The Best Bollywood Movies Of 2017

As we head into the last week of 2017, time to look back and reflect onto the different things that marked the year.

You can tell how good a year was by how hard it is to compile a list of best films. However, in 2017, not everything broke in the movie business’ favour, and not everyone would claim that the films were the best that Bollywood has to offer.

This year, the industry had over 100 releases and except for a dozen, most of them either flopped outright or did very mediocre business at the box office. Ram Gopal Verma’s political drama Sarkar 3, Anurag Basu’s big budget comedy-musical Jagga Jasoos and Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon are among those which were hyped and had big names attached to them but still failed miserably at the box office.

Forbes compiled a list of those movies which were successful in monetary terms as well as with the viewers and critics.

Lipstick Under My Burkha

Alankrita Shrivastava’s compelling drama explores the sexual awakenings and personal struggles of four small-town Indian women, whose predicaments and problems, dreams and fantasies are easy to relate to. Shrivastava illuminates the macro and the micro, with a careful mixture of humor and empathy, in this piercingly affecting film that is tremendously acted by Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur.

Mukti Bhawan

Shubhashish Bhutiani’s beautifully rendered arthouse film about a businessman, played by Adil Hussain, embarking on a final journey with his father (Lalit Behl) is spellbinding, delicate and perceptive.

Hindi Medium

Irrfan Khan once again proved what we already knew: he’s matchless. He excels in pulling the complications of beleaguered every men out of the shade in this slice-of-life comedy that takes a dig at India’s educational institutes, and the class divide created by English language. But the film is never pedantic; it is real and tangible, something that demystifies and enlightens.

Trapped

Vikramaditya Motwane turns a simple incident about man who inadvertently gets locked in an apartment into a nail-biting thriller. Versatile actor Rajkummar Rao puts on a fine performance as a man cut off from humanity. This meticulously written and directed film, which is observant and alert, speaking volumes as it unfolds with rambling ease, is an allegory about how people in Mumbai are islands unto themselves, and the resourcefulness of the city.

Raees

A gripping gangster saga with a contemporary spin, this Rahul Dholakia’s film starred Shah Rukh Khan. The crux of the film is the power play and cat-and-mouse chase between criminal, Khan plays a ruthless bootlegger in prohibition-era Gujarat in the 1980s, and cop (played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Khan is on top of his game as an anti-establishment and a Robin Hood figure. It’s a film that produced spectacular box-office returns — the highest-grossing film of 2017.

Secret Superstar

Advait Chandan’s fantasy-social drama surprised us in ways small and large. A star-making turn by Zaira Wasim about a young girl who goes undercover to pursue her dream of becoming a singing sensation was also the rare mainstream movie that forced its many viewers to confront head-on the hidden problem of domestic violence and abusive relationship. Aamir Khan as a cheesy music producer Shakti Kumaarr brought nuance to the table. Secret Superstar hums with an ecstatic feeling of liberation, while showing the messy, upsetting stuff too.

Tumhari Sulu

Reminding us the light-hearted family drama of the ’70s, this film, written and directed by the Suresh Triveni, presents the story of a housewife who aspires of becoming a radio jockey. It’s the kind of film where you know what is going to happen and yet detailing give you much to marvel at, the director and the cast know exactly where to take it seriously – and where to inject the fun. Vidya Balan as Sulu, who deals with real conflicts and dares to push some boundaries hard, is playful, confident and disarmingly authentic.

Anaarkali Of Aarah

This well observed, engaging, raunchy musical is about the exploitation of a singer-dancer at the hands of powerful men in rural Bihar. Feisty Swara Bhaskar gives her all to the lead role, delivering a performance of staggering intensity. The film is accidentally timely, as women in this country today grapple with widespread violence against them. With Anaarkali Of Aarah, Avinash Das asserts himself as one of the sharpest, most assured filmmakers working today.

A Death In The Gunj 

This coming of age drama centers on a shy, young man who is a misfit amongst his boisterous and wacky family. It’s a mosaic of lives. Directed by talented Konkona Sen Sharma, the well-woven film, with a large ensemble cast, brings alive a small hilly town of the ’70s that is comfortingly lived in yet disturbingly melancholic. This is a film that lingered. It deserves to stay lodged in collective consciousness right through to the end of awards season.

Jolly LLB 2

Directed by Shubhash Kapoor, Jolly LLB 2 is a courtroom drama that satirizes India’s judiciary and police corruption, with realistic storytelling. Akshay Kumar plays a no-good lawyer who rises to the occasion after his conscience is pricked. The film, a sequel to the 2013 Jolly LLB starring Arshad Warsi, had its moments — poignant, profound, and notching up comic detail in the margins. Saurabh Shukla in a deft performance as the eccentric judge works well for the film.