Crooks, charlatans and cops – who doesn’t like to watch them? The crime genre and its sub-categories are unsurprisingly popular, as revealed by our A-Z list of 100 crime-themed movies that are available on streaming platforms in India. The selections examine various aspects of being on the other side of the law – the pursuit of the perfect job, corruption in the police and government, psychological portraits of criminals, and the pleasures of living with an alternate moral code. Each movie has some intrinsic cinematic value. These include a convincing plot, good storytelling, well-rounded characters and performances, and technical polish.
Some of the films that should have been on this list didn’t have subtitles. Others were not available on official streaming platforms. You’ve possible watched many of them before. Good, now watch them again. Never heard of it before? Settle down and press play.
3 Deewarein
In Nagesh Kukunoor’s 3 Deewarein (2003), a documentary filmmaker (Juhi Chawla) interviews three convicts on death row. Are they remorseful? Would they have done things differently? Nagya (Kukunoor) insists that he is innocent of murdering his wife. Jaggu (Jackie Shroff) readily admits that he killed his spouse. Ishaan (Naseeruddin Shah) says he accidentally shot dead a bank teller pregnant with twins during a bank robbery. Juhi Chawla is a revelation in this twisty tale of crime and redemption, while Naseerudin Shah is as brilliant as ever.
Where to watch: Netflix.
A Land Imagined
Yeo Siew Hua’s cerebral missing-persons mystery is filled with stunning imagery and questions about the treatment of migrant labourers in Singapore. A police officer investigating the fate of a Chinese construction worker stumbles upon another case, this time involving a Bangladeshi labourer.
Where to watch: Neflix.
Aaranya Kaandam
The casting of Jackie Shroff as an impotent gangster is only one of the amazing elements in Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s multi-strand debut feature. Shroff is Chennai don Singaperumal, who gets embroiled in a drug deal that involves stealing from his rival. Singaperumal tries to double-cross his associate; his dissatisfied mistress Subbu (Yasmin Ponappa) strikes out on her own; a pair of cock-fighters leap into the game.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
Ab Tak Chhappan
Shimit Amin’s smooth directorial debut explores the Mumbai police’s “encounter” culture – the extra-judicial killings of gangsters that are passed off as legitimate hits. Nana Patekar is excellent as Sadhu, the encounter specialist who gets sidelined by political interference and corruption. When Sadhu’s wife (Revathi) becomes a casualty, he goes rogue.
Where to watch: YouTube.
Adhey Kangal
There is a good mystery lurking within the luridly coloured folds of AC Tirulokchandar’s 1967 hit. Nearly every scene has a crimson-coloured element, whether it’s a ball of wool or a light bulb. The sets are garish, the make-up loud and the acting out of an Expressionist silent film. There are far too many extraneous scenes, including a ghastly comedy track revolving around Nagesh in drag. Whenever the movie remembers its core plot, it snaps back into shape. A masked killer is targetting members of a family. Will the patriarch’s young niece be next? The movie opens with a sincere request: please don’t reveal the climax to anyone.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya
Sai Srinivasa Athreya runs FBI – Fathima Bureau of Investigation – and fancies himself as Nellore’s homegrown Sherlock Holmes. He is incredibly Sherlockian in his ways. If only the rest of Nellore thought that way. Athreya finally gets his big break when he starts investigating a pile of unclaimed bodies. Swaroop RSJ’s clever and funny movie parodies detective films while never forgetting to roll out a smart and convincing plot that goes into unexpected territory. Navin Polishetty, who starred as “Acid” in the 2019 hit Chhichhore, and who co-wrote this film, is excellent as the shamus who is as quick with comeback lines as he is with sniffing out clues.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Andha Naal
This black-and-white Tamil classic from 1954 is filled with bold moves. A couple are made by the director, who spares viewers the tedium of songs and kills his main character within the first few minutes. Sivaji Ganesan, in a rare grey-shaded role, is among the surprises. The atmospheric camerawork is a marvel, and the Expressionist close-ups build up the mood beautifully.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Also read:
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Angamaly Diaries
Lijo Jose Pellissery’s pulsating small-town gang war drama Angamaly Diaries (2017) ensures that you can never look away from the screen for even a single minute. A huge ensemble of characters led by Vincent Pepe (first-time actor Antony Varghese) fights for turf and honour in Angamaly. Seething with energy, dark humour and pitch-perfect performances, the movie wraps up in style with a 12-minute-long sequence.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Also read:
A sleepy town, pork and black humour add up to Malayalam box office sensation ‘Angamaly Diaries’
Anveshana
In Vamshi’s Anveshana (1985), four legs are bad but two legs are worse. In a forest in Andhra Pradesh, a man-eating tiger appears to be on the prowl. An ornithologist has died in gruesome fashion, and her replacement Hema (Bhanupriya) seems destined to become the big cat’s dinner too. However, Amar (Karthik) suspects that human forces are responsible. Raghu MV’s cinematography ratchets up the suspense and memorably captures the forest’s deceptive beauty.
Where to watch: Aha.
Ardh Satya
Govind Nihalani’s riposte to the vigilante cop drama is the film to turn to whenever you tire of the Singhams and the Simmbas. Ardh Satya (1983) stars Om Puri in blistering form as a lowly police inspector who quickly learns that crime pays. The soulful Anant wants to be a lecturer but is bullied by his father (Amrish Puri) into joining the police force. Anant seeks comfort in the company of Jyotsna (Smita Patil), but she shrinks in horror from his simmering violence. Few films have examined the troubles of modern policing with such perspicacity.
Where to watch: Zee5.
Also read:
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Baazigar
Shah Rukh Khan is very good at throwing out his arms as a gesture of love, but he is even better at playing nasty men. A single scene in Baazigar, Abbas-Mustan’s lift of the Hollywood movie A Kiss Before Dying, proves Khan’s ability to portray remorselessness: he takes his girlfriend to a rooftop and, after inconsequential sweet talk, coldly throws her to the death.
