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I enjoyed it. In fact it might be the best Indian movie I've seen in terms of just being interesting all the way through. I'm curious what if any serious India

by gernb 4y ago

I enjoyed it. In fact it might be the best Indian movie I've seen in terms of just being interesting all the way through. I'm curious what if any serious Indian movies there are. Are they common or rare? Pretty much every Indian movie I've seen is full of amazing and fun nonsense in one form or another. Not that I've seen more than 10 or 15 Indian movies, just curious what the mix is of serious drama vs, break into dance and or show crazy stunt movies is

washadjeffmad 4y ago
I'm not very attuned to modern Indian cinema, but Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy is excellent, as is Charulata. For non fiction, Mira Nair's "So Far from Home" and Roberto Rossellini's "India: Matri Bhumi" are also captivating watches.
- srik 4y ago
  Satyajit Ray's entire catalog is delightful, and timeless. The Indian new wave parallel cinema movement that held such promise back then has bemoaningly since declined to a disappointing one or two entries every couple years. Distributors and studios being conservative and reluctant to change from the "bollywood doctrine" held the indian film industry hostage in a state of arrested development for the past few decades. It's kind of why I'm thankful for the rise of streaming services, they're enabling younger indie directors to break free and be bold again. It's a very hopeful time for indian cinema.
ivanmilles 4y ago
Netflix’s Sacred Games. It was their first domestic production and is a straight faced noir cop drama. It’s my favorite crime series of all time - I think it blends The crime boss mythology of The Usual Suspects with the multi-decade story telling of The Godfather. It is told in a way that it feels like a picture coming into focus, rather than a linear narrative.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
SanjayMehta 4y ago
"The Kashmir Files" is the most serious movie in the recent past.
- rustedspoon 4y ago
  Not sure why this is in gray. It has the highest collections in 2022 after rrr. And highest among Bollywood movies so far. Clearly people liked it and it’s a very serious movie.
  - SanjayMehta 4y ago
    [flagged]
dagmx 4y ago
There’s tons of very serious Indian movies. They just don’t usually capture western audiences Sholay is a classic , in the vein of Eastwood films. Don is our take on Godfather Rang De Basanti and Lagaan are also great films. Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum , Dil Chahta Hai and other romantic dramas are also very serious but do have songs etc because they’re huge drivers of engagement. In the west, people see the dancing as making the movie silly. But those musical breaks are prevalent in very serious films too. There’sa whole difference in cultural norms when it comes to cinematic language.
as1mov 4y ago
Like every other film industry, Bollywood movies also have a indie counterpart. I've seen quite a few, though it might not translate very well to a watcher who is not familiar with the cultural context for the movies. Still if you want a list of movies which are "serious" but still approachable enough (i.e doesn't gaze at it's own asshole) and fairly new, I do have a few recommendations - Udaan, Kahaani, Satya, Maqbool, Khosla's Nest, Masaan, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Gangs of Wasseypur, Johhny Gaddar, Kaminey, Black Friday (2004), Aaranya Kaandam (not bollywood) This list isn't some exhaustive "greatest" ever, just some oddball movies which stick out in my head. Also keep it in mind this is just the list of Hindi/Bollywood movies which were historically known as "Indian" movies. Other regions of the country have their own list of favorites.
i67vw3 4y ago
It is not even a 'best' indian movie. It just the current most popular indian movie with western audience. Tumbbad is somewhat considered masterpiece of indian cinema. It was made with just 700 thousand $ https://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/tumbbad/movie-review/66135343.cms https://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews.... >Pretty much every Indian movie I've seen is full of amazing and fun nonsense in one form or another. They are the most popular genre. Production houses love them as they make them money and viewers also love to watch them as they can be watched by whole families. >Not that I've seen more than 10 or 15 Indian movies, just curious what the mix is of serious drama vs, break into dance and or show crazy stunt movies is Most of indian cinema is action genre with slice of life twist. There are also good serious movies with genres like drama, romcom, comedy, horror, history, sci-fi etc. You must also know that Indian cinema is not a monolith like hollywood. There are 7 big 'woods' in india branched due to various languages. There is hindi wood (bollywood), tamil, telugu, kannad, marathi, bengali etc. Each have their own tasted with respective viewers. Over the counter action movies (like RRR) are most popular in south industries and viewers.
- unmole 4y ago
  > Tumbbad is somewhat considered masterpiece of indian cinema. By whom? Don't get me wrong, Tumbbad is an excellent movie but masterpiece is over selling it. And the low budget for VFX really shows. > kannad Wince
  - smcl 4y ago
    I'm curious what the wince is for - do Kannada-language films have a reputation?
    - mikymoothrowa 4y ago
      probably for “Kannad” instead of Kannada and if KGF 2 is any indication, they should stop making movies altogether
      - 4y ago
butterNaN 4y ago
Ugly (2013) Court Jai Bhim Off the top of my head

by gernb 4y ago

washadjeffmad 4y ago

I'm not very attuned to modern Indian cinema, but Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy is excellent, as is Charulata. For non fiction, Mira Nair's "So Far from Home" and Roberto Rossellini's "India: Matri Bhumi" are also captivating watches.

