Top 10 Hindi Movies in 2019
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1. TUMBBAD
What I remember - Technically it is a last year movie. But I covered it this year. Nevertheless cannot leave this one. It is one of all time greats. I feel hastar around me and I actively gaurd against it.
FROM THE FILES -
Tumbbad - 5 Stars. R. (Drama / Horror)
हस्तर मेरे अंदर बैठा है
Director - Ravi Barve, Anand Gandhi
Actors - Sohal Shah, Jyoti Malshe.
It has been months and I still think about the movie. It is definitely more artsy than commercial so take the rating with the tag. Tale of 'God of Greed' is a mythological story about how he is born and how he gets powerful. But the presentation is great and the philosophy behind it awesome. Generation after generation are advised not to fall for it and instead we keep going forward and keep trying to get more and more. First one coin is good, then entire bucket is not enough. It serves no one any good, I see Hastar lurking on my bathroom ceiling and sometimes in my living room wall.... He is there and if you are not careful he will get you.
2. ARTICLE 15
What I remember - Kaun hai yeh log? kaun hai? Cry of Ayushman.... cry against 5000 years of oppression and still there are people not some random people, but people like me who won't even acknowledge it. I also remember the understated commentary from the rebel dalit leader - इनके कपडे हम धोएं इनका गन्दा हम साफ़ करें इनकी फसल हम काटें...
FROM THE FILES -
Article 15 - 5.0 Stars. Drama / Thriller. R.
Article 15 - Trailer
Director: Anubhav Sinha
Stars: Ayushmann Khurrana, Nassar, Manoj Pahwa
When Anurag Kashyap tweeted about this movie. I got excited about it. Even after high expectations the movie delivered. Second 5 star in a row from this special guy named Anubhav Sinha (After Mulk). What a movie! I never thought this kid Ayushman Khurrana could do what he did. He puts everything in it, what a performance.
The invisible people of hinduism which are more than half of the population are barely humans. We see them but we don't. The movie beautifully depicts them as 'in logon mein' and then our Hero booms - Kaun hein yeh log? kaun hai? ... uff beautiful. The line stuck with me for days. Another one that I still remember is - Ayushman asks about everyone's jaat and they get into details on who is what jaat how they stack up in the heirarchy and who is untouchable, who is above who, who can drink water from whom. It is hilarious and sad at the same time. Wow... this is our culture and this is 2019 and it is not in some village it is everywhere. The moment 'yeh log' try to actually become 'log' and don't stay in their lane we will become a monster,why are we as humans so cruel...
Movie is about a new Cop who comes to town to investigate dalit girl's disappearance and he finds out no one cares. I mean No one.
3. JUDGEMENTAL HAI KYA
What I remember - Too fresh to forget anything. The freshness of the movie is still fresh in me. Song and the whacky acting of Kangana.
FROM THE FILES -
JUDGEMENTAL HAI KYA - 5.0 STARS. PG13. (QUIRKY)
Director: Prakash Kovelamudi
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Amyra Dastur
I know when you see this movie, you are not going to put it at 5 stars. It is my bias towards quirky, crazy, whacky movies that I can't help myself. What a director, Mr Prakash Koelamudi where are your feet sir? How can you make every scene into crazy, funny, tense and dramatic all at the same time? Rajkummar Rao needed this movie after he was getting typecast. But the movie belongs to Kangana. What an artist and when you have to play a crazy out of whack character ...... you can't beat Kangana. Actually if Kangana meets me on the street and does not do anything quirky I will be shocked.
Kangana has lot of problems including obsessing over characters and people. She also has a good heart but she is also certified crazy. Add to this a normal looking Rajkummar who starts looking weird as the movie goes on. Add to this a murder, cross that it could be series of murders.... or maybe not. huh. Just go along with the ride. It is not your typical movie in any sense, don't expect twist every minute or characters behaving out of character to shock you. None of those 'trapping the audience' thing. Now add to it the Music, all RD Burman tracks and then some great lyrics. I love each and every song, but the 2 favorites are - kis raste hai jana, and the title song. Also the Ramayan with the seeta part is out of whack. We have done endless Ramayan adaptations - but still no one did this.
