Favorite Indian Parallel Cinema Movies
This list may be of interest to Indian parallel (aka art-house) cinema aficionados
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21 titles
- DirectorGulzarStarsRekhaNaseeruddin ShahAnuradha PatelMeeting accidentally five years after their divorce, a couple reflects on how their marriage collapsed despite transparency.
- DirectorMuzaffar AliStarsRekhaFarooq ShaikhNaseeruddin ShahIn Faizabad, British India, Dilawar is sentenced to several years in prison after Amiran's Daroga dad testifies against him. After his discharge around 1840, he extracts his vengeance by abducting Amiran and selling to a brothel madam. It is here Amiran will be re-named Umrao Jaan. Years later, Umrao has grown up and is an accomplished poetess as well as dancer extraordinary. She has many patrons, chief amongst them are Nawab Sultan and his father. The young Nawab is smitten by Umrao's beauty and her poems, but is finally forced to marry a girl of his mother's choice, leaving behind a heart-broken and devastated Umrao, who seeks solace in the arms of Faiz Ali and finally elopes with him, only to find out that he is a wanted bandit, and is shot down and killed by guards. Umrao re-locates to Kanpur where she establishes herself as a Poet and dancer, but is hunted down by brothel-keepers, Gohar Mirza and Husseini and brought back, where she is told that she must marry Gohar. Watch what Umrao does to escape from being married against her will, and her attempts to try and find her way back to her parents.
- DirectorShekhar KapurStarsNaseeruddin ShahShabana AzmiJugal HansrajA happy family goes through turbulent times because of a big mistake by one of the family members.
- DirectorGulzarStarsSuchitra SenSanjeev KumarOm ShivpuriHotel 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 celebrate their marriage after falling in love. The married pair decides to separate after a few years because of several issues. Aarti and J.K. eventually cross paths again when she has achieved political success. Both of them sense a connection despite their distance, but Aarti is reluctant to speak up for fear of having her reputation ruined and endangering her profession. However, when the opposing party conducts a rally to disparage and humiliate Aarti Devi, When she gets there, she informs the populace and voters of her decision to leave her husband and family in order to serve this nation's citizens. The public respects her and is deeply moved by her voice and selflessness. J.K. arrives there as well and offers her support; she is overjoyed and moves on. She is elected and goes on to have a fulfilling life.
- DirectorGulzarStarsVinod KhannaDimple KapadiaAmjad KhanSamir Niyogi lives in India and is assigned by the Government to travel to Rajasthan, evaluate a princely castle that once belonged to Raja Param Singh, take stock of all items, the condition of the building, and report back to the Government. Enroute to his destination by train, he permits a woman to enter his compartment, goes to sleep, and when he awakens finds her gone. A few days later, when he goes to the castle, he finds the very same woman cooking within the premises. When both enter the castle, he finds himself back in time and witnesses a scene that happened eons ago. When he recovers, he finds himself alone, and locked in. He breaks out and narrates this incident to his friend and local Collector, Shafi and his wife, Sharda. He does meet the woman again in the dead of night, and after showing him the way, she disappears. Then Sharda asks Samir to wear a amulet at all times as it will protect from evil spirits. He does meet the woman again, this time in the middle of the desert, and is not heard of for two days. When Shafi orders the castle to be searched, a dungeon in particular, is where they find Samir in a state of near-death. How did Samir end up in a dungeon that has been sealed for hundreds of years, and what exactly is the mystery behind the woman, who Samir now calls Rewa?
- DirectorMahesh BhattStarsShabana AzmiKulbhushan KharbandaSmita PatilA film-maker who is having an extra-marital affair with an actress decides to leave his wife. Arth is the story of this women's search for her identity.
- DirectorBalu MahendraStarsKamal HaasanSrideviGulshan GroverA head injury causes a woman to regresses to childhood. Lost and confused, she is eventually befriended by a school teacher.
- DirectorGulzarStarsOm PuriTabuChandrachur SinghA realistic, hard-hitting portrayal of terrorism and youth in the Punjab after the 1984 riots.
