What are some of the best Indian movies ever made, and what makes them the best?
1. The Apu Trilogy (1950-1959)
Made between 1950 and 1959, Satyajit Ray’s trilogy won top prizes at Cannes, Venice and London.
Pather Panchali, Aparajito and The World of Apu follow the story of Apu, a poor boy from a Brahmin family. The films shifts focus between the family’s struggle to gather enough money to either repay their debt, repair their house or purchase clothes, and the difference in the upbringing of Apu and his sister Durga. Ray tries to portray the role of technology that improves life and the role of religion when Durga dies and the poverty-stricken family must cope with it.
Ranked number 2 on The Time Magazine’s All-time 100 movie list, the trilogy is a classic.
2. Charulata (1964)
Another masterpiece by Satyajit Ray, the film is about Charu, a lonely woman whose husband, Bhupati, has time only for his work. Things turn controversial when Bhupati’s younger brother Amal comes home on a break and gets close to Charu. Soon enough, their conversations result in Charu falling in love with Amal.
The film set in the 1870s saw Ray introducing the western style of films to India. It scored 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, an American review-aggregation website for film and television, and was listed at number 56 in the Sight & Sound critic’s poll.
3. Pyaasa (1957)
Scoring a full 100% on the Tomatometer, this drama set in the post-independent India, Pyaasa is about two outcasts—Vijay, whose talent in poetry is underappreciated and Gulabo, a prostitute.
Vijay is a sensitive poet who writes from his heart although no one, including his loved ones, appreciates his talent. When he is betrayed by his love, Vijay ends up meeting Gulabo—the prostitute with a heart of gold. The drama takes a twist when a dead beggar to whom Vijay gave his coat and whom he tries to save unsuccessfully from the path of a running train is mistaken for Vijay.
For the world, the poet is dead, and Gulabo takes this opportunity to publish his poetry as a book, which becomes a bestseller.
Directed by Guru Dutt and starring him as Vijay and Waheeda Rehman as Gulabo, the classic is listed at number 77 on The Time Magazine’s All-time 100 movie list.
4. Nayakan (1987)
Considered as India’s answer to ‘The Godfather’ and enlisted at number 65 on Time’s All time 100 movies, this Mani Ratnam film is based on a true story about the underworld.
Nayakan (or Nayagan) is Sakthivelu Nayakar’s (played by Kamal Hassan) story. Sakthivelu was born in a family of an activist, an anti-government union leader. He is arrested by corrupt police who make him believe that they are actually his friends and mean no harm. In reality, they are using the young boy to locate his father. When the police release him from custody, the innocent boy meets his father. The police, who are following him closely, kill the activist.
Betrayed and angry, Sakthivelu ends up killing the policeman and flees to Mumbai to become a Mafia don.
5. Drishyam (2013)

Scoring an average of 8.8 stars from over 22,000 reviews, Drishyam is a Malayalam crime drama about a simple, middle-class family.
Georgekutty’s elder daughter Anju is secretly filmed while changing her clothes and the culprit, Varun, comes to their house.
Varun, a confident, vile teenager is the son of a police inspector. He starts blackmailing Anju and her mother, Rani. Things escalate when the mother-daughter duo accidentally kill the boy.
When Rani tells Georgekutty about this incident, he must move heaven and earth to protect his beloved from the law. The story is about how the simple family goes about setting the perfect alibi, to show the investigating team that they weren’t at the place of murder at the time.
Remade in Hindi two years after the release in Malayalam, the movie is a roller coaster ride that has you sitting on the edge of your seat throughout. It is also listed as one of the world’s best crime dramas.
Pather Panchali, Aparajito and The World of Apu follow the story of Apu, a poor boy from a Brahmin family. The films shifts focus between the family’s struggle to gather enough money to either repay their debt, repair their house or purchase clothes, and the difference in the upbringing of Apu and his sister Durga. Ray tries to portray the role of technology that improves life and the role of religion when Durga dies and the poverty-stricken family must cope with it.
Ranked number 2 on The Time Magazine’s All-time 100 movie list, the trilogy is a classic.
2. Charulata (1964)
Another masterpiece by Satyajit Ray, the film is about Charu, a lonely woman whose husband, Bhupati, has time only for his work. Things turn controversial when Bhupati’s younger brother Amal comes home on a break and gets close to Charu. Soon enough, their conversations result in Charu falling in love with Amal.
The film set in the 1870s saw Ray introducing the western style of films to India. It scored 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, an American review-aggregation website for film and television, and was listed at number 56 in the Sight & Sound critic’s poll.
3. Pyaasa (1957)
Vijay is a sensitive poet who writes from his heart although no one, including his loved ones, appreciates his talent. When he is betrayed by his love, Vijay ends up meeting Gulabo—the prostitute with a heart of gold. The drama takes a twist when a dead beggar to whom Vijay gave his coat and whom he tries to save unsuccessfully from the path of a running train is mistaken for Vijay.
For the world, the poet is dead, and Gulabo takes this opportunity to publish his poetry as a book, which becomes a bestseller.
Directed by Guru Dutt and starring him as Vijay and Waheeda Rehman as Gulabo, the classic is listed at number 77 on The Time Magazine’s All-time 100 movie list.
4. Nayakan (1987)
Nayakan (or Nayagan) is Sakthivelu Nayakar’s (played by Kamal Hassan) story. Sakthivelu was born in a family of an activist, an anti-government union leader. He is arrested by corrupt police who make him believe that they are actually his friends and mean no harm. In reality, they are using the young boy to locate his father. When the police release him from custody, the innocent boy meets his father. The police, who are following him closely, kill the activist.
Betrayed and angry, Sakthivelu ends up killing the policeman and flees to Mumbai to become a Mafia don.
5. Drishyam (2013)

Georgekutty’s elder daughter Anju is secretly filmed while changing her clothes and the culprit, Varun, comes to their house.
Varun, a confident, vile teenager is the son of a police inspector. He starts blackmailing Anju and her mother, Rani. Things escalate when the mother-daughter duo accidentally kill the boy.
When Rani tells Georgekutty about this incident, he must move heaven and earth to protect his beloved from the law. The story is about how the simple family goes about setting the perfect alibi, to show the investigating team that they weren’t at the place of murder at the time.
Remade in Hindi two years after the release in Malayalam, the movie is a roller coaster ride that has you sitting on the edge of your seat throughout. It is also listed as one of the world’s best crime dramas.
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