In the original movie, the lead character kills his girlfriend and woos her identical twin to get his hands on their inheritance. Baazigar softens its protagonist’s villainy by giving him a tragic back story. Along with Darr and Anjaam, Baazigar formed a trilogy of dread that only Khan could pull off.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, YouTube.
Bullitt
American legend Steve McQueen stars as Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco police detective who has to protect a key witness who is scheduled to testify before a government committee on organised crime. Among the film’s iconic sequences is Bullitt’s attempts to outsmart the gang that is after the witness, a nail-biting car chase through the streets of San Francisco and a stand-off at the airport.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Byomkesh Phire Elo
A separate movie can be made on the numerous adaptations of Sharadindu Bandopadhyay’s hugely popular “truth-seeker” Byomkesh Bakshi. Anjan Dutt directed a bunch of them, first with Abir Chatterjee and later with Jisshu Sengupta. In Byomkesh Phire Elo (2014, based on the story Beni Sanghar, a businessman’s apprehension that he is going to be murdered comes true. Byomkesh (Abir Chatterjee) walks into a viper’s nest of family secrets, with suspects ranging from a dissolute gambler to a young revolutionary.
Where to watch: Hoichoi.
China Town
Shakti Samanta’s China Town (1962) came after Howrah Bridge (1958) and Singapore (1960) to form a loose trilogy of crime dramas with a Chinese connection. In China Town, Shammi Kapoor plays the double role of the singer Shekhar and the criminal Mike. Madan Puri, who had previously played the Chinese villain Chang, is Joseph Wong this time. Helen is Suzie and Shakila is Rita. This movie contributed the club classic Baar Baar Dekho.
Where to watch: YouTube.
Chinatown
Roman Polanski’s noir classic is set in Los Angeles in the 1930s, but its examination of moral bankruptcy is universal and timeless. Jack Nicholson’s private investigator Jake finds himself unequipped to crack open a case involving high-level corruption and dirty family secrets. Stunningly lensed and powerfully performed by Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston, Chinatown was the direct inspiration for Navdeep Singh’s debut Manorama Six Feet Under in 2007.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
CID
Raj Khosla’s Mumbai noir marked the Hindi debut of Waheeda Rehman. Dev Anand stars as inspector Shekhar, who unravels a knotty crime that begins with a newspaper editor’s death and winds through underlit dens before ending up in a hospital. CID (1956) gave Mumbai its unofficial anthem Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and includes the seductive number Jaata Kahaan Hai Deewane.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Deewar
Yash Chopra’s seminal 1975 film is led by a ferociously intense Amitabh Bachchan. Writers Salim-Javed take notes from Ganga Jumna (1961) in following the divergent paths of two brothers, one a smuggler and the other a police officer. Vijay (Bachchan) and Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) have only one thing in common – their mother (Nirupa Roy).
Mumbai, the city of gold and dust, is the staging ground for this morality play. The dialogue exchanges are unforgettable, as are the visuals – Vijay framed against Mumbai’s Marine Drive promenade, a wordless cremation scene that signals the final break between the brothers, and a fateful night-time encounter between the brothers.
Where to watch: Zee5.
Delhi Belly
Akshat Verma’s very wicked script links a trio of flat-mates, a kinky-haired reporter, an unruffled gangster, a stash of diamonds – and a stool sample. There’s even room for the hilarious anti-song I Hate You Like I Love You, featuring Aamir Khan and Anusha Dandekar.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Dhund
Where would Indian murder mystery makers be without Agatha Christie? Her play The Unexpected Guest provides the inspiration for BR Chopra’s Dhund (1973), starring Zeenat Aman, Sanjay Khan, Navin Nischol and Danny Denzongpa. A man has a car accident and enters a mansion to seek help. There, he finds a dead body and a beautiful woman holding a gun. She says her degenerate husband deserved to die. The man helps the woman cover up the crime, unwittingly implicating her lover in the process. Once it’s all over, a voiceover pleads, “This is the end, but please don’t tell anybody.”
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Don
Chandra Barot’s only noteworthy film is propelled by Nariman Irani’s energetic camerawork and Kalyanji-Anandji’s pulsating score. Amitabh Bachchan is the impossible-to-nab Don and his lookalike Vijay. When Don is killed without revealing his operation’s secrets, a police officer recruits the paan-chewing Vijay to take Don’s place. Zeenat Aman shows up with a stylish bob and Pran plays a spoiler with a limp. Nariman Irani orchestrates a thrilling chase sequence that winds its way through Mumbai’s iconic Dhobi Ghat. Elsewhere, Bachchan lounges by a swimming pool and dances in a lungi in front of the Taj Mahal Hotel.
Where to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Donnie Brasco
British director Mike Newell brings a welcome outsider’s touch to the American Mafia movie. Undercover cop Donnie Brasco (Johnny Depp) works his way into a Mafia family by befriending Lefty (Al Pacino). As Donnie’s operation drags on, his marriage cracks and his deep friendship with Lefty threatens to come in the way. Pacino turns out a moving performance as an aging Mafioso who comes to regard Donnie as family.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Drishyam
Jeethu Joseph took copious notes from Keigo Higashino’s best-selling Japanese crime novel The Devotion of Suspect X for Drishyam. Mohanlal is outstanding as a mild-mannered cable operator who goes to extreme lengths to protect his family when his daughter inadvertently commits a crime. The Malayalam-language movie was such a massive success that it spawned several remakes, including one in Hindi. Stick to the original.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
Also read:
‘The Devotion of Suspect X’ vs ‘Drishyam’: The perfect alibi meets the perfect double crime
Ebar Shabor
Bengali star Abir Chatterjee is on the wrong side of the law in Ebar Shabor (2015), the first of a series of films by Arindam Sil on Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s police detective Shabor Dasgupta. Shabor (Saswata Chatterjee) investigates the death of the wealthy Mitali in her bedroom minutes after a drunken party. Mitali (Swastika Chatterjee) has a past that includes two ex-husbands (Ritwick Chakraborty and Abir Chatterjee). The movie is as business-like as its gumshoe hero, who barrels through Kolkata and pries out Mitali’s family secrets.
