Bollywood movies in 2018 succumbed to the usual trend of playing up those that had starry elements but lacked content and execution. Some hit the bull’s eye, some missed it, but nevertheless they made it to our list of films you ought to watch before the year ends. These hidden gems are the making of filmmakers who stuck to their gut and delivered some of the best celluloid.
Despite the year seeing a major drop in expectation from A-list celebs such as Salman Khan with Race 3 or Aamir Khan with Thugs Of Hindostan; the Indian audience did give into the hype and therefore ran out of time to watch films that had better narratives. Keeping aside the obvious let downs, there were some commercial films that indeed won hearts. Some of these include Raazi, Parmanu Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Badhaai Hoo, Andhadhun that made exceptionally well at the box office.
So before we enter 2019, here are some films that were majorly missed out by many but did receive positive feedback from critics as a chunk of finest art house movies of recent times.
Tumbbad
This historical period fantasy horror film directed by debutant Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad has won hearts with this motion picture. It was critically acclaimed and has been planned for a sequel with the title ‘Tumbbad 2’, starring same actor Sohum Shah, but with a different plot.
Omerta
Very few know that the film was written in 2004 by the actor Mukul Dev, and it took almost 12 years to start pre-production. It is based on Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh; two incident explores in the film – 1994 kidnapping of westerns in India and murder of Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl. Omerta is an underrated film made with a whopping budget of Rs 180 Million but failed to recover even half the amount. Starring Rajkummar Rao, the film was highly praised in film festivals but still remains unwatched by many.
Manto
Directed by Nandita Das, the film is based on Saadat Hasan Manto, an established story writer in the Bombay film industry, who is distressed after his family is forced to flee to Pakistan due to the tensions between the Hindus and Muslims. It was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
Bioscopewala
With Danny Dengzongpa in lead alongside Adil Hussain, Tisca Chopra, Geethanjali Thaapa in pivotal roles; the film is an adaptation of Kabuliwala, the original short story written by Rabindranath Tagore. Danny essays the role of a dry fruit seller who becomes into a man who goes around showing films to children through his bioscope.
Union Leader
This Indo-Canadian political drama starring Rahul Dev, was initially titled as Kamdar Union. The film released in almost 100 screens in India and received positive reviews with a clap worthy performance from the actor as well.
Mukkabaaz
Bollywood saw a good line up of sports drama over the years such as Sultan, Dangal, and Mary Kom to name a few. However, movie buffs may have missed out on Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkabaaz. It started off slow, but with good reviews it gained momentum and became a profitable venture at the box office.
Blackmail
Abhinay Deo who is known his first movie which was “Delhi Belly” and the TV Series “24” (an adaptation of American TV-series 24), has helmed Blackmail featuring Irrfan Khan. The trailer did create a hype, with the overall film not meeting expectations but needless to say it is a film one needs to watch.
Beyond the Clouds
Before Dhadak, it was this movie that marked Ishaan Khatter’s debut. Iranian director Majid Majidi put in all his might for this Indian film. Ishaan also received great appreciation for a compelling performance.
Karwaan
This road trip black comedy film starring Malayalam superstar Dulquer Salman and Irrfan Khan along with Mithila Palkar is considered to be an honest film of this year. Despite Irrfan leading in the film, it started off slow but picked up with time.
Bhavesh Joshi Superhero
Vikramaditya Motwane directorial venture starring Harshvardhan Kapoor as a superhero, makes it India’s first dark superhero film. While the film didn’t do well commercially, the stunts choreographed by Barrier 13 fame French actor Cyrill Raphaeli are award-worthy.
