Published By: vikramsharma

‘Masaan’ to ‘Titli’: Lesser Known Gems from Bollywood You Shall Watch (Part II)

Unlike Hollywood and other film industries, Bollywood is a more star-driven film industry rather than content-driven.

Bollywood churns out hundreds of movies every year and only a few of them manage to do well. Unlike Hollywood and other film industries, Bollywood is a more star-driven film industry rather than content-driven. Scripts are written by keeping big stars and their on-screen image in mind. Most of these movies have a very average script but still manage to do well because of the star power.

Still, there are filmmakers in the country who want to tell stories that are original and have fresh content. We have created a list of little-known gems from Bollywood, which didn’t do well at the box-office, but boast of  brilliant acting and direction.

‘Masaan’

‘Masaan’ deserves more accolades than it actually received. The movie has three different stories which get interconnected towards the climax. Also, with ‘Masaan’, Vicky Kaushal marked his debut in Bollywood.

‘Masaan’ is a 2015 movie, directed by first-time director Neeraj Ghaywan, who earlier worked as one of the assistant directors on ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ directed by Anurag Kashyap. The cast of the movie includes some brilliant actors such as Sanjay Mishra, Shweta Tiwari, Richa Chaddha, Pankaj Tripathi, and Vicky Kaushal.

The movie touches on issues like cast-based discrimination, female sexual desires, pre-marital sex, redemption, among others. It won awards at many international film festivals but didn’t do well at the Indian box office because of the lack of big stars and its offbeat subject. But today, it’s considered a cult classic, and if you have not seen this movie, do yourself a favour and watch it.

‘Titli’

‘Titli’ was a neo-noir crime drama directed by Kanu Behl and it featured Shashank Arora, Ranvir Shorey, Shivani Raghuvanshi, and Amit Sial in pivotal roles.

‘Titli’ was co-produced by Dibaker Banerjee and Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. It got great reviews when released but was a flop at the box office despite big names like Dibaker Banerjee and Aditya Chopra backing it. Set in Delhi, it’s a neo-noir crime movie about a dysfunctional family who are into various types of crime to sustain themselves and earn money. If you are a true cinema lover, you shall not miss it

‘Aankhon Dekhi’

‘Aankhon Dekhi’ was directed by Rajat Kapoor and it had Sanjay Mishra in the lead role along with Seema Pahwa, Manu Rishi Chadda, and Rajat Kapoor himself in supporting roles.

‘Aankhon Dekhi’ was released in 2013 and it had a unique story that was something fresh we saw after a long period of time. The movie is set in Delhi and is about a character Rajesh Bauji (Sanjay Mishra) who is in his late fifties, living out a monotonous but eventful life. An incident changes his life view and he starts believing that he can’t say anything as true or false if he has not seen it with his eyes.