Indian cinema
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- DirectorGulzarStarsOm PuriTabuChandrachur SinghA realistic, hard-hitting portrayal of terrorism and youth in the Punjab after the 1984 riots.
- DirectorM.F. HussainStarsMadhuri DixitShabana AzmiNaseeruddin ShahGaja Gamini, the embodiment of the Indian spirit, inspires artists of all kinds, interacts with and influences the West, and exists through the ages.
- DirectorBasu ChatterjeeStarsAshok KumarVidya SinhaAmol PalekarA timid suitor seeks the help of a ruthless colonel to win the woman of his dreams when a bold young man begins to pursue her in this romantic comedy.
- 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.
- DirectorChandra Prakash DwivediStarsUrmila MatondkarManoj BajpayeeSanjay SuriIn the days leading up to Partition, a Hindu woman is abducted by a Muslim man. Soon, she finds herself not only forced into marriage, but living in a new country as the borders between India and Pakistan are drawn.
- DirectorKetan MehtaStarsSmita PatilNaseeruddin ShahOm PuriIn colonial India, subedars (tax collectors) went from village to village with soldiers, often demanding more than taxes. A subedar commands Sonbai, a beautiful and confident woman whose husband is away in the city, to sleep with him. She slaps him and flees for safety to a spice factory where women grind chillies into fine powder. The aged factory guard, Abu Mian, locks the door behind her, refusing to open it to the soldiers, to the cowardly village men led by the mayor, and to the subedar himself. The town's teacher, who follows Gandhi, and a few women, led by the mayor's wife, protest ineffectually against this village-approved rape. The stage is set for a final confrontation.
- DirectorShyam BenegalStarsShabana AzmiSmita PatilNaseeruddin ShahForbidden love, fraying loyalties and flagrant hypocrisy emerge when sanctimonious politicians drive a madam's brothel from the heart of Hyderabad.
- DirectorSagar SarhadiStarsFarooq ShaikhSmita PatilNaseeruddin ShahA young man challenges traditional customs by standing up to the father of the woman he loves, who has promised her to a wealthy expatriate.
- DirectorGuru DuttStarsGuru DuttWaheeda RehmanMala SinhaVijay, a talented but indigent poet, struggles for love and recognition in this selfish world.
- StarsPankaj KapurDeepa SahiAmrish PuriThis TV miniseries ("Darkness" in English) became famous in India in the mid/late 80s for its realistic depiction of the partition of the Indian subcontinent. In 1947, the sub-continent became India, East (now Bangladesh), and West Pakistan (today's Pakistan). The series pretended to keep memories and truths about the partition alive, at a time when many Indians and Pakistanis seemed to be forgetting this historical tragedy. The miniseries became a landmark 297-minute, 35mm film, now shown mostly at Indian Film Festivals. The film is based on the book by Bhisham Sahni, himself a refugee to India from West Punjab, now in Pakistan. Thus fittingly, this epic looks at Partition from an Indian Punjabi perspective, as the fate of Sikh and Hindu families in West Punjab is emphasized. The first part also underscores the Muslim viewpoint: the provocations they suffered from Sikhs and especially Hindus, and their ultimate supremacy in West Punjab, which became the heart of Pakistan. The "Darkness" of those times of religious intolerance and civil war highlights two stories of refugee families, one Sikh and the other Hindu. These victims of hate and their Muslim counterparts had, until 1947, been brothers and co-existed for over a thousand years throughout the Indian subcontinent. With "modern freedom", the lands of this once "one people" was partitioned into Muslim and Hindu republics. Non-Muslim religious groups, however (Sikhs, Christians, and many Muslims - as many as in Pakistan), migrated to the new India. Pakistan became, "de facto", exclusively Muslim.
- DirectorNandita DasStarsInaamulhaqNassarShahana GoswamiChronicles the devastating impact on vulnerable Muslims in Gujarat after riots.
- 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.
- DirectorSaeed Akhtar MirzaStarsNaseeruddin ShahShabana AzmiSmita PatilA man from Mumbai (then Bombay) is angry about various issues in different circumstances.
- DirectorShyam BenegalStarsGirish KarnadShabana AzmiAnant NagA man whose wife is abducted seeks to have the culprits prosecuted for their crime, but no one will help him. Meanwhile, the wife-abused and berated by her abductors-cannot bring herself to face her husband.
- DirectorShyam BenegalStarsSmita PatilAnant NagNaseeruddin ShahA girl learns music from her courtesan grandmother and breaks into the burgeoning show business industry of 1930s Bombay, which eventually leads to decades of superstardom as well as romantic entanglements.
- DirectorShantaram Rajaram VankudreStarsShantaram Rajaram VankudreSandhyaUlhasProgressive, reform-minded young warden gets permission to take six surly murderers from prison to dilapidated country farm, to rehabilitate it and themselves through hard work and kindly guidance.
- 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.
- DirectorMrinal SenStarsUtpal DuttSuhasini MulayShekhar ChatterjeeA lonely bureaucrat goes on holiday to a Gujarat village where a young peasant woman helps him see beyond his job and develop a newfound empathy for people.
- DirectorAbrar AlviStarsMeena KumariGuru DuttRehman KhanA lowly servant, Bhootnath gets close to the wife of his employer and narrates her story through his eyes and perspective.
- DirectorRima DasStarsBhanita DasBasanti DasBoloram DasIn small-town Assam, the 10-year-old daughter of a widow defies societal norms as she befriends a group of boys and dreams of having her own rock band.
- DirectorMunin BaruaStarsTapan DasGayatri MahantaNishita GoswamiStory of a person called Dinabandhu, his struggle in life, his family, his personal nature and all that leads to a definite climax.
- DirectorBhaskar HazarikaStarsLima DasArghadeep BaruahNeetali DasTwo chaste lovers bow down to social taboos and repress their feelings, but doing so pushes them towards a horrific crime.
- DirectorRima DasStarsRima DasBishnu KharghoriaSasanka SamirAbout how a man, in the final stages of his life, reflects back on his life through what is happening in the present.He sees how he is adversely affecting his surroundings, his daugher, his daugher in laws... but can he make the change that is demanded of him, and can he, in the process, discover himself come to free others and himself
- DirectorGovind NihalaniStarsOm PuriNaseeruddin ShahSmita PatilA public prosecutor discovers the harsh realities about life of the scheduled tribes in India during 1980s while defending a case of a tribesman charged of murdering his wife.
- DirectorMadhur BhandarkarStarsTabuAtul KulkarniRajpal Naurang YadavA displaced woman is forced to become a beer-bar dancer, and sire children of a gangster.