Bollywood has made a lot of good movies that have gone unnoticed, either because they did not have a cast with a popular surname, were on issues people are uncomfortable with, or were made on a low budget and didn’t opt for large-scale promotions. There have been movies which came with great expectations but flopped at the box office and there have been good movies which did not work because the actors couldn’t, umm, act (*sarcasm intended*) but time and again Bollywood has made brilliant movies which have haven’t received the recognition they deserved. The main reason behind not working at the big screen can, most probably, only be that they didn’t have the required ‘entertainment’ content that the audience usually look for in a movie.
Bollywood has no dearth of filmmakers who aren’t scared of taking the road less-travelled. These offbeat movies are definitely more meaningful and profound than the usual melodramatic fare we get to see onscreen but unfortunately for the audience to develop the taste for such movies, it would take a while.
Below is a list of eight such underrated movies that may not have dazzled the box office but were definitely critically acclaimed. Most of the movies deal with issues really central to our society or our lives and starred actors, not just stars.
1. Mr and Mrs Iyer (2002, IMDb Rating: 8.0)
Actors: Konkana Sen Sharma, Rahul Bose, Bhisham Sahni
Director: Aparna Sen
Awards: National Award for Best Actress, National Award for Best Director, National Award for Best Screenplay, Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film
2. Manorama Six Feet Under (2007, IMDb Rating: 7.8)
Actors: Abhay Deol, Raima Sen, Gul Panag, Vinay Pathak
Director: Navdeep Singh
3. Johnny Gaddar (2007, IMDb Rating: 7.9)
Actors: Dharmendra, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Vinay Pathak, Zakir Hussain, Rimi Sen
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Awards: Guild Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role
4. Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011, IMDb Rating: 7.5)
Actors: Irrfan Khan, Chitrangadha Singh, Arunoday Singh
Director: Sudhir Mishra
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5. Stanley Ka Dabba (2011, IMDb Rating: 7.9)
Actors: Partho A Gupte, Numaan Sheikh, Numaan Reddy
Director: Amole Gupte
Awards: National Award for Best Child Artist, Screen Award for Best Child Artist
6. Ankhon Dekhi (2013, IMDb: 8.1)
Actors: Sanjay Mishra, Rajat Kapoor, Seema Pahwa
Director: Rajat Kapoor
Awards: Filmfare Award for Best Story, Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film, Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor (Sanjay Mishra), Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress, Screen Award for Best Ensemble Cast
7. Sulemani Keeda (2014, IMDb Rating: 7.2)
Actors: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev
Director: Amit Masurkar
8. Aligarh (2015, IMDb Rating: 7.8)
Actors: Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkummar Rao
Director: Hansal Mehta
Awards: Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor
This is not an exhaustive list and there are many more excellent movies that Bollywood has made, which didn’t receive their due at the box office. Add your pick in the comments section below.
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