- DirectorShashilal K. NairStarsRakhee GulzarJackie ShroffShekhar KapurTwo partners namely, Murlidhar and Narang, betray their third partner and take over his business. Ramnath works as a watchman in this organization, and he sees illegal business taking place, and attempts to put a stop to this, only to get killed in the process, leaving behind a widow and two sons to fend for themselves. The police classify this death as an accident, and the management refuses to pay any compensation. Years later, the two sons have grown up and remember the death of their dad and the humiliation suffered at the hands of the new owners, and devise a plan to avenge this, and find that the owners have friends in the police force, as well as politicians, who will leave no stone unturned to protect both Narang and Murlidhar.
- DirectorPriyadarshanStarsJackie ShroffAmrish PuriDimple KapadiaA soon-to-be police officer takes a path of crime after his father gets attacked by hoodlums.
- DirectorAsit SenStarsRajesh KhannaWaheeda RehmanNasir HussainTale of a female nurse trying to maintain a balance between her professional life and her emotions who falls victim to the natural feeling of love and compassion when a person takes care of another person.
- DirectorTinnu AnandStarsAmitabh BachchanShabana AzmiB.M. ShahA newspaper reporter exploits an ordinary man for few rupees to pose as a man who is fighting against the corrupt politicians and prints imaginary stories in his name to improve the circulation of her newspaper. People take him for real and he becomes a powerful leader of poor man. One day the paper prints a letter in his name that he is going to end his life fighting corruption. This puts the ordinary man in a fix. He knows that at this juncture he can't refute the accuracy of all those stories. He also realizes that he is the sole hope of millions. Finally, he buckles under moral pressure and jumps from an incomplete multi-storied building and ends his life.
- DirectorSubhankar GhoshNana PatekarStarsNana PatekarDimple KapadiaGautam JoglekarPrahaar is the story of Major Chauhan, a tough and stern soldier, trained to destroy the enemy. He can see the enemy on our borders but is unaware of the invisible enemy within ourselves. When one of Major's Commandos - Peter D'Souza is killed, he is shown the harsh reality revolving around us, the enemy is within ourselves. The battlefield changes and Major Chavan makes his final attack on the enemy within this crumbling society.
- DirectorAshutosh GowarikerStarsShah Rukh KhanGayatri JoshiKishori BallalA successful Indian scientist returns to an Indian village to take his nanny to America with him and in the process rediscovers his roots.
- DirectorGulzarStarsSanjeev KumarMoushumi ChatterjeeDeven VermaBased on Shakespeare's 'A Comedy of Errors', this is a story of identical twins (2 pairs) and mistaken identities.
- DirectorAmole GupteStarsPartho A. GupteNumaan SheikhAbhishek ReddyA school-teacher, who forces children to share their food with him, forbids one from entering the school until he brings his own Tiffin/Lunch-box.Stanley Ka Dabba
- DirectorAamir KhanAmole GupteStarsDarsheel SafaryAamir KhanTisca ChopraAn 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.Taare Zameen Par
- DirectorSubhash KapoorStarsRajat KapoorNeha DhupiaSanjay MishraOm Shastri, a recession victim comes to India to sell his ancestors property to clear is debt. On reaching he comes to know that selling the property will make his family homeless in India. Later he is kidnapped by goons thinking a rich NRI.
- DirectorShashant ShahInderjeet SinghStarsVinay PathakLara DuttaYana GuptaEnroute to her destination via plane, a busy executive gets stranded with a middle-classed fast-talking male.
- DirectorMani RatnamStarsShamiliRevathiRaghuvaranAfter a few years, Chitra learns that her child, who was believed to be dead, is alive but is suffering from a mental illness. However, her family faces many challenges while looking after her child.
- DirectorGulzarStarsSanjeev KumarJaya BachchanGovardhan AsraniA speech and hearing-impaired couple persists through unforgiving obstacles to be accepted by society and live a life of dignity.