Every year we witness big Bollywood stars winning the box-office game with their same old done to death formulas. But the cinemagoers seem to be never having enough of these over the top movies as they continue to rake in the big moolah post their release. On the other side, there are many movies that are examples of top-class cinema but owing to the lack of promotion budget they often depend on social media and word to mouth publicity. These lesser-known movies that stand on the power of their stories and script do a balancing act for Bollywood's unrealistic big-budget movies. Leaving an indelible mark in the pages of Indian cinema, these movies end up touching a nerve with the audiences too.
Here are top 10 underrated Bollywood movies that deserve to receive what we are giving to these baseless big-budget high drama movies.
1. Masaan (2015): This Neeraj Ghaywan film explores the life of two different individuals. One is Devi played by Richa Chadha who deals with the loss of her boyfriend and blames herself for his death and the second one is Deepak who comes from a family that funeral pyres. The movie was highly appreciated and even won some awards at the Cannes film festival.
2. Aligarh (2015): An Indian Biographical drama, Hansal Mehta’s Aligarh was a sure shot masterpiece. Set in the city of Aligarh movie highlights the life of Ramchandra Siras a professor at the Aligarh Muslim University who is gay and who was suspended on grounds of morality. The movie garnered a standing ovation after it’s world premiere at Busan Film Festival and Bajpayee won critical acclaim and a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Ramchandra Siras.
3. Manto (2018): Manto is another Indian Biographical drama based on the life of prominent Urdu author Saadat Hasan Manto. The movie stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead role, who received some awards for his tremendous performance as Manto at the 64th Filmfare award.
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4.Chittagong (2012): Chittagong directed by Bedabrata Pain portrays life in Chittagong (a small village in Bangladesh) during British rule. The movie stars Manoj Bajpayee in the lead role. It received positive reviews from the critics and won the National Film Award for the best debut film by a director.
5. Margarita, with a straw (2015): The film starting Kalki Koechlin is the story of a bi-sexual girl who has cerebral palsy. She discovers her true self and identity through the course of the Film. This is a must-watch movie for all those Bollywood fans who are in search of some good cinema.
6. The Blue Umbrella (2005): This film by Vishal Bhardwaj is based on Ruskin Bond's novel by the same name. It is a story of a girl who finds a blue-colored Japanese umbrella and is enamored by its beauty. The umbrella then goes missing and she is left heartbroken, thereby ensuing her search for the thief.
7. Udaan (2010): The movie was not able to perform well at the box office but received what it deserved at the 2010 Cannes film festival. This was the first entry by the Indian film industry that was represented at the Cannes film festival in seven years.
8. Citylights (2014): This movie captures the ugly truth of the city of dreams, Mumbai. With actors like Rajkummar Rao working under National Award-winning director Hansal Mehta, the emotional turmoil of a couple from a small village in search of a better life in Mumbai is heart-wrenching.
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9. Hey Ram (2000): An Indian semi-fictional film shedding the light on India’s partition and Mahatama Gandhi’s murder by Nathuram Godse. Kamaal Hasan was the heart of this movie as he wrote, produced, directed, and even played the protagonist in the film.
10. Stanley Ka Dabba (2011): This is one of the most heartwarming movies of Bollywood. The movie revolves around a young school-going boy who faces humiliation from his pitiless teacher who stops him from taking his class and he brings his own Dabba.
