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Best Bollywood Thrillers 2015 (10+1list)

19 December, 2015 Souranath Banerjee 2 Comments

Best Bollywood Thrillers 2015.

written by Souranath Banerjee

Bollywood Thrillers 2015 – People in general are instinctively curious by nature, which obviously makes them so very fond of thrillers.

And 2015 has been indeed a thrilling year for Bollywood!

Enough murder mysteries, conspiracies and suspense dramas, be it fictional or based on real events, most of these films have managed to keep us guessing till the end.

So without any more introduction, let the list begin Bollywood Thrillers 2015.

10. Charlie Kay Chakkar Mein

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHzVCdpXBDc

Multiple homicides caught on camera and now it is the job of the Commissioner of Police (Naseeruddin Shah) and his rookie assistant (Auroshikha Dey) to connect the clues and decipher the mysterious case.

Directed by Manish Srivastav, a classic suspense drama based on the many definitions of truth, or may be the multiple perceptions of it.

9. Main Aur Charles

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOF9MlEOfuE

A biographical film on the charismatic con man and a deadly serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

Directed by Prawaal Raman, the film focuses on his jail break, and also his master plan where every other person is a pawn in the game.

Randeep Hooda brilliantly played the lead, supported by Richa Chadda, Tisca Chopra and Adil Hussain.

8. Baby

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yu_2nyOP5o

As part of a Counter Intelligence Unit, an elite team is desperate to prevent a terrorist attack on India.

Directed by Neeraj Pandey, this one is a thrilling espionage drama full of tense heart racing moments and well choreographed action.

Akshay Kumar taking the lead, the film also has Danny Denzongpa, Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon, Anupam Kher and Rasheed Naz among others.

7. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG–GOpi_0g

Saradindu Bandopadhyay’s renowned Bengali detective is back in action; he is young, ambitious and ready to learn from his mistakes.

(Click for the review)

Directed by Dibakar Banerjee, and Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead; set in the 1940’s Calcutta, a mysterious case needs the attention of Mr.Byomkesh.

6. Badlapur

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KEoZanqlOE

Directed by Sriram Raghavan, a unique thrilling tale of injustice and revenge.

The film is unusually realistic with strong and well motivated characters.

(Click for the review)

Brilliant performances by Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Varun Dhawan, accompanied by Radhika Apte, Vinay Pathak and Divya Dutta.

5. Nh10

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9icNqWlylw

A perfect romantic trip turns into a nightmare.

(Click for the review)

Directed by Navdeep Singh, this is one hard hitting thriller where a urban woman experiences the brutal face of rural India, as she unintentionally becomes involved in a case of honor killing.

Anushka Sharma‘s best performance till date.

4. Rahasya

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvm-KpdRrbk

Directed by Manish Gupta, a film that is loosely inspired by the Arushi murder case.

A doctor accused of killing his own daughter, but the evidences somehow doesn’t add up. Kay Kay Menon as the CBI investigating officer finally brings justice to this mysterious case.

A perfect thriller with solid performances by Ashish Vidyarthi and Tisca Chopra.

3. Drishyam

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuuX2j14NBg

A thrilling tale of a common man who by his intellect and imagination tricked everyone in order to save his family.

Directed by Nishikant Kamat, a south remake starring Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran and Tabu.

A thriller that keeps you on the edges of your seat and doesn’t reveal the suspense till the last shot of the film.

2. Talvar

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQNMsw8Ljjc

Directed by Meghna Gulzar, this one is a well researched version of the Noida Double Murder Case of 2008, also known as the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case.

(Click for the review)

Very natural performances by Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Neeraj Kabi and Sohum Shah among others.

One of the best realistic thrillers of this year.

Titli

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOqiQiMkXDA

A family whose family-business is car-jacking, often violently abusing the passengers and looting their valuables.

The youngest member of this family is named Titli (Shashank Arora), and this is his story of freedom.

(Click for the review)

Directed by Kanu Behl, the film is nominated in the Cannes Film Festival, a gritty thriller that shouldn’t be missed.

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most innovative one. A must watch).