srik 4y ago
Satyajit Ray's entire catalog is delightful, and timeless. The Indian new wave parallel cinema movement that held such promise back then has bemoaningly since declined to a disappointing one or two entries every couple years. Distributors and studios being conservative and reluctant to change from the "bollywood doctrine" held the indian film industry hostage in a state of arrested development for the past few decades. It's kind of why I'm thankful for the rise of streaming services, they're enabling younger indie directors to break free and be bold again. It's a very hopeful time for indian cinema.

ivanmilles 4y ago

Netflix’s Sacred Games. It was their first domestic production and is a straight faced noir cop drama. It’s my favorite crime series of all time - I think it blends The crime boss mythology of The Usual Suspects with the multi-decade story telling of The Godfather. It is told in a way that it feels like a picture coming into focus, rather than a linear narrative.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

SanjayMehta 4y ago

"The Kashmir Files" is the most serious movie in the recent past.

rustedspoon 4y ago
Not sure why this is in gray. It has the highest collections in 2022 after rrr. And highest among Bollywood movies so far. Clearly people liked it and it’s a very serious movie.
- SanjayMehta 4y ago
  [flagged]

dagmx 4y ago

There’s tons of very serious Indian movies. They just don’t usually capture western audiences Sholay is a classic , in the vein of Eastwood films. Don is our take on Godfather Rang De Basanti and Lagaan are also great films. Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum , Dil Chahta Hai and other romantic dramas are also very serious but do have songs etc because they’re huge drivers of engagement. In the west, people see the dancing as making the movie silly. But those musical breaks are prevalent in very serious films too. There’sa whole difference in cultural norms when it comes to cinematic language.

as1mov 4y ago

Like every other film industry, Bollywood movies also have a indie counterpart. I've seen quite a few, though it might not translate very well to a watcher who is not familiar with the cultural context for the movies. Still if you want a list of movies which are "serious" but still approachable enough (i.e doesn't gaze at it's own asshole) and fairly new, I do have a few recommendations - Udaan, Kahaani, Satya, Maqbool, Khosla's Nest, Masaan, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Gangs of Wasseypur, Johhny Gaddar, Kaminey, Black Friday (2004), Aaranya Kaandam (not bollywood) This list isn't some exhaustive "greatest" ever, just some oddball movies which stick out in my head. Also keep it in mind this is just the list of Hindi/Bollywood movies which were historically known as "Indian" movies. Other regions of the country have their own list of favorites.

i67vw3 4y ago

It is not even a 'best' indian movie. It just the current most popular indian movie with western audience. Tumbbad is somewhat considered masterpiece of indian cinema. It was made with just 700 thousand $ https://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/tumbbad/movie-review/66135343.cms https://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews.... >Pretty much every Indian movie I've seen is full of amazing and fun nonsense in one form or another. They are the most popular genre. Production houses love them as they make them money and viewers also love to watch them as they can be watched by whole families. >Not that I've seen more than 10 or 15 Indian movies, just curious what the mix is of serious drama vs, break into dance and or show crazy stunt movies is Most of indian cinema is action genre with slice of life twist. There are also good serious movies with genres like drama, romcom, comedy, horror, history, sci-fi etc. You must also know that Indian cinema is not a monolith like hollywood. There are 7 big 'woods' in india branched due to various languages. There is hindi wood (bollywood), tamil, telugu, kannad, marathi, bengali etc. Each have their own tasted with respective viewers. Over the counter action movies (like RRR) are most popular in south industries and viewers.

unmole 4y ago
> Tumbbad is somewhat considered masterpiece of indian cinema. By whom? Don't get me wrong, Tumbbad is an excellent movie but masterpiece is over selling it. And the low budget for VFX really shows. > kannad Wince
- smcl 4y ago
  I'm curious what the wince is for - do Kannada-language films have a reputation?
  - mikymoothrowa 4y ago
    probably for “Kannad” instead of Kannada and if KGF 2 is any indication, they should stop making movies altogether
    - 4y ago

butterNaN 4y ago

Ugly (2013) Court Jai Bhim Off the top of my head