Top list of Hindi art films (Parallel Cinema movies)
by amit_agy | created - 23 Sep 2012 | updated - 30 Mar 2020 | PublicMovies which are unconventional, Out of the league and far from being another run-of-the-mill. Some of them were inspired by Hollywood flicks, yet they leave an indelible mark in history of Hindi film industry.
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1. Nayakan (1987)
Not Rated | 145 min | Crime, Drama
A common man's struggles against a corrupt police force put him on the wrong side of the law. He becomes a don, who is loved and respected by many, but his growing power and influence exact a heavy toll.
Director: Mani Ratnam | Stars: Kamal Haasan, Saranya Ponvannan, Delhi Ganesh, Janakaraj
Votes: 22,983
Tamil movie. But, couldn't resist myself from adding it here. It was one of the TIME magazine's 100 Greatest All-Time Movies. My personal #1 movie all time.
2. Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986 TV Movie)
127 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
One dissenting juror in a murder trial tries to influence the verdict with his personal prejudices and biases
Director: Basu Chatterjee | Stars: Deepak Qazir, Amitabh Srivastava, Pankaj Kapur, S.M. Zaheer
Votes: 2,028
Court room drama. Inspired from 12 angry men. But, I found it better than Hollywood flick.
3. Chhoti Si Baat (1976)
123 min | Comedy, Romance
A timid suitor seeks the help of a ruthless colonel to win the woman of his dreams when a bold young man begins to pursue her in this romantic comedy.
Director: Basu Chatterjee | Stars: Ashok Kumar, Vidya Sinha, Amol Palekar, Govardhan Asrani
Votes: 4,498
Simple yet beautiful romantic movie. Great chemistry between Amol Palekar and Vidya Sinha. Amazing performance of Ashok Kumar in form of Julius Wilfred Nagendra Singh.
4. Anand (1971)
Not Rated | 122 min | Drama, Musical
The story of a terminally ill man who wishes to live life to the fullest before the inevitable occurs, as told by his best friend.
Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Stars: Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Sumita Sanyal, Ramesh Deo
Votes: 35,303
Masterpiece of Hrishikesh Da and Rajesh Khanna. Such a lively yet so emotional movie. 'Zindagi lambi nahi, badi honi chahiye babu moshai'
5. Gol Maal (1979)
Not Rated | 120 min | Comedy, Romance
A man's simple lie to secure his job escalates into more complex lies when his orthodox boss gets suspicious.
Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Stars: Amol Palekar, Bindiya Goswami, Deven Verma, Shobha Khote
Votes: 20,069
6. Chupke Chupke (1975)
Not Rated | 146 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A newly wedded husband plays a practical joke on his wife's family with full support from his wife and friends.
Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Stars: Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan
Votes: 13,214
7. Angoor (1982)
Not Rated | 131 min | Comedy
Based on Shakespeare's 'A Comedy of Errors', this is a story of identical twins (2 pairs) and mistaken identities.
Director: Gulzar | Stars: Sanjeev Kumar, Moushumi Chatterjee, Deven Verma, Aruna Irani
Votes: 5,820
8. Masoom (1983)
Not Rated | 165 min | Drama, Family
A happy family goes through turbulent times because of a big mistake by one of the family members.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Jugal Hansraj, Urmila Matondkar
Votes: 4,402
9. Guide (1965)
Not Rated | 183 min | Drama, Romance
When mistaken to be a sage by some villagers, an ex-tour guide reflects on his past and lost love to search for spiritual wisdom to guide the villagers.
Director: Vijay Anand | Stars: Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman, Leela Chitnis, Anwar Hussain
Votes: 8,591
10. Nadiya Ke Paar (1982)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama, Romance
Chandan and Gunja, who hails from a village across the river, fall in love with each other. After her sister dies, Gunja is compelled to marry her brother-in-law who is Chandan's brother.
Director: Govind Moonis | Stars: Sachin Pilgaonkar, Sadhana Singh, Inder Thakur, Mitali
Votes: 1,287
Original Hum Aapke Hain Kaun with a rural set up. Sachin impresses to the core with great acting.
11. Aandhi (1975)
133 min | Drama, Romance
Hotel manager J.K. (Sanjeev Kumar) works there. One day, he bravely steps in to save Aarti, the drunken daughter of a politician (Suchitra Sen). Aarti and J.K. have a small ceremony to ... See full summary »
Director: Gulzar | Stars: Suchitra Sen, Sanjeev Kumar, Om Shivpuri, Manmohan
Votes: 1,646
12. Bawarchi (1972)
Not Rated | 130 min | Comedy, Musical, Drama
A dysfunctional middle-class family is transformed due to the influence of their new multi-talented household servant - but he might be too good to be true.
Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Stars: Rajesh Khanna, Jaya Bachchan, Usha Kiran, Harindranath Chattopadhyay
Votes: 4,409
Another great movie from Hrishikesh Da + Rajesh Khanna combo. Wonderful depiction of life of Indian joint family and their insignificant yet troublesome issues. 'It is so simple to be happy. But, so difficult to be simple'
13. Sadma (1983)
141 min | Drama, Romance
A head injury causes a woman to regresses to childhood. Lost and confused, she is eventually befriended by a school teacher.
Director: Balu Mahendra | Stars: Kamal Haasan, Sridevi, Gulshan Grover, Silk Smitha
Votes: 3,468
Poignant flick. Great acting by legendary Kamal Hassan and Sridevi. Last scene of movies always makes me cry.
