edkrak wrote:I'm not really searching for popular, mainstream Indian films known and enjoyed by most of the country population. There's no problem if you recommend something that average people don't recognize. For example my favourite polish directors (Has, Szulkin) are not very popular in my country. I'd rather see something thought-provoking or controversial, not fun and cheerful. And about skipping musical numbers - if I have to skip anything I don't regard such a film as a good one. I want something that I can appreciate in all it's artistic integrity.
Though most of the movies I have recommended are mainstream, they aren't the typical Bollywood Song & Dance movies.
Songs are part & parcel of Indian movies. There is no getting away from them. But the movies in my list have much fewer songs than the majority of the movies & the songs are part of the mood of the movie. And for atleast half of these movies, the songs aren't accompanied by major Bollywood production dance.
An average Indian moviegoer, when he goes to a movie looks for something called "Paisa Vasool" - meaning full value of the ticket cost he has paid. This includes songs. Movies are promoted through songs i.e. a month before the movie is released, the song videos start showing on a lot of channels on television & the movie generates buzz because of this. Without this a distributor will not pick up the movie. So even directors who aren't interested in song & dance will include something called as an "Item Number" & couple of other songs which are the least intrusive.
The list is a list of movies which I have absolutely like - I haven't skipped any movie which I like because it's not recognized by the average movie goer.
If you want non-mainstream, you probably should go with Satyajit Ray & Mira Nair movies.
iceblox wrote:If you only would have access to Bollywood movies, have a look at my collection Hindi/Bollywood Offbeat Movies and see which ones I've rated high. These are movies which are not typical song & dance Bollywood.
I have seen many of the movies in your list, some of the more than once & these are my views & ranks if I were to rank them on Criticker.
1) 13B - Didn't like it at all. - Tier 3
2) 3 Deewarein - Really good movie with a twist, but a little slow - Tier 7
3) Bandit Queen - Good movie. Totally without song & dance. And based on a real story - Tier 7
4) Chak De India - Decent enough sports movie. But as all sports movies go, it's a story of how an underrated team ends up victorious because of inspiration from the coach. Very good acting all throughout - Tier 8
5) Corporate - Typical Madhur Bhandarkar movie. Well all his movies are the same, but worth a watch - Tier 6
6) Fashion - Another Madhur Bhandarkar movie. Better than Corporate - Tier 7
7) D - Underworld Crime movie. Satya & Company are far better in the same genre - Tier 6
8) Darna Mana Hai - Well, this was a supposed horror movie where people laughed in the theatre. I liked the part 2 "Darna Zaroori Hai" better. Both movies are a series of scary short stories shot by different directors. The first story in Part 2 shot by Sajid Khan was very scary (at the same time funny) - Tier 5
9) Manorama Six Feet Under. Decent enough whodunnit, but a little slow - Tier 6
10) Nishabd - I didn't like it at all. Movie about a very young girl chasing a much older guy - Tier 2
11) Omkara - An Indianised version of Shakespeare's Othelo. Surely worth watching. Outstanding acting by all actors. Really good "Item Numbers" - Tier 7
12) Page 3 - Madhur Bhandarkar again - Tier 7
13) Sarkar - Kind of a Godfather remake. The director considers Godfather as one of his favourite movies. Worth a watch - Tier 8
14) Sarkar Raj - Part 2 of Sarkar, not as good - Tier 7
15) Satya - Already in my list.
16) Slumdog Millionaire - Not really an Indian movie. I have ranked it Tier 10 in criticker - would consider it a low Tier 10 though.
17) Taxi No. 9211 - This is a direct copy of Ben Affleck/Samuel Jackson movie "Changing Lanes". Changing Lanes is much better - Tier 7
The movies in my list, I would rank all at Tier 10 except "A Wednesday" & "Johnny Gaddar", which I would put at Tier 9.
iceblox wrote:I'd also recommend the ones movieboy recommended (they are still Bollywood mind you, but better than the usual stuff),
Yes, the typical Bollywood movie is rubbish. On the average, I find 1 movie worth watching in a year. In the last few years, I have found only "3 Idiots", "Johnny Gaddar" & "A Wednesday" really worth watching. Out of these "3 idiots" was totally cliched but still fun. Heard a lot about "Tere Bin Laden" which was a recent release, but not watched it yet. It's supposed to be an outstanding over the top comedy with a Osama Bin Laden impersonator.
iceblox wrote:Yes. But try http://www.bwtorrents.com (I don't know what's the latest criteria for getting in - I haven't gone there in ages). It has some good stuff.
I think Bigflix has free & paid for movie streaming available from various countries outside India - not sure though.
http://www.mybigflix.com/
Inside India, they are a Movie Rental chain, like Blockbuster.
iceblox wrote:except 'Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega', which IIRC is song & dance nonsense.
I didn't like Love Ke Liye much the first time I watched it. 2nd, 3rd viewing it was much better. The comic lines are outstanding in the movie & you miss a lot of them in the first viewing.
Another comedy which improves on repeated viewing is "Deewana Mastana", though I don't like any other movie made by David Dhawan. Parts of Deewana Mastana are directly lifted from Bill Murray's "What about Bob".