+1. Kajarya

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_1jBPqL9K8

Directed by Madhureeta Anand, this one is not the ideal Bollywood thriller you expect but nevertheless, a very significant film of this year.

(Click for the review)

It focuses on the issue of female infanticide and tells a dangerous tale of murder, betrayal and injustice. Brilliant performance by Meenu Hooda.

Similar Interest: Best Bollywood Thrillers of 2016

Similar Interest: Best Bollywood Thrillers of recent times

Similar Interest: Best Psychological Thrillers

Similar Interest: Best Spanish Thrillers of Recent Times

Similar Interest: Best South Korean Thrillers of recent times

Similar Interest: Best French Thrillers of Recent Times

Poster courtesy: filmywave.com, movies80.com.

Film Reviews (Indian)

Titli (2014)

Video 7 November, 2015 Souranath Banerjee Leave a comment

Titli review.

written by Souranath Banerjee

My Ratings: 4.2/5.

Throughout the film, even when there is no actual violence shown, there is a sense of muffled tension and subdued hostility that tends to suffocate the audience.

Finally i had the privilege to watch the most anticipated film of this year!

A film that was completed mid last year (2014) and since then it has being taking the rounds of numerous international festivals including the prestigious Cannes Film Festival; a film that makes Indian Cinema proud – Titli.

‘har family, family nehi hoti’

Residing in the dark underbelly of Delhi is this unique family of three brothers and their retired elderly father, who by profession are all car-jackers. They forcefully stop cars and violently rob the people inside.

The youngest brother among them is named Titli.

Though Titli regularly takes part in the dangerous episodes of their brutal family profession, he secretly has plans to escape. And his quest for freedom is what propels the dark film ahead – into more darkness!

Directed by Kanu Behl, co-produced by Dibakar Banerjee and Yash Raj Films, Titli is probably the most realistic and intense cinema of our recent times.

Throughout the film, even when there is no actual violence shown, debutant director Kanu Bhel has managed to maintain a sense of muffled tension and subdued hostility that tends to suffocate the audience.

And that’s the most important achievement of Titli.

Brilliant work by cinematographer Siddharth Diwan and editor Namrata Rao. The claustrophobic feel of the dingy rooms in comparison to the wide shots of Delhi-skyscrapers make young Titli’s yearning for freedom more real and desirable.

Apart from excellent direction and script, the reason for the film’s success is the brilliant performances by each and every actor. Thanks to casting director Atul Mongia.

Debutant Shashank Arora has done a terrific job in portraying the anger and ruthlessness, and also the frustration and helplessness of the lead character Titli.

Shivani Raghuvanshi, also introduced in this film has shown great potential. Amit Sial, Lalit Behl and Sumit Gulati are all spot on.

But Ranvir Shorey is one actor who has reinvented himself through this film, or may be been utilized to his full potential – outstanding performance!

The actors were allowed to explore the scenes and improvise as there was no proper scripts provided on the set!

Gritty circumstances and such casual aggressiveness, unpredictable characters and their selfish motives, so damn real and mean.

Titli is an experience, disturbing and totally worth it.

poster curtsey: newznew.com/, www.ebharat.in

17th Mumbai Film Festival 2015

JIO MAMI – an Introduction

30 October, 2015 Souranath Banerjee Leave a comment

JIO MAMI – an introduction.

written by Souranath Banerjee

“We feel it is the need of the hour to disseminate and inculcate good cinema among Indian audiences” (-1997).

The above quote is a part of the Mission Statement from the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) Board of Trustees; a public trust established in 1997, by a group of film industry stalwarts spearheaded by master director Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

And indeed, MAMI has kept it’s promise.

Ever since it’s foundation, the non-profit seeking organization has been successful in bringing us the best of both Indian and World cinema every single year.

This year 2015, filmmaker Kiran Rao, the current chairperson of this prestigious trust, along with Festival Director Anupama Chopra and Creative Director Smriti Kiran has presented us with the 17th edition of the traditional Mumbai film festival.

A few other trustees, all well known figures of Indian Film Industry, the likes of Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone, Karan Johar, Siddhartha Roy Kapur, Vishal Bhardwaj, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Vikramaditya Motwane, Riteish Deshmukh and others.

