by Jackal on Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:30 pm
Bollywood doesn't really make a lot of punch punch movies anymore, it's more story oriented. (Mostly love or family.)
Off the top of my head, here's a few I liked over the years:
Lagaan - India's 2000 Oscar Entry, it's a historical film (fiction) about poor farmers having to pay tax (lagaan) to the British government even though they don't have crops and all. So one of the guys from the village (Aamir Khan) challenges the British to play cricket. The thing is, the villagers have never played cricket in their life, so they just spy on the Brits and so the story continues. This one is pretty much worth watching.
Black - Amazing movie dealing with three serious issues. 1) A blind, deaf & mute girl. 2) Alzheimer's disease. 3) The bond between a student and her teacher.
The role of the teacher is played by Amitabh Bachchan who is probably one of the biggest stars in the world now, almost everyone has vaguely heard of him. This is also a really serious movie and if I'm not mistaken, it doesn't have any songs in it.
Salaam Namaste - This is a "typical" indian movie. It starts off that way atleast. It's about Nick and Amber, they both live in Australia and are quite modern individuals. They meet at a wedding and sparks fly, they decide to try and live together...to see where it goes from there. One night they end up in bed & Amber ends up pregnant. Nick however doesn't want the kid and this leads to a conflict. How they deal with the relationship forms the basis of the story.
Fanaa - Fanaa means complete destruction. That's the literal meaning of the word. That's what this movie deals with, complete destruction of a girl's life. It starts off as a budding romance between a hippie type tour guide and a blind girl...thing is, there is a lot more than what the viewer is shown going on. Another terrific performance by Aamir Khan one of India's finest.
Now a couple of movies of my favorite indian actor, Shah Rukh Khan...
Kal Ho Na Ho - This was quite a touching movie if you've lost someone you love. The name literally means Tomorrow May or May Not Come. I won't say too much about the movie, all I'll say is that's it's a really good movie.
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - This movie just released, it deals with 2 couples and all four of the actors gave amazing performances. Dev is married to Rhea and Rishi is married to Maya. How their paths cross eachother and what leads out of that forms the basis of a realistic view of relationships.
Note: A lot of people have strongly disliked this movie given it doesn't match the indian idea of marriage and other issues shown in the movie.
If I were to start off with an indian movie to get a global view of what you're in for, I'd pick up Black & Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna as my first two to watch.
You should start with Black, that is an amazing movie.