40 Films of Ale: India
My favorite Indian films, ranked.
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- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeMadhavi MukherjeeShailen MukherjeeThe lonely wife of a newspaper editor falls in love with her visiting cousin-in-law, who shares her love for literature.
- DirectorGuru DuttStarsGuru DuttWaheeda RehmanMala SinhaVijay, a talented but indigent poet, struggles for love and recognition in this selfish world.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeSharmila TagoreAlok ChakravartyThis final installment in Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy follows Apu's life as an orphaned adult aspiring to be a writer.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsKanu BannerjeeKaruna BannerjeeSubir BanerjeeImpoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsPinaki SenguptaSmaran GhosalKamala AdhikariFollowing his father's death, a boy leaves home to study in Calcutta, while his mother must face a life alone.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsSupriya ChoudhuryAnil ChatterjeeGyanesh MukherjeeA selfless young woman (Supriya Choudhury) sacrifices her own happiness for her unappreciative family.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsMadhavi MukherjeeBijon BhattacharyaAbhi BhattacharyaA man (Abhi Bhattacharya) opposes the love between his sister and the orphan (Satindra Bhattacharya) they adopted years earlier.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsChhabi BiswasGangapada BasuPadmadeviDepicts the end days of a decadent zamindar (landlord) in Bengal, and his efforts to uphold his family prestige even when faced with economic adversity.
- DirectorGuru DuttStarsWaheeda RehmanGuru DuttKumari NaazSuresh Sinha, a famous director, discovers star potential in Shanti, a woman he stumbled into one rainy evening, and casts her as the lead in a film. In a twist of fate, Shanti becomes a superstar and Suresh faces a decline in his career.
- DirectorAnurag KashyapStarsManoj BajpayeeNawazuddin SiddiquiTigmanshu DhuliaA clash between Sultan and Shahid Khan leads to the expulsion of Khan from Wasseypur, and ignites a deadly blood feud spanning three generations.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsTripti MitraShaonli MitraSugata BurmanIn this quest narrative that makes the Odyssey look like a trip to the mall, four men, each peculiar in his own way, embark on a quest to reason with the estranged wife of the protagonist.
- DirectorAmit DuttaStarsChandra Shekhar DuttaAn experimental film which combines folk tales and dreams with vivid images and sounds from nature.
- DirectorMani KaulStarsKana RamRaisa PadamseeHardanFilm is Based on Duvidha by Vijayadan Detha, it's about merchant's son, whose relationship with his young bride, Lachhi is thwarted by his work and a ghost who falls in love with her, resulting in the ghost soon impersonating the husband.
- DirectorMukul AnandStarsAmitabh BachchanSrideviNagarjuna AkkineniBaadshah Khan falls in love with Benazir, a member of a rival clan who has defeated him in a game of buzkashi.
- DirectorAparna SenStarsRahul BoseKonkona Sen SharmaBhisham SahniDuring a bus journey, a devout Hindu Brahmin woman protects a Muslim man when communal rioting breaks out.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsAnil ChatterjeeMadhavi MukherjeeJaya BachchanLife at home changes when a house-wife from a middle-class, conservative family in Calcutta gets a job as a saleswoman.
- DirectorMani KaulStarsGurdeep SinghGarimaSavita BajajA woman waits for her truck driver husband, everyday, with his daily bread. Her concern for their dying relationship and her sister grows fast as she starts to doubt his loyalty.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSharmila TagoreSoumitra ChatterjeeChhabi BiswasA young woman is deemed a goddess when her father-in-law, a rich feudal land-lord, has a dream envisioning her as an avatar of Kali.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeMadhavi MukherjeeHaradhan BannerjeeA chance meeting rekindles old memories between a screenwriter and his ex-girlfriend, who is by now married to a well-to-do man.
- DirectorMeghna GulzarStarsIrrfan KhanKonkona Sen SharmaNeeraj KabiAn experienced investigator confronts several conflicting theories about the perpetrators of a violent double homicide.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSharmila TagoreKaberi BoseSimi GarewalA group of Calcutta city slickers, including the well-off Asim (Soumitra Chatterjee), the meek Sanjoy (Subhendu Chatterjee) and the brutish Hari (Samit Bhanja), head out for a weekend in the wilderness.
- DirectorFranz OstenHimanshu RaiStarsHimanshu RaiPrafulla Roy GhoshDevi. SitaThis adaptation of Arnold's 1861 Orientalist epic opens with documentary shots of tourists in Bombay watching street performers. Then a white-bearded old man sitting under the bodhi tree tells the tourists the story of Gautama (Rai), son of King Suddodhana (Ukil) and Queen Maya (Bala), who left his consort Gopa (Seeta) and became a wandering teacher credited with founding Buddhism. The religious epic, with its idealized figures, takes up the narrative in flashback and ends with Gopa kneeling before Gautama asking to become his disciple.