Where to watch: Hoichoi.
Ee Thanutha Veluppan Kalathu
In Padmarajan’s Ee Thanutha Veluppan Kalathu (1990), Mammooty plays Haridas, the police officer investigating a series of crimes with one common element – a piece of coir is shoved into the victim’s mouth. Is a serial killer on the loose? And what role is played by Christopher (Suresh Gopi), the disturbed son of the killer’s first victim?
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
Ek Hasina Thi
Sriram Raghavan’s first feature from 2004 has its moments that demand suspension of disbelief. Can Sarika get a brutal bunch of gangsters to help her fix her treacherous boyfriend Karan, who has framed her and sent her to prison? More believable are the superbly written characters and the jail scenes, which prove that Raghavan is right at home behind bars. The clever counter-casting includes Urmila Matondkar as the avenging angel, Saif Ali Khan as the nasty Karan, Aditya Srivastava as a duplicitous lawyer, Seema Biswas as a sharp police officer, and Pratima Kazmi as a nightie-wearing don who rules from the prison.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Election
Celebrated Hong Kong director Johnnie To’s Election (2005) is a fascinating look at a struggle for control of a powerful triad in Hong Kong. One faction is led by the calm and suave Lok, while the other is barely held in place by the short-fused Big D. The superbly performed movie proves that elections are messy, whether in politics, cricket, or the underworld. In the more sedate but equally chilling sequel Election 2 2006), the winner tries to consolidate his gains.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Frantic
Roman Polanski’s missing-wife thriller, starring Harrison Ford, is filled with sharp turns and blind alleys. When the police refuse to trace a surgeon’s spouse after she vanishes from their hotel room, he conducts his own investigation. A mysterious woman (Emmanuelle Seigner) shows up to help, a mysterious device is found, and the Statue of Liberty is involved too.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Gangs of Wasseypur
Coal blackens the skin and the soul in Anurag Kashyap’s profane, violent and semi-parodic saga. The war of attrition for control of Dhanbad’s coal mines is told over two parts. In the first, Sardar (Manoj Bajpayee) gains ground and a lover while trying to avenge his father’s death at the hands of Ramadhir (Tigmanshu Dhulia). In the second film, the baton of retribution is passed on to Sardar’s stoner son Faisal (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Sneha Khanwalkar’s pulsating soundtrack marks the passage of time and the shifting moods.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Goodfellas
That lengthy take in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya, in which a lawyer introduces the anti-hero to his new comrades in crime? You first saw it in Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece Goodfellas (1990). The adaptation of Nicolas Pileggi’s non-fiction book Wiseguys traces Henry Hill’s years as a member of an Italian mafia family in New York City. Few directors use voiceover as effectively as Scorsese, and few filmmakers can so skilfully weave together black comedy, bursts of shocking violence, and character sketches. Michael Ballhaus’s fluid cinematography captures the dynamics of the gang and later slows down to regard Henry’s decline.
Where to watch: Netflix.
He Walked By Night
In this crisp and magnificently tense police procedural, an electronics whiz leads the police on a merry chase through Los Angeles. Striking at will and lurking in shadows that are beautifully lensed by John Alton, the killer always manages to stay a few steps ahead. Among the highlights is a sequence set in the sewers and a scene in which a sketch of the killer’s face is constructed by some inventive policework.
Where to watch: Mubi.
Heat
This typically moody and existential Michael Mann crime drama never forgets to stage stunning action pieces. Al Pacino plays the police detective who hunt down Robert De Niro’s criminal and his posse. The legends finally meet over a meal, where loaded remarks and acting notes are exchanged.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Infernal Affairs
This is the Hong Kong hit remade as The Departed – and it is better. Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s film charts a twinned undercover operation. A gangster become a police officer to serve his boss better, while a detective infiltrates the same gang. Asian star Tony Leung, as the upright cop, and Andy Lau, as the sinister fake cop, are perfectly matched in a game of wits that stretches over a decade and transforms both men.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
Kundan Shah’s 1983 classic is so funny that it is almost possible to forget its blistering expose of crime, corruption and the decline of Mumbai. Two earnest photographers (Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani) are hired by scheming newspaper editor Shobha (Bhakti Barve) to get the dirt on the builder Tarneja (Pankaj Kapur). Tarneja is in cahoots with the city’s municipal commissioner (Satish Shah), while Shobha has a backroom deal with another builder, Ahuja (Om Puri). Nearly every scene is a classic, including the climax, which plays out to Hum Honge Kaamyaab.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Cinemas of India, ShemarooMe, YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Jalwa
Pankaj Parashar’s 1989 hit stars Naseeruddin Shah in a career-altering role as a police officer who investigates a drug racket in Goa. Shah unwinds as a chest-baring and buff cop who falls for Jojo (Archana Puran Singh) even as he tries to find out who killed his friend. Rohini Hattangady plays the imperious moll Sribaby and Doordarshan news reader Tejeshwar Singh is druglord DD.
Parashar lifted his plot from the Eddie Murphy-starrer Beverly Hills Cop. In a previous interview with Scroll.in, he said, “It’s better than Beverly Hills Cop… I once met that movie’s director [Martin Brest] in a hotel lobby in California and told him that I had remade his film without his permission, and done it better, and he laughed.”
Where to watch: YouTube.