14. Water (I) (2005)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
Set in colonial India against Gandhi's rise to power, it's the story of 8-year-old Chuyia, who is widowed and sent to a home to live in penitence; once there, Chuyia's feisty presence deeply affects the lives of the other residents.
Director: Deepa Mehta | Stars: Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Seema Biswas, Sarala Kariyawasam
Votes: 15,357 | Gross: $3.22M
A hard hitting movie by Deepa Mehta about life of widows in India.
15. Nishant (1975)
140 min | Crime, Drama
A man whose wife is abducted seeks to have the culprits prosecuted for their crime, but no one will help him. Meanwhile, the wife-abused and berated by her abductors-cannot bring herself to face her husband.
Director: Shyam Benegal | Stars: Girish Karnad, Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag, Amrish Puri
Votes: 730
Nishant - A very disturbing movie from Shyam Benegal which portrays brutal raw truth of Zamidaari in rural India. Relationship between oppressor and oppressed.
16. Rang De Basanti (2006)
Not Rated | 167 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The story of six young Indians who assist an English woman to film a documentary on the freedom fighters from their past, and the events that lead them to relive the long-forgotten saga of freedom.
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra | Stars: Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi
Votes: 122,346 | Gross: $2.20M
17. Udaan (2010)
Not Rated | 134 min | Drama
Expelled from his school, a 16-year old boy returns home to his abusive and oppressive father.
Director: Vikramaditya Motwane | Stars: Rajat Barmecha, Ronit Roy, Manjot Singh, Ram Kapoor
Votes: 47,402 | Gross: $0.01M
18. Barfi! (2012)
Not Rated | 151 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three young people learn that love can neither be defined nor contained by society's definition of normal and abnormal.
Director: Anurag Basu | Stars: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Ileana D'Cruz, Saurabh Shukla
Votes: 86,758 | Gross: $2.80M
19. Zakhm (1998)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
Amidst religious riots, a son deals with his mother's life-threatening injuries, and her last request.
Director: Mahesh Bhatt | Stars: Ajay Devgn, Pooja Bhatt, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Sonali Bendre
Votes: 3,526
20. Like Stars on Earth (2007)
PG | 162 min | Drama, Family
An eight-year-old boy is thought to be a lazy trouble-maker, until the new art teacher has the patience and compassion to discover the real problem behind his struggles in school.
Directors: Aamir Khan, Amole Gupte | Stars: Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma
Votes: 206,620 | Gross: $1.22M
21. City of Gold - Mumbai 1982: Ek Ankahee Kahani (2010)
Not Rated | 145 min | Crime, Drama
An impoverished family faces challenges and obstacles after strikes/shut-downs/arson shut down Mumbai's mills.
Director: Mahesh Manjrekar | Stars: Sachin Khedekar, Seema Biswas, Ankush Chaudhari, Satish Kaushik
Votes: 399
22. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
Not Rated | 321 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A clash between Sultan and Shahid Khan leads to the expulsion of Khan from Wasseypur, and ignites a deadly blood feud spanning three generations.
Director: Anurag Kashyap | Stars: Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chadha
Votes: 103,782
23. Main, Meri Patni... Aur Woh! (2005)
129 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A short, nondescript man, Mithilesh Shukla marries a tall and beautiful woman. Now jealousy and Mithilesh's own insecurities threaten to wreck his happy home.
Director: Chandan Arora | Stars: Rajpal Naurang Yadav, Rituparna Sengupta, Naseeruddin Shah, Kay Kay Menon
Votes: 2,577
24. Chandni Bar (2001)
Not Rated | 150 min | Crime, Drama
A displaced woman is forced to become a beer-bar dancer, and sire children of a gangster.
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar | Stars: Tabu, Atul Kulkarni, Rajpal Naurang Yadav, Shri Vallabh Vyas
Votes: 2,790
25. A Wednesday (2008)
Not Rated | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A retiring police officer reminisces about the most astounding day of his career. About a case that was never filed but continues to haunt him in his memories - the case of a man and a Wednesday.
Director: Neeraj Pandey | Stars: Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah, Veerendra Saxena, Mahesh Kanual
Votes: 82,286
26. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002)
120 min | Drama
During a bus journey, a devout Hindu Brahmin woman protects a Muslim man when communal rioting breaks out.
Director: Aparna Sen | Stars: Rahul Bose, Konkona Sen Sharma, Bhisham Sahni, Surekha Sikri
Votes: 4,939
27. Garm Hava (1974)
146 min | Drama
In post-partition India, a Muslim businessman and his family struggle for their rights in a country which was once their own.
Director: M.S. Sathyu | Stars: Balraj Sahni, A.K. Hangal, Geeta Kak, Jamal Hashmi
Votes: 829
Garm Hawa
28. The Death Sentence: Mrityu Dand (1997)
Not Rated | 150 min | Action, Drama
Three women are sentenced to Death as they dare to speak out and threaten to break the Status Quo of a male dominated society.
Director: Prakash Jha | Stars: Shabana Azmi, Madhuri Dixit, Ayub Khan, Shilpa Shirodkar
Votes: 510
Mrityudand - Awakening of women empowerment
29. Disha (1992)
135 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
The Sarpat family, who live in Bhukari, consist of Parsaram, who has been involved in digging a well for the past over 12 years and is now called 'Pagal Parsa'; his brother, Soma, who gets ... See full summary »
Director: Sai Paranjpye | Stars: Shabana Azmi, Nana Patekar, Raghubir Yadav, Rajshree Sawant
Votes: 162
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