2022 is coming to an end. Fictional or alive, real or magical realism, it’s all coming back to a close. This year’s movies showed us the power that cinema has, good or bad. They excelled beyond their boundaries, took us on rides through lives we never have lived and through difficult conversations, we might have never had. From neo-noir to historical drama, here are my picks for the best Indian movies that I have watched across the span of the rollercoaster ride of the year 2022.
1) Kantara
There is less to argue that Rishab Shetty’s Kantara is among the best pieces of work that Indian cinema has seen recently. Cross-cutting across folklore and modernity, Kantara presents to you a juxtaposition that would make you question everything around you. If you have heard the deafening scream of the demigod in your ears in the middle of the night, the film has touched a chord for you as it has for millions of others. Kantara is not simply a movie that presents to you a binary story of good vs evil, it presents to you a pot-puree of thoughts: environmental sensitivity, tribal rights, caste-based oppression, and much more. A crucial call in this Kannada movie, based on the Bhoota culture of the Tulu community, is how much you believe and how much do you not, it is a personal choice but Kantara‘s atmosphere, the treatment it provides and the sensation it makes you feel all feel very real.
2) Qala
Tripti Dimri comes back with another haunting story in the form of Qala. Qala’s story is also primordially that of filial relationships and the broken ties of a mother and her daughter. Much like the Booker prize long-listed book “Burnt Sugar”, this movie is a story of a failed mother-daughter relationship where the wound of the daughter is so deep that it has become a festering piece of fatality. Watching Qala, you are bound to be distracted by the incredible set designs, the mesmerizing costumes, and how masterfully the world of music in the 1900s is brought to screen. If Indian films truly got the attention they ought to get at an international level, Qala’s costumes are worth an Academy Award for Costume design. Yet the movie itself pulls you back, each time you sense a tad bit of warmth, a bit of colour, you are strongly pulled back. You are left in a dark room, cold and blue.
3) Chhello show
India’s official entry into the Oscars race is a movie every cinephile ought to watch. Pan Nalin’s Gujarati coming-of-age film Chhello show is an ode to the art of cinematography and the larger-than-life attachment it has to the atmosphere of dreams that India survives on. I would not lie if I say watching Chhello Show made me fall in love with films again. It has been quite a time since I felt the sensation of why films matter so much in Indian society. Bhavin Ravari is not even in his teen years but his acting and the sensation it creates is a definitive touch to the artsy feel the scenery of the movie has. Chhello Show is not just an Indian movie or told in a local context it is a film that goes beyond the boundaries and connects to everyone who attaches to the art of filmmaking. From petty jugaads to colorful lenses, from poverty marred 35mm dreams to disheartening losses, Samay runs through what makes Bollywood and the city of dreams what it is: the passion for films.
4) Darlings
Darlings was a punch to the gut, but in classic Bollywood style whenever it became too much it had a sense of relief. It was a masterclass in womanhood: micro-aggressions, violence, isolation, endurance, retribution, independence, freedom, and autonomy. Each time Darlings had a twist, it had me by the throat. There is a certain thing that the movie does, it tells you a story that very well you might be seeing in your own life and ignoring and bares the bones on the ruminifications of what marriage might mean. Alia Bhatt has shocked me this year with her powerful performances back to back and often left me wondering if this is the same person who acted in “Student Of The Year.” Darlings was mind-boggling, it was a rollercoaster ride into real-life feminism and each moment of the movie had me tensed, each moment had us learn something very important. Brilliant performances, an incredible storyline, and powerful messaging made Darlings easily a movie everyone should watch and learn a thing or two.
5) Monica O My Darling
One of the most thrilling movies of the year for me was Monica O My Darling and the amount of adrenaline rush I had was insane. This neo-noir comedy cum thriller almost feels like a breath of fresh air amidst movies that follow conventional methods of filmmaking and editing. It breaks apart the film, not allowing you to breathe for a minute, uses techniques either too difficult to be used conventionally or too complicated, and deliberately makes the movie almost impossible to predict. It adds to the fun of watching it and makes it fast-paced and almost impossible to put down without a single sitting watch. Monica O My Darling is a tribute, a homage to retro Hindi cinema, it uses its background music as a character almost always playing, always disturbing, always inside your head. It uses age-old classic techniques from the iconic sugar cube shot to Chekhov’s gun, from Macguffin to noir shadow shots, Vasan Bala’s talent in direction, Swapnil Sonawane’s cinematography, and Atanu Mukherjee’s editing skills shine bright with not the acting nor the characters being the forefront of the movie but the movie itself is the eye-catching candy.
