Top 10 Indie films of 2015
With dazzling performances and masterful scripts, 2015 was the year of the Indies. Whether or not you caught these indie films in theatres here’s a look back at what you must own on DVD/Blu-ray – in no particular order.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha (Hindi) : Sharat Katarya’s February 2015 release was adopted by YRF studios. The film introduced the talented Bhumi Pednekar and was one of the most loved films of the year. Hopefully the word ‘lesbian’ won’t be muted in the DVD.
Titli (Hindi): Released in October 2015, debutant director Kunal Bahl’s film was nominated for the Caméra d’Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Ranvir Shorey outshone every character he has ever played. Titli also featured an impressive debut by fellow actor Shashank Arora.
Margarita With A Straw (Hindi/English) : The NETPAC award (2014, TIFF) winning April 2015 release featured a mind blowing performance by Kalki playing a girl with cerebral palsy and a fantastic OST written by Prasoon Joshi.
Masaan (Hindi) : The July 2015 release had three of the most impressive debuts of the year with director Neeraj Ghaywan and actors Vicky Kaushal & Shweta Tripathi. With some of the most unmissable performances of the year by Sanjay Mishra, Richa Chadha, Pankaj Tripathi and Nikhil Sahani (Jhonta) and Indian Oceans rendition of Varun Grover’s poetry, I will surely be getting this DVD!
Court (Marathi/Gujarati/English/Hindi): The April 2015 release was India’s official Oscar entry for best foreign language film. Though it didn’t make the cut, the film was a big hit at the global festival circuit and was appreciated by the Indian audiences around the world.
Qissa (Punjabi) – The Anup Singh directed film finally released in February 2015. The Irrfan Khan and Tilotma Shome starrer was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival where it won the Netpac Award for World International Asian Film.
Killa (Marathi): The June 2015 National Award winning release was cinematographer Avinash Arun’s directorial debut. Parth Bhalerao who was seen in Bhothnath Returns also received a special mention for his performance at the national awards. The story has resonance in every Indian’s life who had to move from one place to another for any reason.
Kaaka Muttai (Tamil) : Released in June 2015, Director M. Manikandan’s double national award winning film is a simple story about two slum kids who want to taste pizza. The performances will remind you to not take any thing in life for granted.
Angry Indian Goddesses (Hindi) : The December 2015 release, undeservedly, saw a lot of trouble (for no good reason) with the idiocracy of the censor board. Art Of The Title’s website featured the censored film’s title in their Top 10 title sequences of the year which includes the likes of Mission Impossible. The film had amazing performances specially by Sarah Jane Dias, Sandhya Mridul, debutant Anushka and Pavleen Gujral! Pan Nalin’s direction and the film is simply awesome!
Gour Hari Dastan (Hindi) : Director Anant Mahadevan’s biopic on freedom fighter Gour Hari Das released in August 2015 to wide critical acclaim. The film is a journey of man fighting the system to prove his service to the country as a freedom fighter. The three decade battle makes up a hard hitting cinema with amazing performances by Vinay Pathak, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ranvir Shorey and Tannishtha Chatterjee.
Did we miss any of your favourite indies in this list? Let us know in the comments below.
