An ethnographic documentary on the Warli tribe in India, who are isolated from the modern world, as Dutta, with a keen observational eye, captures their daily lives, rituals, and myths, as if he had time-travelled back centuries with a camera in tow.
As a character study on a young Indian classical music vocalist trying to persevere in his quest to be a master of the craft, Tamhane’s sophomore feature is occasionally overwrought and ironically one-note.
A milestone of popular Indian cinema, this enduring classic is a lavish epic about the taboo romance between a prince and a court dancer, and how love might triumph over power.
Contemporary Indian avant-garde cinema at its artistic peak, Dutta’s unclassifiable portrait of the famous eponymous 18th-century Indian painter is an astonishing poetic and sensorial experience that recalls the likes of Parajanov.
A simple lie about having a look-alike twin brother turns into an elaborate if risky plan of deception in this hilarious comedy about an employee trying to trick his conservative boss to keep his new high-paying job.
A film that will anger the hell out of you as Shyam Benegal tackles gender and class oppression in a depressingly kyriarchal Indian town with brazen confidence.
P.T. Anderson’s mesmerising hour-long shot-in-India documentary about the coming together of musicians to record an album is a musical dream transcending its raw, no-frills production.
Despite being overly melodramatic and feeling somewhat dated, a woman’s stand against the patriarchal order is brought to life in Ketan Mehta’s rousing tale.
Arguably Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s finest film, a bittersweet comedy about a doctor and his cancer patient starring Rajesh Khanna in a delightfully hilarious performance and Amitabh Bachchan in a breakthrough supporting role.
Mukherjee’s classic comedy revolving around an elaborate practical joke planned and executed by a newly-wedded man on his hapless in-laws is one of his most entertaining delights.
