The Best Bollywood Films, So Far

Given the overload of content on all your screens, we decided to put out a half-yearly report card of the best Hindi films that we have liked so far

- Ananya Ghosh

BADHAAI DO

Release date: February 11

Director: Harshavardhan Kulkarni

Where to watch: Netflix

Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar, two of the finest contemporary actors of Bollywood, play Shardul and Sumi — a gay man and a lesbian woman who opt for a lavender marriage. Apart from the nuanced performances, what makes this film a must-watch is its matured and sensitive writing and storytelling, and its gaze. Although it tackles the social issue of the stigma that is still associated with homosexuality, it does so without getting preachy. Instead of patronising the characters from the LGBTQIA+ community, the director opts to create flawed individuals, making this film more real and relatable than most in this genre.

GEHRAIYAAN

Release date: February 11

Director: Shakun Batra

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video

A tempestuous, clandestine relationship between two distinctly different individuals forms the core of this torrid domestic drama-turned-thriller, which might remind one of Woody Allen’s 2005 film Match Point. It is a steaming hot dark brew of love, sex, deception, manipulation, infidelity, guilt, consequences, and childhood trauma. Although not as nuanced as Kapoor & Sons, and accused of normalising infidelity under the garb of ‘modern-day romance’, this is a must-watch for every Deepika Padukone fan; here the actor is in all her glory as Alisha, a yoga instructor who indulges in an illicit affair with her cousin’s boyfriend.