And of course, thanks to Co-Chairperson Nita M.Ambani and Uday Shankar, the CEO of Star India for making 29 October to 5th November 2015 (the festival dates) a blessing for all film lovers in Mumbai.

5 venues chosen that includes PVR Juhu, PVR ECX Andheri, PVR Phoenix Lower Parel, PVR Ghatkopar and Regal Cinemas.

Three sections of competition as in ‘International’, ‘India Gold’ and
‘Dimensions Mumbai’; while some other film-categories comprise of ‘World Cinema’, ‘India Story’, ‘MAMI tribute’, ‘Discovering Cinema’, ‘Restored classics’, ‘Half ticket’ and such.

A total of over 200 films from over 35 countries, and on top of that special workshops and interactive sessions taken by renowned film-makers the likes of Girish Kasaravalli, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Sujoy Ghosh and Rajkumar Hirani.

As Kiran Rao mentioned ‘a world of images and coversations that could inspire and provoke’ – a complete package of cinematic experience that you simply cannot afford to miss.

Hope to meet you all film lovers at the JIO MAMI 17th Mumbai Film Festival, do enjoy the lovely days of uninterrupted Cinema.

Link for the film schedule at www.mumbaifilmfestival.com.

And by chance if you still haven’t registered then please do it now.

Registrations and Bookings at in.bookmyshow.com

Film Reviews (Indian)

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015)

Video 3 April, 2015 Souranath Banerjee Leave a comment

My Ratings: 3.9/5.

Sometimes in the anticipation of fulfilling our expectations we seem to surrender ourselves to a particular art form even before we have truly experienced it.

For me in this case, being a huge fan of both Byomkesh Bakshy (detective) and Dibakar Banerjee (director), i realized that even before watching the film Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! i somehow knew that this would be a cinema of superlative excellence.

But then again such emotional pre-asumptions could be dangerous.

Well, i surely won’t go that far by saying that Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! failed to live up to my expectations but i have to admit that the climax and specially the post-climax melodrama could have been handled better.

But first things first, this is THE best, most-detailed and flawless period film i have ever seen!

Thanks to awesome production designing by Vandana Kataria and superb Vfx by Prana Studios.

From the unique Kolkata trams to the Life magazine displayed in a bookshop, from the logo in tea cup to the hoardings and advertisements in the streets, the color/texture of the buildings, the typical style of wearing dhotis and sarees, the cars and their number plates, even the make of a revolver – all takes you back to an era that we have only read but never seen before.

Nostalgic Kolkata in the early 40s – a city traumatized by the World-War II, ripped and torn apart by the internal power struggle for freedom from the British Raj.

And in such turbulent times, in the midst of outraged freedom fighters and violent Japanese opium smugglers, a young man seems to be investigating a peculiar case of a chemist’s disappearance.

Dibakar Banerjee chooses to portray Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay‘s famous fictional sleuth as an inexperienced, just-out-of-college, curious, restless, impulsive youth – Byomkesh Bakshy, the legendary detective in the making.

And Sushant Singh Rajput does a great job, he is absolutely sure of what is wanted from him and delivers spot on. Even the other actors Anand Tiwari (as Watson), and then Neeraj Kabi, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon all have given their best.

Cool background score by Sneha Khanwalkar and great frames captured by Dibakar’s favorite cinematographer Nikos Andritsakis.

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is no doubt a decent thriller, technically flawless but the overall plot and editing could have been sharper.

A good film that easily had the potential to be a great one.

My favorite list

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013 (10+1 list)

10 May, 2014 Souranath Banerjee 1 Comment

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013

written by Souranath Banerjee

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013 is the list of some of my most favorite Hindi films (in Hindi language) in the recent times.

Kind of a flashback of the last two years and if you have missed any of these films (though i very much doubt it) no need to feel guilty. Watch them as soon as possible and you will be forgiven.

This list is especially for my friends who are foreign based or foreign to Bollywood films and many a times ask me to suggest some meaningful Bollywood cinema … well, this list is all you need.