OK I guess you know I loved the movie. I guarantee you won't like it as much as I like it. But then this is free blog, I can once in a while let my bias go wild.
4. MONSOON SHOOTOUT
What I remember - The scene where the story splits into 3. Gun pointed - do I shoot or not? Every moment in life is similar. The complication of choice and realization no option is right or wrong.
FROM THE FILES-
Monsoon Shootout - 4.5 Stars. R. (Drama / Thriller)
यु होता तो क्या होता। .. के यु होता तो क्या होता
Director: Amit Kumar
Stars: Vijay Varma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Neeraj Kabi
I have heard of these movies that show alternate endings, I never saw one ... until now. Our lives are formed of moments, and moments are formed of decisions. Generally we can take 2-3 routes in every given moment, whether it is speeding and crossing a yellow light, or taking a new job. As Ghalib would say - yu hota to kya hota, ke yu hota to kya hota!
The movie gives you options during a shootout, if the cop takes any of the given option what would happen? The greatness of the movie is it steers clear of Black / White and True / False and tells you Life is messy and keep your ego in check because you can make whatever decision you want... life can still come back and smack you. There is no way out, just live it as it comes. Beautiful.
5. SONCHIRIYA
What I remember - A philosophically submerged dacoit movie. The realization every one is looking for their own son chiriya your own ending your own peace.
FROM THE FILES-
Sonchiriya - 4.5 Stars. (Drama / Action) PG13.
Director- Abhishek Chaubey
Actors- Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee
On surface it is a dacoit movie set in 1980s when there were dacoits in MP / Rajasthan region. The language barrier is huge, the the thick accent can't be understood very well, but if you have time rewind and listen. Dialogues are beautifully done, Daciots call themselves 'baaghi' - rebels. They are fighting against the system. Each character in the movie is so well developed that you start living with them, each one has enough time to give themselves a voice and a place in your heart. Each one of us have a guilt in our heart and a chip on our shoulder and a few things to take care of. I have not seen many movies where each character has hisown story well told. I have put this under Artsy, because if you don't get beyond the Dacoit story you don't see the artsy side to it.
6. HAMID
What I remember - The pain, the pain of all minorities.Everyone is minority sometime or in some aspect in their lives and they complain, as they become majority they want to crush the minority. The cute boy I remember and his voice, Mom's pain and boy's cute kashmiri accent.
FROM THE FILES-
Hamid - 4.5 Stars. Drama. R.
Director: Aijaz Khan
Stars: Talha Arshad Reshi, Vikas Kumar, Rasika Dugal
Hamid - Trailer
Another great movie in artsy section for this Quarter. Maybe I am becoming a artsy kind of blogger, it has been easy to tag them artsy and then talk my heart out and not worry about you guys criticizing me for making you watch a bad movie. I tried to start this movie many times and did not go past a few minutes. Sometimes you don't want to be depressed, then one day you have the mood to watch something special.
Hamid is a story of a Kashmiri Boy and how life treats him just because he is born in a war torn region. It also depicts perspective of a sensitive soldier who's job is to crack down on innocent people to keep them in their 'lane'. The movie is also about a Mom / wife's life in most militarized region of the world where it is common place for people to go missing due to Military excesses. At the end of it all, my heart was so heavy that I felt depressed for few days and I couldn't go to sleep that night. Now do you want this out of a movie? Only if you are a liberal / feel for minority only then you have these reactions otherwise it is another boring movie about Kashmir. The kid playing Hamid has a great sweet Kashmiri accent that you cannot get enough of, his Mom played by the great Rasika Duggal just packs a punch in this awesome performance.
