ The Half-Truth (Nihalani)
Dhrupad (Kaul)
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron/Who Pays the Piper (Shah)
Masoom/Innocent (S.Kapur)
Sagara Sangamam/The Confluence (Vishwanath)

1984 Ghare Baire/Home and the World (Ray)
Tarang (Shahani)*

1985 Anantyatra (Patwardhan)
Hamara Shaher/Bombay our City (Patwardhan)*
Mirch Masala/ Spices(K.Mehta)

1986 Amma Ariyan/Report to Mother (Abraham)

1987 Anantaram (Gopalakrishnan)
Ijaazat (Gulzar)
Nayakan (Ratnam)

1988 Khayal Gotha (Shahani)
Om Dar-B-Dar (Swaroop)
Pestonjee (V.Mehta)
Piravi (Shaji)
Salaam Bombay (Mira Nair)

1989 Kaal Abhirati/Time Addiction (Chakraborty)
Nazar/The Gaze (Kaul)
Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha/ A Northern Ballad (Hariharan)
Salim Lagde Pe Mat Ro (Mirza)
Siddheshwari (Kaul)*
Una Mitterandi Yaad Pyari/In Memory of Friends (Patwardhan)

1990 Agneepath (M.Anand)
Shiva (Varma)
Vastuhaara/The Dispossessed (Aravindan)

1991 Idiot (Kaul)
Talapathi (M.Ratnam)
Kasba (Shahani)
Roja (Ratnam)

1992 Khuda Gawa/God is my Witness (M.Anand)
Padma Nadir Majhi/Boatman on the River Padma (Ghose)

1993 Charachar/Shelter of the Wings (Dasgupta)
Khalnayak (Ghai)
Manichithrathazhu (Fazil)
Rudaali/The Mourner (Lazmi)
Suraj ka Satvan Ghoda/Seventh Horse of the Sun (Benegal)

1994 Andaz Apna Apna (Santoshi)
Anjaam (Rawail)
Bandit Queen (S.Kapur)
Hum Aapke Hain Koun (Barjatya)
Karuthamma (Bharthirajaa)

1995 Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (A.Chopra)
Kathapurushan (Gopalakrishnan)
Naseem (Mirza)
Rangeela (Varma)

1996 Fire (Mehta)
Man of the Story (Gopalakrishnan)

1998 Dil Se (Ratnam)
Earth (Mehta)
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Johar)
Pushpak/The Love Chariot (Singeetham Rao)*
Satya/Truth (Varma)*

1999 Marana Simhasanam/ Throne of Death (Murali Nair)
Sarfarosh (Matthan)
The Servant’s Shirt (Kaul)
The Terrorist (Sivan)

2000 The Dark I Must Not Name (Khattau)
Uttara (Dasgupta)*

2001 Ayurveda (Nalin)
Dil Chahta Hain (Aktar)
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (Johar)
Lagaan (Gowariker)
Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair)
Pattiyude Divasam/ A Dog’s Day (Murali Nair)

2002 Company (Varma)
Devdas (Bhansali)
Dweepa/The Island (Kasaravalli)*
Kannathil Muthamittal/A Peck on the Cheek (Ratnam)
Mr and Mrs Iyer (A.Sen)
The Name of a River (Singh)

2003 Maqbool (Bharadwaj)
Raghu Romeo (Kapoor)

2004 Black Friday (Kashyap)
Schwaas (Sawant)
Swapner Din (Dasgupta)

2005 Black (Bhansali)
John and Jane (Ahluwalia)
Water (Mehta)

2006 Dor/Thread (Kukunoor)
Khosla Ka Ghosla/Khosla’s Nest (D.Bannerjee)*
The Namesake (Mira Nair)
Rang de Basanti (Mehra)

2007 Naalu Pennungal/Four Women (Gopalakrishnan)
Naqaab (Burmawalla)
Om Shanti Om (F.Khan)
Saawariya (Bhansali)
Sivaji: The Boss (Shankar)
To Be Continued (Dutta)

2008 Kanchivaram/A Communist Confession (Priyadarshan)
Mithya (Rajat Kapoor)

2009 Gabhricha Paus/The Damned Rain (Manwar)*
Gulaal (Kashyap)
Harishchandrachi Factory (Mokashi)
The Man’s Woman and Other Stories (Dutta)

2010 Autograph (S.Mukherji)
The Backwaters (Karthick)
The Japanese Wife (A.Sen)
Nainsukh (Dutta)
Peepli Live (Rizvi)

2011 Abu, Son of Adam, (Ahamed)
Nouka Dubi (R.Ghosh)

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Baiju Bawra

The Name of a River

The Backwaters

Pather Panchali youtube clips i wanted are embedding disabled.

Cinema of India

Reading:

Ashish Rajadhyaksha, Paul Willemen: Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema – highly recommended
Andrew Robinson: Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye- also highly recommended.
Rudiger Tomczak who was a much valued member of this site has also written a new book Five Indian Directors

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Lists:

See Laali’s superb list Cinema of Prayoga: Indian Avant-Garde Cinema, also Literature in Indian Cinema

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My dad’s birthplace, Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama.