In Bollywood, there have been multiple instances when many good movies don’t get attention. This can be due to of lack of marketing resources like commercial advertisement. This results in good films getting buried beneath the piles of multiple releases in the Hindi cinema industry every year. Here we bring you some of the most underrated Bollywood movies which are worth watching.
Let’s give these movies some attention and bring them back into your life. These underrated films give you a good quality taste of cinema that represents reality without too much drama.
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Scroll down to check out the list of underrated Hindi movies that are a must watch:
1. Sangharsh – 1999
Directed by Tanuja Chandra and is a partial remake of The silence of the Lambs movie. Ashutosh Rana gave a solid performance along with Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta. Released in 1999 a psychological horror action movie in which a police officer asks help from a prisoner to punish a serial child killer and bring justice which no other cops are able to.
A very interesting underrated Bollywood movie that won Filmfare Award for Best Villain and Zee Cinema Award for best performance in a negative role by Ashutosh Rana.
2. Tamanna – 1997
Directed by Mahesh Bhatt, who brought up social issues in this movie. It is a real true story based on a eunuch (role played by Paresh Rawal) abandoned girl (played by Pooja Bhatt). Released in 1998 a heart-touching relationship between these two shows humanity and love.
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A positive side of the third gender can be seen who are considered beggars in the eyes of the public.
3. Filhaal – 2002
Directed by Meghna Gulzar, a movie about two best friends’ strong bond and how they deal with the sensitive issues of surrogacy.
Released in 2002, the female best friends are played by Sushmita and Tabu. A beautiful representation of friendship in the movie won many awards like Zee Cinema Award for the best-supporting actress by Sushmita Sen.
4. Raincoat – 2004
Directed by Rituparno Ghosh, the movie depicts two lovers (played by Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai) who are separated by density but meet again one day. The film is an adaption of the short story The Gift of the Maggi.
Released in 2004, an unforgettable romance can be seen between the leads and how they realize the truth of each other’s life. Won National Film Awards for best feature film in Hindi and Aishwarya Rai won Zee Cine Award for Critic’s Choice best actress.
5. 99 – 2009
Directed by Krishna D.K and Raj Nidimoru, 99 is a crime comedy film. Lead role played by Kunal Khemu, the movie also features Cyrus Broacha, Mahesh Manjrekar, and Boman Irani.
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A highly entertaining interesting movie depicts the story of a gangster and his two companions and how they end up in many adventurous situations. This movie definitely needs recognition.
6. Mithya – 2008
Directed by Rajat Kapoor, the story is based on the Mumbai underworld. Starring Ranvir Shorey, Naseeruddin Shah and Vinay Pathak. The storyline has both funny and thrilling twists.
Released in 2008 the movie didn’t get much attention from people. A must-watch underrated Hindi movie in which a struggling actor somehow gets involved in the underworld because of his identical face.
7. Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota – 2006
Directed by Naseeruddin Shah, this movie is about a group of people who were traveling to the US and due to ill-fate they get stuck and experience some horrific action on the board.
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Released in 2006, this fateful flight has interesting characters to see – a student going to study and a woman on the other hand meeting her husband after marriage.
8. Khakee – 2004
Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, Khakee has great dialogue along with good music and a flawless screenplay. Released in 2004, this movie is about escorting a terrorist by cops but due to some officers, it becomes a big challenge. Starring – Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Tusshar Kapoor.
Khakee completely matches people’s tastes but is yet to be seen by many people.
9. Fiza – 2000
Directed by Khalid Mohamed, Fiza is a crime thriller movie in which a strong relationship can be seen between brother and sister and how they are dealing with their lives due to the attack on their city. Released in 2000, the performance of Hrithik Roshan, Jaya Bachchan, and Karishma Kapoor is stunning. Fiza is based on riots and is a must-deserved watch.
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10. Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II – 2003
Directed by Shashanka Ghosh, Waisa Bhi Hota Hai is a comic thriller about a copywriter who ends up in a gang war. The movie has some solid performances by Prashant Narayanan and Arshad Warsi.
Released in 2003, this movie got lost between multiple Bollywood releases.
11. Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year – 2009
Directed by Shimit Amin, Ranbir Kapoor played a solid role in this movie and this makes a huge impact. Released in 2009, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year defines how to overcome battles of work by maintaining balance. Being a good movie, this film never got much popularity.
12. Shor in the City – 2010
Directed by Krishna DK, Shor in the City is a crime thriller as well as a comedy-drama based on the life of five people, the movie shows the problems and difficulties of life in Mumbai city.
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Released in 2011, actors include Sendhil Ramamurthy, Tusshar Kapoor, Nikhil Dwivedi, and Preeti Desai. The film earned stark appreciation from reviewers and critics, who found it brutally original and strikes directly at the heart.
This movie is a good combination of luck, hope, and karma, a heartwarming message by the characters. The movie gained a lot of appreciation from reviewers but it was hardly accepted by the audience.
13. Margarita with a Straw – 2014
Directed by Shonali Bose, the movie is based on a teenage girl suffering from a cerebral palsy and her relationship status. Released in 2014, Margarita with a Straw stars Kalki Koechlin and Sayani Gupta. The film won the National Film Award- Special Jury Award, Stardust Award for Filmmaker of the Year, and Screen Award for Best Actress.
This movie is an inspiration and shows how to cope with life and live happily.
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14. The Blue Umbrella – 2005
Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, starring Pankaj Kapoor and Shweta Sharma in lead roles, The Blue Umbrella is a movie based on Ruskin Bond’s novel. It is a story of a young girl when one day she founds a unique blue-colored umbrella that belongs to Japanese tourists who are visiting the village. But later she faces a lot of trouble from villagers due to the umbrella.
Released in 2005, a lovely short film that brings back sweet and charming childhood memories won National Film Award for the Best Children’s Film in the year 2007.
15. The Tashkent Files – 2019
Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, The Tashkent Files is about the mysterious death of the former Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Released in 2019, the film turned out to be a hit at the box office and earned a lot just after several days after its release. The movie stars Naseerudin Shah, Pankaj Tripathi, Mandira Bedi, Mithun Chakraborty, and many others.
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This film was being accused of being politically motivated in terms of the 2019 elections and due to this, it suffered in the starting days at the box office. The film continued screening in theatres for at least a hundred days. It is one of the best underrated Bollywood movies.
16. Shahid – 2012
Directed by Hansal Mehta, the biographical movie is based on the life of a lawyer and human rights. Released in 2012, Shahid won National Film Award for Best Actor by Rajkummar Rao and Best Director by Hansal Mehta at the 61st National Film Awards ceremony.
17. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer – 2002
Directed by Aparna Sen, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is based on two lead characters who meet on a fateful bus journey during communal riots in the country.
Released in 2002, the film stars Konkona Sen and Rahul Bose. This movie won Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration in India.
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18. Firaaq – 2008
Directed by Nandita Das, this political thriller movie is based on the lives of many individuals who were victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots and how they got deeply affected.
Released in 2009, Firaaq is based on thousands of true stories. The movie is the directional debut of Nandita Das. The movie won two National Film Awards and international awards too.
19. Liar’s Dice – 2013
Directed by Geetu Mohandas, Liar’s Dice deals with the issue of the human cost of migration to cities and the misuse of migrant workers.
Released in 2013, the movie stars Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead roles. The movie won National Film Awards for Best Actress by Geetanjali Thapa and National Film Award for Best Cinematography by Rajeev Ravi.
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20. The Lunchbox – 2013
Directed by Ritesh Batra, this romantic movie is based on an unlikely event of exchanging the lunch box by mistake and later an unusual friendship develops between the two of them. Though the movie was successful at the box office, it was rejected as an Indian entry for the Oscars.
Released in 2013, starring Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur, The Lunchbox is a heartwarming movie that follows an exchange of messages between two individuals through letters only. It is one of the most underrated Hindi movies ever made.
21. Ship of Theseus – 2012
Directed by Anand Gandhi, this movie explores the questions of identity, justice, beauty, meaning, and death. The movie title refers to Theseus’ paradox, whether an object has been restored by replacing all components and still remains the same old object.
Released in 2013, Aida Al-Kashef, Neeraj Kabi, and Sohum Shah played the lead role. The movie won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film of the year.
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Check them out. You won’t be disappointed.
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