7. GONE KESH
What I remember - The Dad Daughter relationship and the cute boy friend the girl has as support.
FROM THE FILES -
GONE KESH - 4.5 STARS. PG13. (DRAMA)
Director: Qasim Khallow
Stars: Shweta Tripathi,
We avoided it for a long time, the name was such a let down. With so many hair movies out this year I did not want another one, also this is with a girl so must be something about a disease. I was right about that, it is about a girl losing hair but I was wrong about dragging my feet on watching it. It was a great movie, loved it from start to end. What a director can do - thanks Mr Qasim for concocting this recipe with right amount of inspiration, comedy, drama and things in-between.
The movie is about this middle class girl losing hair along with other problems that come with being an adult middle class girl. One thing she has is a beautiful family, parents and specially the Dad, played perfectly by this guy we see so much but I could not find his name. She has a typical desi boy friend with a heart of gold. She has all the support she needs. I had tears in my eyes seeing the daughter - dad relation. Maybe I could be that good of a Dad. I loved the movie.
8. GAME OVER
What I remember - Feeling inspired at the end of the movie. The will to fight is all you need.
FROM THE FILES-
Game Over - 4.0 Stars.Thriller. R.
Director: Ashwin Saravanan
Stars: Taapsee Pannu, Vinodhini Vaidynathan, Parvathi T.
Game Over - Trailer
Did I tell you Taapsee is an awesome actor? Yea I think I did ... like a few times before. She makes this taut thriller a taut thriller. The movie is about a girl who has to kill her inner and some outside demons to live and survive whatever life throws at her. Past horrific incidences bog her down, she can't go out in public. Victims end up being blamed and are persecuted in this society. It is a pretty fresh movie, which has many endings at the same time. The moral of the story is ... fight fight fight, we all need to fight. When the movie got over I wanted to fight... no matter what comes.
9. CHOPSTICKS
What I remember - Abhay Deol is the most bankable star. Mithila is cute and good. A nice thrillerish drama comedy all in one.
FROM THE FILES -
Chopsticks - 4.0 Stars. (Drama) G.
डर से डर को काटा जाता है
Director - Sachin Yardi
Actors - Abhay Deol, Mithila Palkar, Vijay Raaz
Generally you don't go wrong with Abhay Deol. very bankable good star. Another great movie, and as is the case in many he is not the star. The female lead - Mithila Parkar is awesome. She was great in 'Little Things' a Netflix series. She plays a unsure under confident girl who runs into Abhay and lot of weird twisted moments and she starts getting confident about life. A cute beautiful story. Best part was - it was not love story, it was also not a friendship story. It was just a story. Girl is a tour guide for Chinese tourists and new job so she buys a new car. A thief makes an idiot of her and then starts her journey to getting smart smarter smartest along with another thief (Abhay) he is going to fix a few things.
10. PATTAKHA
What I remember - Where do you find such a story and then have guts to make it into a movie. 2 sisters enemies but have a common frined who is also enemy but a friend too. Whacky crazy and nice. Most movies in this list have no reference they have come out of vacuum, from the genius of director and writers.
FROM THE FILES -
Pattakhaa - 4.0 Stars. PG13. (Whacky)
दो बहेनो की प्रेम कथा
Director - Vishal Bhardwaj
Actors - Sanya Malhotra, Radhika Madan, Sunil Grover.
When it is Vishal Bhardwaj at the helm rest assured it won't be your regular cinema. You know it is common knowledge that if there are 2 Sisters with little age gap they fight a lot. Well this is a story of 2 Sisters but their fight is not your regular fight and it takes weird out of whack twists and turns. When you think you have seen the bad it turns to worse. The entire joy ride is worth taking, the guy who enjoys the entire ride with us is the narrator and confidante of everyone in the village - Sunil Grover. He has a great role and he does complete justice to it. If you want to be surprised - this is the movie for you.
HONORABLE MENTIONS -
WAR
SIMMBA
NANU KI JAANU