6) Jana Gana Mana
The first time that I watched Jana Gana Mana, I felt insanely angry at the film. It made me question everything that I believed in when it comes to the realm of social justice. I think my including the movie in this list is not a component of its acting or direction or even plotline but of its boldness. It’s the courage to tell this story amidst the political conversations and climate we live in or rather thrive in. Tear apart each component and it wouldn’t shine but as a whole, it shines the brightest. Jana Gana Mana is easily this year’s “Jai Bhim.” Audiences who love movies for their components would not like Jana Gana Mana much like “Jai Bhim” was for many, but the movie is much beyond itself, it is part of something and tells something that is all-pervasive, a message so strong that it crosses its limits. From caste discrimination to political superpowers, from biased education to “instant justice”, this is a story about today’s social and political situation. Jana Gana Mana is something you need to watch to understand what it is. It is a tour de force, a story told with much defiance, it has a raging heart that would surely burn some.
7) Ariyippu/Declaration
Ariyippu is an unadulterated look at modern urban Indian society and the many evils inside it. It doesn’t need a storyline full of grand mechanizations or the medium to exaggerate to do this. It tells you an intriguing yet very human and real story while cross-cutting across medium, genre, and treatment. Divya Prabha’s acting, her eyes, her expressions, and her body language tell a story that is the backbone of this film. In its 2-hour running time, Ariyippu makes you question how you tackle power structures in your surroundings, and how you react to anything in your atmosphere. It shows us facets of human nature and living we all face and unconsciously or consciously choose to conform to. Ariyippu does what a movie should do: tell a story ingrained in the atmosphere that makes you question everything around you.
8) Gangubai Kathiawadi
Released into many controversies much like any other Bhansali film and hitting an audience at a stratospheric level again much like any other Bhansali movie, Gangubai Kathiawadi will stand the test of time yet again much like any other Bhansali cinema. Bhansali has the sense to make his movies feel grand even if the story tells a harrowing story that is nowhere near grandeur. But it is also an ode to the masterful dedication Alia Bhatt shows to the character of Gangubai. Her pain percolates through the scene and reaches you and so do her words, her stare, and her staunch expressions. It is her story and her story alone, Gangubai shines bright and leaves her mark like Mastani, Padmavati or Paro did. Watching a Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie is always a delight because it is only a movie that shines bright with its heavy costumes, intricately detailed sets, catchy songs, and hooking dialogues it tells stories that go much beyond the fictional realm and hold a mirror to the real world. Watch it once for the story, watch it again for the acting, and watch it once more for the beauty. You might still need to watch some more times to feel even more emotions but each watch will be worth it.
9) Jalsa
I accidentally came across Jalsa and watched it without any thoughts whatsoever. Often the best movies indeed stay underrated. Jalsa is one of those movies. Jalsa doesn’t have one single heroine for me. Both Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah may not have had equal screen time but each of them played such a crucial role that even a minute less from their time on the screen would have rattled me out. Each of them has played their roles with such conviction that I regret having expected nothing when I started watching the movie when the cast had two of the most heavily talented women currently in the industry. Jalsa plays with your psyche with its myriad twists and turns, it tells us a story we have never seen before and tells it with such realism that it will haunt you for hours after you have watched the movie. It questions human nature in its running time and breaks apart everything that you expect to happen, it questions the power of money, the need for justice, the want for fairness, and of responsibility when the stake is yourself.
10) Laal Singh Chadda
Embroiled in multiple attempts to diminish the movie from its rightful success came to fruition when Laal Singh Chadda was declared a flop by the industry. This might be among the only lists that include this movie among the best of this year and I honestly believe that it deserves this spot. Much like its English original “Forrest Gump”, this movie is a reassurance to humanity. The 9 films before this portrayed to us dark sides of human nature but Laal Singh Chadda reassured me that there is humanity left to be believed in. Much of the criticism that I heard from my friends or relatives was about how political the movie was but it is a living reality for every Indian. There is nothing that separates personal from political in India, the land you live in, the religion you follow, the language you speak, and the gender you identify as, nothing is on only one side of the binary. From the 1984 riots to Mandal Commission, from the Kargil war to Anna Hazare’s strike, Laal Singh Chadda takes you on a ride through a single man’s journey through life, through its trials and tribulations, through its joyrides and hell fights, through its roses and thorns. Much like “Forrest Gump”, this movie each passing moment of its long-running time provides you with a lesson in life and a warm feeling to hold on to, to hold on to yourself even at the darkest of times, to lean on others, to let go, to forgive and forget, to love, to live.
At the end of the movie, I was left with tears and a warm feeling in my heart. I knew that this feeling was nothing other than hope. The hope for the dawn of tomorrow, the hope to live on. Something I am ending 2022 with and something I wish 2023 brings to everyone.