Also read:
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Jewel Thief
Vijay Anand understood the crime movie like few Hindi directors. All the elements are in place in Jewel Thief (1967) – a cast top-lined by Dev Anand, Vyjayanthimala, Ashok Kumar and Tanuja, a twist-filled plot, a chart-topping soundtrack by SD Burman, a comedy track supplied by IS Johar, picturesque locations in Sikkim, and evocative camerawork by V Ratra.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Jhonny
Rajinikanth’s collaboration with the celebrated Tamil director J Mahendran yielded the classic Mullum Malarum in 1978. Jhonny sees Rajinikanth in a double role as the barber Vidyasagar and the titular conman, who adores the singer Archana (Sridevi). Vidyasagar kills his wife and seeks to implicate Jhonny, sending the crook into hiding. Mahendran’s evocative shooting style and ability to extract deeply felt performances make this movie a standout in Rajiniknath’s bustling filmography.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Jiban Mrityu
Bengali legend Uttam Kumar plays Ashok, an honest bank employee framed by his colleagues in a heist. Sentenced to prison for seven years, Ashok emerges to learn that his mother has died, his girlfriend (Supriya Devi) has disappeared and his reputation is in tatters. With the help of a kindly landlord, Ashok put on a disguise and sets out for revenge. While the unfussy Jiban Mrityu (1967) was directed by Hiren Nag, the Hindi remake Jeevan Mrityu (1970) was by Satyen Bose and starred Dharmendra and Raakhee in her first Hindi role.
Where to watch: YouTube.
Johnny Gaddaar
Crime master Sriram Raghavan’s 2007 film is a masterful study of the consequences of greed. Vikram (Neil Nitin Mukesh) cheats his partners out of the takings of a lucrative drug deal, first killing his mentor Sheshadri (Dharmendra) and then piling up the bodies to save his skin. The standout elements include a dialogue-free murder on a train, the slaying of Sheshadri, and a tribute to the Amitabh Bachchan film Parwana.
Where to watch: Disney + Hotstar.
Joseph
Joju George plays the archetypal washed-up cop who is often consulted by his former employers because of his sharp investigative skills. When his former wife dies in an accident, Joseph suspects a bigger conspiracy – and once again, he is right. M Padmakumar’s 2018 Malayalam movie is begging for a Hindi remake.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Kala Bazar
Vijay Anand’s second movie Kala Bazar (1960) signalled the filmmaker’s deft touch and narrative chops. Raghubir (Dev Anand) wants to earn an honest living but finds that the best way to make money is to sell movie tickets in black. Mehboob Khan’s Mother India proves to be a cash cow – the movie daringly cuts between documentary footage of the film actual premiere with staged scenes of Raghubir raising the price, as though at an auction. His love for the pure-hearted Alka (Waheeda Rehman) prompts a change of profession and a trip to Ooty. He sings “Apni toh har aah ek toofan hai” on the train journey to Ooty, pretending that his thoughts are about the Almighty rather than Alka, who is on the upper berth. This gorgeous tune, like the others, is seamlessly incorporated into Raghubir’s fall, rise and fall.
Where to watch: YouTube.
Kammatipaadam
Rajeev Ravi’s epic-length crime saga moves back and forth in time and offers a caste-based exploration of Kochi’s urbanisation. Kammattippaadam is framed as a quest for a missing character. The modest progress of small-time hoodlums Krishnan (Dulquer Salmaan) and Ganga (Vinayakan) is nothing compared to the larger transformation of Dalit hamlets into housing complexes for the wealthy. As the minnows squabble amongst themselves, the big fish line their bellies.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
Kansas City Confidential
A masked man hires three other masked men to pull off a bank heist. Although it goes as planned, an innocent bystander gets picked up as a suspect. He sets out to find the men responsible for his plight. Airtight and atmospheric, Phil Karlson’s 1952 classic doesn’t waste a moment.
Where to watch: Mubi.
Kariyilakkattu Pole
P Padmarajan directs Mammooty as a corpse that comes alive in flashbacks. Mammooty is Harikrishnan, a renowned writer and director who is found dead in his house. A woman appears to be the suspect – not surprising, considering Harikrishnan’s philandering ways. Mohanlal plays the investigating officer Achuthankutty who has the delicate job of digging through Harikrishnan’s uncomfortable past.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
KGF: Chapter 1
Kannada star Yash swaggers about in this origin story of the fictional gangster Rocky. After pulling himself out of poverty and making his mark in Mumbai, Rocky heads to the gold mines in Kolar in Karnataka, imagined in Prashant Neel’s movie as a vast slave labour colony. Rocky emerges as the Spartacus-like leader of the sweating masses. The second part is under production. Filled with bombastic dialogue and action sequences, KGF proves that there is still life left in the old-fashioned gangster movie.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Khoon Khoon
The seminal Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry isn’t out on any official channel in India, but its unofficial Hindi remake is. Mohammed Hussain’s Khoon Khoon (1973) stars Mahendra Sandhu as a police officer investigating a series of senseless killings by deranged sniper Raghav (Danny Denzongpa). Khoon Khoon is Denzongpa’s show all the way – he is chilling as a colourfully attired maniac who cuts down grown-ups and children at will.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Khosla Ka Ghosla
Dibakar Banerjee’s directorial debut from 2006, based on an engaging script by Jaideep Sahni, is an account of the perfect crime, the one in which the villain gets his just desserts. When a crooked builder cheats an elderly Delhi resident out of his dream house, the victim’s son and friends come up with a counter-con. In Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), Banerjee turned his attention to the law-breaker, exploring the exploits of the successful thief Lucky (Abhay Deol).
Where to watch: Netflix, YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Kshana Kshanam
Ram Gopal Varma’s 1991 thriller stars Sridevi, Venkatesh and Paresh Rawal. Satya (Sridevi) unwittingly possesses a key to a lot of money. Low-achieving thief Chandu (Venkatesh) wants to get his hands on the stash and takes Satya hostage. Varma retooled the fast-paced and fleet-footed movie as the less successful Daud in 1997.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
LA Confidential
In Curtis Hanson’s svelte retro-noir, adapted from the James Ellroy novel of the same name, Hollywood is one big crime scene. Los Angeles detectives investigate a set of murders at a coffee shop that is blamed on three black men. The search for the real culprits reveals corruption in high places, a Veronica Lake lookalike, drugs and blackmail. The incredibly good-looking film has a top-line cast that includes Kim Basinger, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Danny De Vito and Kevin Spacey.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Laal Kuthi
Batra Mohinder and Kanak Mukherjee’s Laal Kuthi (1978) is set on a tea estate in Bengal that is captured in all its misty glory by Ashok Mehta. Gothic fiction enthusiasts will be pleased with the traumatised woman given to walking around her mansion with a candle and singing a mournful song, the creepy household help, the dashing benefactor, and a mystery locked away in a cupboard that must not be opened. Tanuja plays the neurotic woman and Ranjit Mallick is her saviour, but the real deal is Danny Denzongpa, a blackmailer who takes his instructions from God but melts after meeting a cute young boy.
