Top Indian Movies According to Critics
Curated from votes by Indian directors and critics in Sight and Sound Polls of 2012 and 2022
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- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsKanu BannerjeeKaruna BannerjeeSubir BanerjeeImpoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsMadhavi MukherjeeBijon BhattacharyaAbhi BhattacharyaA man (Abhi Bhattacharya) opposes the love between his sister and the orphan (Satindra Bhattacharya) they adopted years earlier.
- DirectorGuru DuttStarsGuru DuttWaheeda RehmanMala SinhaVijay, a talented but indigent poet, struggles for love and recognition in this selfish world.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeMadhavi MukherjeeShailen MukherjeeThe lonely wife of a newspaper editor falls in love with her visiting cousin-in-law, who shares her love for literature.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsPinaki SenguptaSmaran GhosalKamala AdhikariFollowing his father's death, a boy leaves home to study in Calcutta, while his mother must face a life alone.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeSharmila TagoreAlok ChakravartyThis final installment in Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy follows Apu's life as an orphaned adult aspiring to be a writer.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsSupriya ChoudhuryAnil ChatterjeeGyanesh MukherjeeA selfless young woman (Supriya Choudhury) sacrifices her own happiness for her unappreciative family.
- DirectorK. AsifStarsPrithviraj KapoorMadhubalaDilip KumarA 16th century prince falls in love with a court dancer and battles with his emperor father.
- DirectorMira NairStarsNaseeruddin ShahLillete DubeyShefali ShahA stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.
- DirectorKadiri Venkata ReddyStarsN.T. Rama RaoS.V. Ranga RaoSavitriBalarama promises Subhadra to get his daughter married to her son. But when the Pandavas loses their kingdom to the Kaurava's, Balarama breaks his promise.
- DirectorM.S. SathyuStarsBalraj SahniA.K. HangalGeeta KakIn post-partition India, a Muslim businessman and his family struggle for their rights in a country which was once their own.
- DirectorGuru DuttStarsWaheeda RehmanGuru DuttKumari NaazSuresh Sinha, a famous director, discovers star potential in Shanti, a woman he stumbled into one rainy evening, and casts her as the lead in a film. In a twist of fate, Shanti becomes a superstar and Suresh faces a decline in his career.
- DirectorAdoor GopalakrishnanStarsJalajaKaramana Janardanan NairRajam K. NairThe protagonist is trapped within himself and is unable to comprehend the changes taking place around him.
- DirectorRamesh SippyStarsSanjeev KumarDharmendraAmitabh BachchanAfter his family is murdered by a notorious and ruthless bandit, a former police officer enlists the services of two outlaws to capture the bandit.
- DirectorMehboob KhanStarsNargisSunil DuttRajendra Kumar TuliIn this melodrama, a poverty-stricken woman raises her sons through many trials and tribulations. But no matter the struggles, she always sticks to her own moral code.
- DirectorGovindan AravindanStarsMaster AshokanSivasankaran DivakaranKothara GopalkrishnanKummatty, a magician, appears and transforms village children into animals. A boy turned into a dog misses reversal. He awaits Kummatty's return for a year to regain human form. Kummatty eventually undoes the spell and departs into nature.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsRosy SamadKabori SarwarRawshan ZamilAfter their wedding night, a fisherman's young wife is kidnapped on the Titas River in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.
- DirectorGovindan AravindanStarsBharat GopyJalajaV.K. SriramanBesides a long glittering river, some men raise a pole. A tent balloons up. Where there was wide sand and the sound of water lapping, there is now a truck, chairs, hoops, stools, ropes, goats, a lioness, a pair of fat girls, some bicycles, and an old man with a philosopher's dignity, putting on white paste. Across a dirt road, the circus truck comes to a village. The tent goes up. Schoolboys run to the tent. Village women come and watch an acrobat roll a hoop across a tightrope. A lion leaps from the edge of one stool - across darkness - onto another stool. A gap-toothed old woman gazes at a goat on a tight rope; her eyes are wide with curiosity. For three days the circus makes small ripples in the life of this village. Municipal permits are required. At a toddy shop, a soldier befriends the circus strongman; a pump attendant sits on a rock each day watching a village girl bathe and dry her hair. The dwarf brings back to the circus a watermelon larger than his head.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsUttam KumarSharmila TagoreBireswar SenEn route to Delhi to receive an award, a Bengali film star reevaluates his success through his fellow passengers, dreams, and past experiences.
- DirectorKundan ShahStarsNaseeruddin ShahRavi BaswaniBhakti BarveTwo photographers, who are employed by a magazine editor to expose the scandalous activities of the rich, come across corruption by a builder and accidentally photograph a murder.
- DirectorJ. MahendranStarsAshwiniSarath BabuSunderA hedonist/sadist makes life hell for everyone around him.
- DirectorR. KrishnanS. PanjuStarsPandari BaiDoraiswamyShivaji GanesanBrothers Chandrasekaran, Gnanasekaran and Gunasekaran are Indian immigrants living in Burma. Things take a turn when their brother-in-law dies in an accident and their father dies of shock.
- DirectorNagraj ManjuleStarsSomnath AwghadeRajeshwari KharatSuraj PawarIt is about a teenager from a Dalit (Oppressed caste) family, who lives at the village fringe, and falls in love with an upper caste girl.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsAnil ChatterjeeMadhavi MukherjeeJaya BachchanLife at home changes when a house-wife from a middle-class, conservative family in Calcutta gets a job as a saleswoman.
