A little late 🙂 but here they are:
10. Crew: A breezy entertainer about 3 air-hostesses and friends (Kareena Kapoor, Tabu, Kriti Sanon) taking the not-so-moral path to overcome financial difficulties, this one is a decent watch.
9. Teri Baaton Main Aisa Uljha Jiya: On a US jaunt, visiting his aunt, Aryan meets Sifra and falls madly in love with her. There is more to Sifra than meets the eye though, and when the truth comes to light, all hell breaks loose. This is sci-fi meets bollywood at its campiest, but yet fun to watch with the good-looking lead pair (Kriti Sanon, Shahid Kapoor).
8. Vedaa: Vedaa is a socially conscious action drama, featuring Sharvari Wagh and John Abraham. The film focuses on caste violence and atrocities, and is a fast-paced watch. If this had been a little less commercial and a little more nuanced, it would have ranked better on this list.
7. Do aur do pyaar: A remake of the 2017 American film The Lovers, this film explores emotional drift in married life. Vidya Balan and Pratik Gandhi star, along with Sendhil Ramamurthy (remember him from the lovely Shor In The City?)
6. Khel khel mein: A group of friends decide to really get into each other’s business – almost as a gag, but things take a turn for the serious as unexpected secrets are revealed. This is a quirky, off-beat film and an entertaining watch. The huge star cast (Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Ammy Virk , Aditya Seal, Pragya Jaiswal, Fardeen Khan) adds to the appeal.
5. All India Rank: Written and directed by Varun Grover (and inspired by his own experiences) this is best described as a coming of age film. The film is about Vivek Singh (Bodhisattva Sharma) who’s preparing for the IIT JEE in Kota – the student life depicted has refrains of Kota Factory. It feels authentic and is worth watching for the lovely acting and the nuanced characters.
4. Amar Singh Chamkila: Directed by Imtiaz Ali, this stars Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra, and is a biographical musical drama about the turbulent life of Punjabi folk singer Amar Singh Chamkila and his wife Amarjot. I knew nothing about him before the film, but I found it moving and interesting.
3. Bhakshak: This hard-hitting film about a lone, brave woman trying to fight systemic abuse is at times hard to watch. Bhumi Pednekar and Sanjay Mishra deliver stunning performances in this crime thriller/ social drama.
2. Kill: This film is a condensed action thriller, packing tons of gore and blood into 1 hour 45 minutes. It is intense – no songs, additional melodrama or moments of levity to dilute the pace. All we get as a let-up are snatches of a romance; little flashbacks, foils to the present blood-letting. Lakshya and Tanya Maniktala (of A Suitable Boy fame) star.
1. Laapata Ladies: The feel‑good comedy-drama of the year, this pleasant film is directed by Kiran Rao with a relatively unknown cast (Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Rana, Sparsh Srivastav).