Where to watch: Hoichoi, Eros Now.
Manhunt
Two men who look like they have walked out of the pages of GQ wage battle in John Woo’s Osaka-set thriller. Chinese lawyer Du Qiu (Zhang Hanyu) is framed in a woman’s murder. He escapes police custody, only to have detective Satoshi Yamura (Jun Kunimara) on his heels. The plot has something to do with a deadly chemical weapon. The characters include a pair of deadly female assassins and Satoshi’s adoring female assistant, but this is an all-male show. The typical Woo flourishes include doses of self-parody and a bromance between cop and suspect – before I met you, life was great, one of them sighs.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Maqbool
Vishal Bhardwaj’s 2003 breakthrough relocates William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth to the underworld. Irrfan plays the titular gangster whose love for his boss’s mistress Nimmi (Tabu) leads him to kill his mentor and set off a chain of reprisals. Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri are brilliantly cast as a pair of policemen who merrily stir the pot.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Also read:
Irrfan biography: Behind the scenes of his acclaimed performance in Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Maqbool’
Minority Report
If you could accurately predict a crime, what need then for courts and defence lawyers, innocence and doubt? Steven Spielberg’s ideas-heavy thriller, based on a short story by Philip K Dick, is set in a future in which mutants have visions of misdemeanours, which are then prevented by the PreCrime Division. When the oracles predict that PreCrime chief Jon Anderton (Tom Cruise) is going to kill a man he has never met, he sets out to prove his innocence. The screenplay neatly simplifies complex ideas about presumed guilt and determinism, apart from highlighting the role played by memory in keeping unresolved crimes alive.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Mr Sampat (1952)
A dapper hero in the Hollywood mould, Motilal was one of Hindi cinema’s most natural and credible actors. He makes it look very easy in SS Vasan’s Hindi remake of his Tamil film Miss Malini. Based on RK Narayan’s novel Mr Sampath – The Printer of Malgudi, Mr Sampat (1952) sees Motilal as an amoral confidence trickster who exploits an actress’s popularity to win an election and swindle a bank.
Where to watch: YouTube.
Mystic River
Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same name maps the shifting loyalties among three boys from Boston. They drift apart as adults, but are flung back together by a crime that is blamed on the one among them who was sexually abused as a child. The heavyweight cast includes Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Nayakan
One of Mani Ratnam’s most acclaimed films borrows heavily from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. There are nods too to Once Upon a Time in America and Deewar. And yet, the central moral dilemma of a Tamil migrant in Mumbai forced into a life of crime and seeking redemption through familial relationships is entirely Ratnam’s concoction. Kamal Haasan is Velu Naicker, a dock rat who becomes a major crime figure at a huge cost. His wife and son die and his daughter leaves in disgust. PC Sriram’s camera depicts Mumbai as a city nearly always overcast with dark clouds of foreboding and sadness.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
No 20 Madras Mail
A murder is announced – at the seventieth minute. It is preceded by languid comedy and delightful character building. Mohanlal plays the often-drunk Tony Kurishingal, who, accompanied by two friends, boards the Madras Mail for a trip to Chennai. On the train is the superstar Mammooty (playing a version of himself). Nothing happens for a very long time, but it proves crucial to what follows. Tony and his pals befriend Mammooty, which comes handy when the woman in the next compartment is murdered and the trio become the main suspects. Joshiy’s film from 1990 was remade as the inferior Teesra Kaun in Hindi four years later.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
Once Upon a Time in America
Spaghetti Western maestro Sergio Leone’s final masterpiece from 1984 is a sprawling exploration of the life and crimes of Jewish gangsters in New York City. Robert De Niro leads the cast of a gorgeously produced and lensed movie that inspired several others down the years, including a sequence in Nayakan. Amazon Prime Video has the 227-minute version – every second worth the watch.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Oru CBI Diary Kurippu
The first of a series of films featuring the Central Bureau of Investigation officer Sethurama Iyer, played authoritatively by Mammooty. A woman has apparently fallen to her death. Her family is not convinced, and they manage to get the CBI to investigate. K Madhu’s film captures the nitty-gritty of Sethurama’s methodical investigation without resorting to needless distractions or dramatic flourishes.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
Parinda
Vidhu Vinod’s Chopra’s crime saga suffers from needless melodramatic touches. Its pleasures lie in the gorgeous black-and gold palette (by Binod Pradhan), slick editing (by Renu Saluja) and the depiction of Mumbai as a city on the verge of going up in flames. Anil Kapoor plays the pure-hearted Karan, who is corrupted by his friend Prakash’s death and joins his gangster brother Kishan’s outfit for revenge. Nana Patekar stands out as the pyrophobic gangster Anna, and Tom Alter has a lovely cameo as Anna’s dandy rival Musa. The scenes of slaughter linger in the mind – Prakash’s murder amidst a flock of pigeons, a hit carried out from inside a car, Karan’s first kill to prove that he has what it takes, and the horrific death of a pair of newly-weds.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Play Misty For Me
Clint Eastwood’s first movie as director is a riveting thriller about obsession. Eastwood plays Dave, a radio disc jockey who picks up Evelyn in a bar. She turns out to be the caller who is always asking him to play the jazz tune Misty for her. They have a fling, but when Dave tries to break off, Evelyn reacts very, very badly.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Poovinu Puthiya Poonthennal
Malayalam hitmaker Fazil’s Poovinu Puthiya Poonthennal (1986) borrows from Peter Weir’s Hollywood classic Witness (1985). Mammooty plays the kindly drunk Kiran who adopts a deaf-mute boy who has witnessed his mother’s murder. The murderers keep following the boy around, alerting Kiran to the boy’s past.
