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Rediff.com  » Movies » Dibaker Banerjee: Five Fine Realistic Films in Indian Cinema
This article was first published 11 years ago

Dibaker Banerjee: Five Fine Realistic Films in Indian Cinema

Last updated on: May 3, 2013 18:22 IST

Image: A scene from Mirch Masala. Inset: Dibaker Banerjee
Patcy N in Mumbai

Movies, and the way they have been made, have changed drastically over the last century.

As have the filmmakers' cinematic sensibilities.

This churn has thrown up exciting young directors like Dibakar Banerjee, who has made realistic films like Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006) Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010) and Shanghai (2012). His signature style has made him a director worth watching out for.

As part of our celebration of Indian cinema's 100th anniversary, we will ask 100 movie professionals to share their views about Indian cinema.

Here, Dibakar lists Five Fine Realistic Films that he has personally loved:

Mirch Masala (1987)

Director: Ketan Mehta

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil, Om Puri, Suresh Oberoi, Deepti Naval.

 

Set in a village in Gujarat, one can see such marvelous art direction and visuals. The costumes were so colourful.

 

You just have to look at this film to be to be proud of being an India, as the country owns such beauty.

 

The film's story is very provocative, real and aggressive.

Maqbool (2003)

Image: A scene from Maqbool
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Cast
: Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Pankaj Kapur, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah

It was so close to the Muslim culture, I could smell the biryani through the film!

What a fantastic adaptation from Shakespeare it was!

Bandit Queen (1994)

Image: A scene from Bandit Queen

Director: Shekhar Kapur
Cast: 
Seema Biswas, Nirmal Pandey, Saurab Shukla, Mano Bajpayee

 

The film opened a new direction for me, in terms of how India could be seen through the camera.

 

Shekhar Kapur and (cinematographer) Ashok Mehta's work was ground-breaking. I had never seen Indian images of Indians like this.

 

At the same time, the film was very gritty, real and impactful.

Pather Panchali (1955)

Image: A scene from Pather Panchali
Director: Satyajit Ray
Cast: Subir Banerjee, Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Uma Dasgupta

The film showed how an Indian village can be seen in totally new way.

It was a documentary and yet, not a documentary at all. It was art.

Holi (1984)

Image: A scene from Holi
Director: Ketan Mehta
Cast: Aamir Khan, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Ashutosh Gowariker, Raj Zutshi

Ketan Mehta's Holi is superb because I had never seen students -- living in hostels and studying in colleges -- portrayed like this.

I was in hostel at that time, and it created a huge impact on me.