- DirectorAnurag KashyapStarsKay Kay MenonRaj Singh ChaudharyRaja ChaudharyA law student witnesses deception, homicide, and crime after being elected as General Secretary of his college.
- DirectorAnurag KashyapStarsManoj BajpayeeNawazuddin SiddiquiTigmanshu DhuliaA clash between Sultan and Shahid Khan leads to the expulsion of Khan from Wasseypur, and ignites a deadly blood feud spanning three generations.
- DirectorAdoor GopalakrishnanStarsMammoottyAshokanShobanaA young man narrates two conflicting accounts of his life, changing the details and incidents in both, as he slowly approaches madness.
- DirectorAdoor GopalakrishnanStarsMammoottyM.R. GopakumarTanvi AzmiThommy is a loyal servant of Bhaskar Patel. But Patel is a ruthless tyrant. Thommy struggles between his moral sense and his professional sense. He is finally redeemed without compromising his duty as Patel's servant.
- DirectorShyam BenegalStarsLeela NaiduNeena GuptaAnita KanwarA Goan native returns to his now-derelict, palatial childhood home, recalling his family's interpersonal drama during the end of Portuguese rule.
- DirectorShyam BenegalStarsShabana AzmiSadhu MeherAnant NagBelonging to a lower caste, Lakshmi and her deaf-mute husband Kishtayya serve the landlord's son, Surya. When Surya's young wife finds out about his affair with Lakshmi, they all find themselves at crossroads.
- DirectorYash ChopraStarsAmitabh BachchanShashi KapoorNirupa RoyVijay struggles as a dockworker and eventually becomes a leading figure of the underworld, while his younger brother Ravi is an educated, upright policeman. This divide causes problems in their relationship.
- DirectorShekhar KapurStarsSeema BiswasNirmal PandeyRajesh VivekThe story of the bandit queen Phoolan Devi who was sent to prison in 1983 and got free in 1994.
- DirectorMani RatnamStarsKamal HaasanSaranya PonvannanDelhi GaneshA 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.
- DirectorVishal BhardwajStarsIrrfan KhanTabuPankaj KapurThe intrigue of the Shakespearean tragedy 'Macbeth' is transposed to the Mumbai underworld.
- DirectorMani KaulStarsKana RamRaisa PadamseeHardanFilm is Based on Duvidha by Vijayadan Detha, it's about merchant's son, whose relationship with his young bride, Lachhi is thwarted by his work and a ghost who falls in love with her, resulting in the ghost soon impersonating the husband.
- DirectorS.S. VasanStarsRajkumariM.K. RadhaRanjanThe two brothers named Veerasimhan and Sasankan, who fight with each other over ruling their father's kingdom and for marrying the village dancer Chandralekha.
- DirectorAdoor GopalakrishnanStarsMammoottyThilakanKaramana Janardanan NairIts a story of Basheer, an author who experiences his prison life. In it he finds friendship, loneliness, fear and finally love, but that remains questionable.
- DirectorGovindan AravindanStarsRajan KakkanadanCatherineFrancis DavidIn a seashore village, Esthappan's miraculous figure unfolds through the contradictory narrations of people.
- DirectorMani KaulStarsMita VashishtMuhar BiswasRanjana SrivastavaAn impressionistic biographical look at Siddheshwari Devi (19081977), the classical Indian singer whose voice was appreciated by the maharajas and public alike. She was from Varanasi, India, known as Maa (mother). Born in 1907, she lost her parents early and was brought up by her aunt, the noted singer Rajeshwari Devi. She won many accolades during her career, including "Padma Shri" by the Government of India (1966). Despite living in a musical household, Siddheswari came to music by accident. Rajeshwari had arranged musical training for her own daughter, Kamleshwari, while Siddheswari would do small chores around the house. Once, while the noted sarangi player Siyaji Mishra, was teaching Kamleshwari, she was unable to repeat the tappa that she was being taught. Rajeshwari ran out of patience, and started to cane Kamleshwari, who cried out for help. The only person to help her was her close friend Siddheswari, who ran from the kitchen to hug her cousin, and took the thrashing on her own body. At this point, Siddheswari told her weeping cousin, "It's not so difficult to sing what Siyaji Maharaj was telling you." Siddheswari then showed her how to sing it, performing the whole tune perfectly, much to the amazement of everyone. The next day, Siyaji Maharaj came to Rajeshwari, and asked to adopt Siddheswari into his own family (they were childless). So Siddheswari moved in with the couple, eventually becoming a great friend and support for them. This moving incident was very vivid in Siddheswari's mind, and is detailed in the biography Maa, co-authored by her daughter Savita Devi.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsKali BannerjeeGangapada BasuSatindra BhattacharyaBimal is a taxi-driver in a small town. His taxi is his only companion and, although very battered, it is the apple of Bimal's eye. The film shows the love of taxi driver Bimal and his pathetic vehicle Jagaddal.
- DirectorAparna SenStarsJennifer KendalDhritiman ChatterjeeDebashree RoyAfter marriage of her niece, Rosemary, Anglo-Indian school-teacher Violet Stoneham lives a lonely life in her single room flat located at 36 Chowringhee Lane in Calcutta.
- DirectorMani RatnamStarsArvind SwamyManisha KoiralaNassarA Hindu man and a Muslim woman fall in love in a small village and move to Mumbai, where they have two children. However, growing religious tensions and erupting riots threaten to tear the family apart.
- DirectorVijay AnandStarsDev AnandWaheeda RehmanLeela ChitnisWhen 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.