Kirti Kumar’s technically superior Hindi remake Hatya (1988), one among four, stars Govinda in the lead role. The real charmer is the child actor Sujitha, the girl who played the boy with expressive eyes in all five movies.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Prisoners
Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners (2013) stars Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Paul Dano. Roger Deakins can be counted as a member of the cast for the way in which his brooding cinematography builds up atmosphere. When two girls are kidnapped from outside their homes, suspicion falls on a developmentally challenged man. Although the investigating officer has his doubts, one of the fathers kidnaps the suspect and tries to torture a confession out of him. The tension endures until the last frame, which demands that we watch as well as listen.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Pudhupettai
Selvaraghavan’s rumbustious and unsentimental gangster drama stars his brother Dhanush in a career-defining role. Pudhupettai (2006) traces the rise of Kumar (Dhanush) from poverty to notoriety as a major crime figure in North Chennai. The path is strewn with betrayal and bravado, with Kumar earning every inch of territory the hard way. The loud and lusty film packs a minor universe into its staggering three-hour running length.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Psycho (1960)
One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most acclaimed films erases the line between thriller and full-blown horror. A secretary (Janet Leigh) commits a robbery and flees. She takes shelter at the Bates Motel run by the sinister Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). A shower proves to be a mistake – and results in one of cinema’s most iconic sequences. The black-and-white classic inspired a redundant remake in colour by Gus Van Sant. Its shocking climax was recycled in Balu Mahendra’s Moodu Pani (1980).
Where to watch: Netflix.
Psycho (2020)
Tamil director Mysskin’s visually arresting sympathy-for-the-devil saga attempts to humanise a psychopath who collects the heads of women as trophies. Dagini (Aditi Rao Hydari) is the latest intended victim of Anguli (Rajkumar Pitchumani). Dagini’s courage and insistence that her blind admirer Gautham (Udayanidhi Stalin) will come to the rescue buys her time. As she lies chained in the madman’s lair, she begins to learn about his troubled past.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Qatl
In RK Nayyar’s Qatl (1986), an Indian version of the American television film Broad Daylight (1971), Sanjeev Kumar is in fine form as a blind man who kills his philandering wife (Sarika) by relying on his heightened sense of hearing. Nobody believes him – so he proceeds to show exactly how he did it.
Where to watch: YouTube.
Ratsasan
Ram Kumar’s thriller about a psychopath who targets school-going girls borrows a big idea from another well-known movie in the genre. Aspiring filmmaker Arun (Vishnu Vishal) has a script about a serial killer that nobody wants to produce. He joins the police force instead, where he finds his fantasy coming to life in deadly fashion. The movie retains momentum and tension despite a bloated run-time and is elevated by Ghibran’s sinister score.
Where to watch: SunNxt.
Rear Window
A movie about a murder in the neighbourhood – and about the language of cinema itself. Alfred Hitchcock’s masterwork is all about seeing and perception. James Stewart’s injured photographer passes the time by spying on the residents of the building across from his house. Is that a murder in one of the apartments, or is cabin fever getting to him? A film for the ages, especially one defined by home quarantine.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Satya
In 1992, Ram Gopal Varma made the bilingual film Antham (Telugu) and Drohi (Hindi), about a lonely hitman who is transformed by his relationship with a woman who doesn’t know what he does for a living. Six years later, Varma scaled up the basic premise in Satya.
Set against the backdrop of Mumbai’s gang wars, Satya stars JD Chakravarthy as a loner who gets sucked up by the Mumbai underworld. Satya’s friendship with gangster Bhiku Mhatre (Manoj Bajpayee) makes him a ruthless crime figure, while his love for Vidya (Urmila Matondkar) keeps him human. Everything comes together in Varma’s most perfectly realised film – the performances, the storytelling, the cinematography and editing, and Sandeep Chowta’s background score.
Where to watch: YouTube, Eros Now.
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Sehar
Arshad Warsi is compelling in one of the nicer lone-cop-battling-wolves tales out there. Kabeer Kaushik’s Sehar (2005) is also among the better films to explore the contribution of phone surveillance to police work. Ajay Kumar (Warsi) is frequently stymied in his attempts to bring down Uttar Pradesh crimelord Gajraj Singh (Sushant Singh). With the help of a professor (Pankaj Kapur), Ajay begins tapping Gajraj’s cellphone network, a move that yields rich dividends as well as evidence of the deep rot in the system.
Where to watch: Zee5.
Shakti
What a cast! Dilip Kumar! Amitabh Bachchan! Raakhee! Smita Patil! Amrish Puri! Ramesh Sippy’s 1982 movie stars Kumar as an upright police officer who refuses to rescue his kidnapped son. The son (Bachchan) grows up to be a resentful brooder who seeks comfort in the arms of a nightclub singer and loans his services to his father’s antagonist.
Where to watch: YouTube.
Scarlet Street
Edward G Robinson was renowned for playing hard-boiled characters. In Fritz Lang’s cruel and bleak Scarlet Street (1945), Robinson is a mush ball who falls hard for a hustler. Kitty (Joan Bennett) and her nasty boyfriend Johnny (Dan Duryea) decide to con Chris (Robinson) out of his money and paintings, not knowing that he is only a cashier and an amateur artist. Robinson and Bennett are terrific as the mark and the markswoman.
Shaque
Vinod Khanna was born to star in thrillers, and he had his fair share of them, including Achanak (1973), based on the KM Nanavati murder case, and Inkaar (1977), which ripped off Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. Shaque (1976) opens with a bank heist and goes on to examine the effect of that crime on a marriage filled with hot looks and nuzzling. The domestic bliss between Vinod (Khanna) and Meena (Shabana Azmi) is ruined when a letter arrives, suggesting that Vinod is responsible for his colleague’s death during the heist. The bedroom becomes a battlefield as Meena sets out to find the truth.