- DirectorS. ShankarStarsRajinikanthAishwarya Rai BachchanDanny DenzongpaA brilliant scientist creates a humanoid robot to protect mankind, but things go awry when human emotions are programmed and inner turmoil causes the robot to switch sides.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsChhabi BiswasKaruna BannerjeePahadi SanyalAn upper-class Bengali family is on vacation in Darjeeling, a popular hill station and resort near Kanchenjungha.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsRosy SamadKabori SarwarRawshan ZamilAfter their wedding night, a fisherman's young wife is kidnapped on the Titas River in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.
- DirectorAparna SenStarsJennifer KendalDhritiman ChatterjeeDebashree RoyAfter marriage of her niece, Rosemary, Anglo-Indian school-teacher Violet Stoneham lives a lonely life in her single room flat located at 36 Chowringhee Lane in Calcutta.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsDhritiman ChatterjeeAsgar AliArabinda BanerjeeA young college graduate is struggling to find a job. He lives in a flat with his younger, employed sister, revolutionary brother and widowed mother. The strain of the situation ultimately causes him to hallucinate.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsAnil ChatterjeeChandana BanerjeeAparna SenBased on popular Indian stories of the great writer Rabindranath Tagore, these short films reveal definitive moments in the lives of three young girls.
- DirectorBimal RoyStarsBalraj SahniNirupa RoyRatan KumarIn the hope of earning enough money to pay off his debts and save his land, a poor farmer becomes a rickshaw puller in Calcutta and faces many difficulties.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsAjit BanerjeeKali BannerjeeGangapada BasuRamu,eldest son a family of migrants to Calcutta,is a fresh graduate searching for a job like many others in post-Partition Calcutta.
- DirectorQaushiq MukherjeeStarsAnubrata BasuJoyraj BhattacharyaSoumyak Kanti DeBiswasA royal prince arrives on an island of fascist rule and inspires a rebellion among its women in this hallucinogenic adaptation of a classic play.
- DirectorFranz OstenStarsSeeta DeviHimanshu RaiCharu RoyTwo neighboring Indian kingdoms are ruled by cousins - King Ranjit and King Sohat. Unbeknownst to Ranjit, Sohat is plotting to seize control of his kingdom.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsPradip MukherjeeRafique AhmedS. BagchiA bright and idealistic young man steels himself for the dog-eat-dog business world, only to flounder in a job market packed with thousands of other hopefuls.
- DirectorRitesh BatraStarsIrrfan KhanNimrat KaurNawazuddin SiddiquiA mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to an older man in the dusk of his life as they build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox.
- DirectorGurinder ChadhaStarsMartin HendersonAishwarya Rai BachchanNadira BabbarA modern adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, that features the lives of four unmarried daughters in an Indian family.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsKallol BoseSubir BoseNorman EllisThis documentary shows the life of the greatest Bengali talent of all time, Rabindranath Tagore. His work in Bengali culture and literature.
- DirectorAshutosh GowarikerStarsAamir KhanRaghubir YadavGracy SinghThe people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers.
- DirectorMira NairStarsShafiq SyedAnjaanAmrit PatelYoung Krishna struggles to survive among the drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes in the back alleys and gutters of India.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsTapan ChatterjeeRabi GhoshAjoy BanerjeeGoopy wants to sing, and Bagha wants to play the dhol. They meet accidentally and are helped by King of Ghosts. With newly endowed abilities, they land in kingdom of Shundi, where their adventure begins.
- DirectorDhundiraj Govind PhalkeStarsD.D. DabkePurshottam VaidyaMandakini PhalkeA little child plays on the coils of a cobra and the audience is absorbed and meditative in prayer in alternate editing. Mystic music blows up the ascending head and then returns to its place. Shree Krishna is seen by villainous Kansa who sees a column, falls asleep and when he awakens there is no more. Then he sees Krishna as a child, then as a teen, then he sees the column again. It happens for a moment and Krishna appears in two different parts at the same time and then multiply, threaten him with a spear. The divine being is condemned by the king to being crushed by an elephant, but he tames it repeatedly. He is brought back to the king, who is told that he has supernatural powers and the sentence to be thrown into a boiling cauldron, but she goes out unscathed. The king condemns him to drink a mortal potion, which changes color to the prayer of God.