10. Delhi Belly
Directed by: Abhinay Deo
Starring: Imran Khan, Vir Das
Defiantly pessimistic, hilariously sickening and completely in English, 2011’s Delhi Belly was Bollywood’s Oracle of Delphi in that it envisaged everything Bollywood would represent in the 2010s, which is an affront to everything the previous decades were.
The highly successful black comedy film that had a so-not-Bollywood tagline , “S*** Happens”, and a hero who was prone to ill-timed boners, undoubtedly set the stage for future unorthodox Bollywood films that redefined the parameters of what a commercial Bollywood hit could be; be it the Wes Anderson-esque Finding Fanny, Queen or Piku, a film about a senior citizen’s bowel movements.
09. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania
Directed by: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt
An unapologetic love letter to Bollywood masala but one that is done right, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania took everything we loved about the genre (catchy tunes, great dancing and a big, feverish romance) and extracted everything we loathe about it i.e. the schmaltz. Humpty is indeed a joyride from beginning to end with plenty of funny moments and fantastic chemistry between its two leads, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt that rivals any great film pairing (think Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn. Yes, that good).
In the words of the film’s producer, Karan Johar, “its not easy to make a good commercially viable film” and he’s absolutely right. Humpty was that though and that’s why it deserves to be celebrated and loved, not tossed aside just because it happens to be “filmy”.
08. Haider
Directed by: Vishal Bhardwaj
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Tabu
The explosive conclusion to Bollywood Renaissance Man, Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptations of Shakespeare tragedies, Haider, set in Nineties insurgency Kashmir, is opulent, haunting and sporadically bone-chilling. It gave us the greatest Gertude to ever grace the silver screen (Tabu, not Julie Christie) and encouraged audiences to question not just sacred, internationally worshipped texts but also Indian media’s demonization of Kashmiris.
Some film critics thought Haider was myopic; they took issue with the film highlighting a family drama and placing the Kashmir situation in the backdrop but these film critics failed to realize that Haider’s inner struggles actually encapsulate the plight of Kashmiris and their innate human desire for self-autonomy, a right that has been crushed again as of late.
07. Masaan
Directed by: Neeraj Ghaywan
Starring: Richa Chadda, Vicky Kaushal
A beautifully despondent journey into India’s River Sytx with stories of tragic love and North India’s fucked up police system.
The general public might have warmed up to Vicky Kaushal post the nauseating Uri: The Surgical Strike but its in Masaan where his superlative thespian skills as a downhearted, achingly sweet gravedigger who breaks your heart asunder and makes you believe in true love, came into full view.
06. The Lunchbox
Directed by: Ritesh Batra
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur
The Bollywood film that got bougie white film critics to finally recognize Bollywood’s potential, The Lunchbox was original, touching and quietly powerful. Its mechanisms – a story of two lonely strangers communicating through letters – might be Nora Ephron-ian but its guardedness, awkwardness and moments of profound warmth are acutely Bombay.
05. AndhaDun
Directed by: Sriram Raghavan
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu
Sriram Raghavan, a criminally underrated filmmaker, subverts the institutions of David Lynch, Hitchcock and the Coen Bros to create a decidedly Hindi film that is his most accomplished work to date. A black comedy that is searingly original and deliciously wicked.
04. English Vinglish
Directed by: Gauri Shinde
Starring: Sridevi
Possibly the most triumphant film comeback since Michael Keaton’s Birdman (I actually wrote a piece which argued why I genuinely believe Sridevi and Michael Keaton are kindred spirits), Sridevi’s first film in 25 years became the crown jewel in her already dazzling filmography; a disarmingly heartfelt, not to mention persistently funny, story about a put-upon middle class Indian housewife who reclaims her life.
Sridevi returns to the big screen as though she never left it with a performance that is nothing short of a miracle. Side-note: although the film had many quotable moments, its best line also happens to be the most romantic line ever uttered on celluloid – “her eyes are like two drops of coffee in a cloud of milk”. It gets me every time.
03. Udaan
Directed by: Vikramaditye Motwane
Starring: Rajat Barmechra, Ronit Roy
Another precursor to Bollywood’s nouvelle vague of “realism”, 2010’s Udaan dared to choose messy instability over closure. First-time director Vikramaditye Motwane navigates through the then uncharted, muddy waters of parental child abuse and teenage rebellion with an honest pair of eyes. Moreover, he lifted Ronit Roy from Indian TV purgatory by allowing him to deliver a performance that etches itself in the mind.
02. Court
Directed by: Chaitanye Tomhane
Starring: Viva Sathider, Vivek Gomber
No other Hindi film this decade impacted me, nay scarred me, the way Court did. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and neither will any other person of relative privilege.
01. Ekk Main Aurr Ek Tu
Directed by: Shakun Batra
Starring: Imran Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan
“Woody Allen” and “Bollywood” juxtapose as loudly as “smart” and “Trump” but somehow debutant director, Shakun Batra, fuses the two and thus was able to breathe new life into the then decaying Bollywood masala genre. It’s a delicate dance but one that Batra nimbly executes. The film, as a result, never veers into saccharine territory; instead it’s sweet and astute. Its plotline is nothing that hasn’t been sledgehammered to death by Bollywood– sad, anal retentive boy meets spunky girl who loosens him up – but the extraordinary is in the telling.
Batra might have released the infinitely more popular – but IMO inferior – Kapoor & Sons later on but Ekk Main Aurr Ek Tu is a more complete, more commendable film. The cherry? Amit Trivedi’s soundtrack – Big Band meets French House meets Cat Stevens – which is as wonderfully weird as the film it accompanies.