Where to watch: ShemarooMe.
Shiva
Ram Gopal Varma’s Shiva (1989) was considered path-breaking until he bettered his efforts with Satya (1998). Made in Telugu in 1989 and remade in Hindi in 1990, Shiva stars Nagarjuna as a tough student who refuses to submit to bullying on his college campus. Shiva graduates to crime, taking on the fearsome Bhavani (Raghuvaran). Smooth despite a run-time of nearly three hours and filled with memorable action scenes and dialogue exchanges, Shiva marked Varma as one of the major talents of the 1990s.
Where to watch: Netflix, YouTube.
Shree 420
Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420 (1955) features one of Hindi cinema’s best-known confidence tricksters. Raj (Kapoor) moves to Mumbai and is happily seduced by its charms, which include Nadira singing Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh. His lover Vidya (Nargis) is forgotten as he leaves the streets for and embraces the good life. A crooked housing scheme – surely not the first in Mumbai – breaks the spell for Raj. KA Abbas’s morality tale was reworked as Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992) and Luck By Chance (2009).
Where to watch: ShemarooMe.
Snatch
A huge diamond gets misplaced along with its robber in London, leading to the involvement of the intended recipient, two boxing promoters, a dangerous underworld financier, a pair of fences, an Uzbekistani weapons supplier, an enforcer with golden teeth, and a Romany boxer. Guy Ritchie’s Snatch (2000) is very complicated, very lucid, and very witty.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Scarface
Everything is heightened in Brian De Palma’s imaginative reworking of Howard Hawks’s 1932 classic Scarface. Italian mobster Tony Camonte is now Cuban refugee Tony Montana, and liquor racketeering has been replaced by cocaine smuggling. The ambitious Montana (Al Pacino in an explosive performance) steadily crawls his way up and into a gaudy mansion where he has it all – the woman of his choice, more money than he can handle, the white stuff strewn around his table – and, eventually, nothing.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Seven
David Fincher is an acknowledged master of the crime genre. His finest outing remains his first exploration of the dance between cops and killers. In Seven (1995), the redoubtable Morgan Freeman is paired with a young and restless Brad Pitt as police officers investigating crimes based on the seven deadly sins. The constant atmosphere of dread created by stylised production design and stunning cinematography has barely aged.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Shubho Muhurat
Rituparno Ghosh’s Shubho Muhurat (2003) lifts its plot from an Agatha Christie classic. A drug-addicted actor dies on the day of the launch of her comeback movie, which has been produced by her former co-star Padmini (Sharmila Tagore). Naive journalist Mallika (Nandita Das) is the last one to see the actor alive. Mallika’s highly intelligent and observant aunt (Raakhee) cracks the case without once leaving her house. While the investigation is of the slowburn variety, the characters are superbly sketched and Sharmila Tagore and Raakhee are top-notch.
Where to watch: Eros Now.
Sonar Kella
Visions of a past life, steam train journeys, Rajasthan, camel rides, a pair of balding villains, the detective Feluda and his sidekick Topshe, and the clownish but courageous writer Lalmohan Ganguly – the scene is set for an adventure meant for older kids but suitable for all ages. Satyajit Ray’s adaptation of one of Feluda’s best-loved stories centres on a remarkable performance by Kushal Chakraborty as Mukul, the boy who believes that his past-life home was a golden fortress.
Where to watch: Eros Now.
Subramaniapuram
M Sasikumar’s visceral drama of friendship, love, honour and betrayal is named after the neighbourhood in Madurai. A gang of unemployed friends sticks together no matter what. When Azhagu (Jai) and Thulashi (Swathi) fall in love, Paraman (Sasikumar) warns of trouble ahead, but even he cannot anticipate the manner in which he and his buddies will be sucked into local political intrigue and then spat out. A bonus: James Vasanthan’s retro song Kangal Irandal.
Where to watch: Eros Now.
Talvar
Vishal Bhardwaj’s clever script for Meghna Gulzar’s police procedural works both as an investigation into a double murder as well as an expose of police and media bias. Botched police work makes a middle-class couple the main suspects in the deaths of their daughter and domestic worker. The movie is based on the Arushi Talwar and Hemraj Banjade double murder from 2008.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar, YouTube Movies, Google Play, Netflix.
Teesri Manzil
From its opening sequence to its climax, Vijay Anand’s Teesri Manzil (1966) is an endlessly thrilling ride. The drummer Rocky (Shammi Kapoor) is the chief suspect in the murder of a young woman. Her sister Sunita (Asha Parekh) tracks down Rocky, but he conceals his identity when he learns about her intentions. RD Burman’s brilliant soundtrack includes the Helen standard O Haseena Zulfonwali.
Where to watch: Zee5.
Also read: Teesri Manzil revisited.
Thalapathi
Mani Ratnam’s only collaboration with the other big Tamil movie star resulted in one of Rajinikanth’s finest performances. Thalapathi (1991) fuses plot points from the Mahabharata into the saga of Surya, the Karna-like orphan who is cast out by his unwed mother (Srividya). When they meet years later, he is the enforcer of gangster Devaraj (Mammootty), while his step-brother is the milky-white Arjuna of the epic, played by Arvind Swami.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
The French Connection
American acting great Gene Hackman teams up with Roy Scheider to play a pair of New York City detectives doggedly on the trail of a heroin consignment from France. William Friedkin’s 1971 classic provides a minor tour of NYC in the 1970s and is filled with chases, on foot and in vehicles. This right here is the original fast and furious movie.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola’s urtext for films about crime and the family has surpassed the reputation of the book on which it is based. The first part sticks closes to Mario Puzo’s source novel and traces two generations of the Corleones, a powerful Mafia family in New York City. In the second film, Coppola veers away from the text and imagines a new fate for Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). There is a third part too, for the truly dedicated. The first two films are all you will need.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
The Hitch-Hiker
Ida Lupino’s tight and nightmarish road trip is said to be the first film noir directed be a woman. In The Hitch-Hiker (1953), a serial killer jumps into cars on highways and finishes off his riding companions after they have served their purpose. His latest victims are a pair of friends, who find themselves unable to oppose his sadistic ways and have to do his bidding on a journey that never seems to end.