10. Kai po che! (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdXD5YIEhuA

Very rarely it happens that a film turns out to be better than the book it’s based on.

Rajkummar Rao, Sushant Singh Rajput and Amit Sadh have given their best performances – after ‘Rock on’ this is again a great film by director Abhishek Kapoor.

A story of friends and friendship beautifully told.

9. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PZbL8JGYQ

Anurag Kashyap at his best, Gangs of Wassypur is an epic story of violence between two families.

A raw desi masala tale of revenge and betrayal that takes three generations to come to a resolution.

Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Piyush Mishra … entertainment unlimited.

8. Paan Singh Tomar (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT–NbNqiHE

A biographical drama on the life of the famous Indian athlete Paan Singh Tomar who turned into a decoit in his later days.

The film won that years’s National Award in the ‘Best Feature Film’ category and Irfan khan won the National Award for the ‘Best Actor’.

Tigmanshu Dhulia gives us probably the most unique and brilliant film of the year 2012.

7. Shanghai (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNbGmjD2_qQ

The best political thriller of Bollywood till date.

A remake of the Greek director Costa-Gavras’s political drama ‘Z’ or rather adopted from the same novel written by Vasilis Vasilikos Shanghai keeps up to it’s promise.

Yet another feather on Dibakar Banerjee’s cap – superb performances by Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi.

6. Kahaani (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1wEeuAosNM

Kahaani which literally means ‘story’ is indeed one of the best mystery stories of that year told by director Sujoy Ghosh.

Vidya Balan, the helpless pregnant lady desperately searching for her husband in Kolkata – a search that gets too dangerous and ends with a twist to remember.

If you haven’t seen this film yet you are missing something.

5. The Lunchbox (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK3R0rvnlPs

Arguably the perfect choice for the Oscars from India last year (though the Gujarati film Good Road was sent instead).

A terrific film – simple yet crisp and full of soul.

Top rated performances by Irfan khan, Nawazuddin Sidiqui and Nimrat Kaur – what an extraordinary debut film by Ritesh Batra!

4. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u71swQ4ksgI

Another biographical film adds to this list – Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s take on one of India’s all time legend athlete Milkha Singh.

A brilliant film that received the national award for ‘Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment’.

Farhan Akhtar bagged almost all the popular awards as the Best Actor – splendid performance.

3. Barfi! (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ijur-W6vW8

Barfi! was the film India sent to the Oscars in 2012.

Salute to the director Anurag Basu for such wonderful concept and direction.

Ranbir Kappor and Priyanka Chopra have given their performances till date.

A fun filled film that will make you laugh and cry at the same time.

2. OMG: Oh My God! (2012)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nUwpoTrWFk

In such a religiously frantic country like India you have to give credit to the film that raises its voice against religious corruption and that too in such an entertaining manner.

A common man who dares to take God to the court room!

Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar’s superb performance and Umesh Shukla’s direction – a real OMG film in a good way.

1. Shahid (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p8LyAte-M8

You can guess a film’s worth when that film has won National Awards in both ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Actor’ category.

Very recently saw the film and i was a spellbound.

Hansal Mehta has evolved into a fine director and Rajkummar Rao – what natural acting man!

Watch it. You won’t regret.

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most innovative one. A must watch).

+1. Ship of Theseus (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5JW92zk32s

Won the National Award for Best Feature Film – this film is truly an unique experience.

Three different stories brilliantly woven into one, arty and matured, intelligent and honest.

Anand Gandhi has paved a new path to sophisticated cinema and raised the bars for the other film-makers.

The success of this particular film proved that the so called Bollywood-audience only craving for hard-core commercial masala films is only a myth. Lets hope and wish for a better future of Bollywood in the coming years!

Poster courtesy: www.imdb.com.

Cinema Forensic

Tag Archives: dibakar banerjee

Best Bollywood Thrillers 2015 (10+1list)

Best Bollywood Thrillers 2015.

written by Souranath Banerjee

Titli (2014)

JIO MAMI – an Introduction

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015)

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013 (10+1 list)

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013

written by Souranath Banerjee

For the love of cinema