Where to watch: YouTube.
The Invisible Guest
Sujoy Ghosh’s Badla (2019) and the Telugu-language Evaru (2019) are both official remakes of the Spanish thriller The Invisible Guest. A smarmy businessman is accused of murdering his lover. Nobody else was in the room when the crime happened and nobody was seen exiting it. Yet, the businessman insists on his innocence to his lawyer. The original is superior to its remakes.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Also read:
‘Badla’ is a remake of a twist-laden Spanish thriller that invites viewers to guess the killer
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Alfred Hitchcock made two films with the same title, but the second one, from 1956, is better known. The son of an American couple (James Stewart and Doris Day) is kidnapped to prevent them from revealing an assassination plot. Doris Day’s singing voice comes handy for belting out Que Sera Sera at strategic moments. The centrepiece is the celebrated 14-minute-long sequence in which Hitchcock splendidly builds up tension through camerawork, editing, the use of music and almost no dialogue.
The Man Who Knew Too Much inspired the Hindi-language thriller Benaam (1974), starring Amitabh Bachchan and Moushumi Chatterjee.
Where to watch: YouTube Movies, Google Play.
The Secret in their Eyes
Juan Jose Campanella’s gripping thriller won the foreign language Oscar in 2010. The Secret in Their Eyes is set against a growing breakdown of democratic institutions in Argentina. A judicial investigator and his colleagues investigate a woman’s brutal rape and murder, but are unable to implicate the culprit. As right-wing politics take over the country, the mystery deepens. The Hollywood remake was as redundant as expected.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
The Stranger
A lustrous black-and-white classic by Orson Welles, in which the camera hounds its characters and produces startling and nightmarish images. An American government official (Edward G Robinson) lands up in a non-descript American town to arrest a fugitive Nazi (Welles) who is passing himself as an upright citizen. Documentary footage of the Holocaust – shown for the first time in Hollywood – elevates the 1946 production into a moral drama about the enduring fascination with fascism.
Where to watch: Netflix.
The Warriors
This original ‘Gangs of New York’ cult classic by Walter Hill inventively uses New York City’s subway system. At a meeting of the city’s street gangs in the Bronx, the influential head of the Gramercy Riffs is killed by a mischievous hoodlum. The blame is put on the Warriors, who must make their way back to Coney Island and avoid reprisal along the way. Every gang is identified by its distinctive costumes – sleeveless brown leather jackets for the Warriors, dungarees for another group, and baseball uniforms for a third.
Where to watch: Netflix.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Hollywood has rolled out a bunch of films on financial crimes, including Wall Street, The Big Short and Margin Call. But few movies have captured the hollowness of Wall Street culture and the amorality at the heart of Western capitalism as Martin Scorsese’s late-career masterpiece The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Leonardo DiCaprio is ferociously funny as a drug-fuelled broker who gives new meaning to the phrase “living on the high hog”.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Movies, Google Play.
Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum
Dileesh Pothan’s Malayalam movie is that rare beast – it’s hard to summarise and even harder to categorise. Wikipedia calls it a family drama – ha! An enigmatic chain snatcher (Fahadh Faasil) has a fateful encounter with a recently married couple and a bunch of squabbling police officers. A morality tale or an examination of the slipperiness of truth? The movie keeps you guessing.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
Time to Hunt
Yoon Sung-Hyun’s moody drama is set in an easily believable future where the South Korean won has cratered, cities are in ruin, and crime is the only way to get ahead. A group of friends plans a heist that is successful but also results in the unwelcome attentions of a contract killer.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Vada Chennai
Like Kammattippaadam (2016), Vetri Maaran’s Vada Chennai (2018) explores the links between land, crime and politics. Intended as a trilogy but with only one chapter out so far, Vada Chennai (2018) stars Dhanush as a promising carrom player who gets involved in a battle between rival gangs. The cast includes Ameer, Samuthirakani, Kishore and Daniel Balaji, but the surprise package in this all-male world is Andrea Jeremiah.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
Vikram Vedha
Pushkar-Gayathri’s Vikram Vedha (2017) is a devilishly clever contemporary reworking of the Vikram-Betaal folktale. Vikram (R Madhavan) is now a police officer who heads a unit that targets criminals, while Betaal is the gangster Vedha (Vijay Sethupathi). The film unfolds through Vedha’s interrogation by Vikram, in which Vedha poses riddles to Vikram that rattle the cop’s clear-cut notions of good and evil.
Where to watch: Zee5.
Visaaranai
Vetri Maaran’s Visaaranai (2015) is a piercing examination of corruption in the police force. A group of Tamil migrant labourers in Andhra Pradesh is framed by the local police for a robbery. Despite being threatened and subjected to custodial torture, they successfully plead their innocence in court and return to Tamil Nadu. Out of the frying pan and into the fire: they find themselves sucked into a bigger, and far more malevolent, conspiracy.
Where to watch: Netflix, Google Play, YouTube Movies.
Also read:
In Tamil film ‘Visaranai’, police corruption begins in the lock-up
Woh Kaun Thi
On a rainy night, Anand (Manoj Kumar) meets a mysterious woman clad in white. She says she has no name. She accept a lift and asks to be dropped off at a cemetery. The song Naina Barse, in Lata Mangeshkar’s spooky voice, wafts over her fading image.
The stunning opening sequence of Raj Khosla’s 1964 movie sets the tone for what appears to be a ghost story but is actually a humdinger of a thriller. Beautifully lensed by KH Kapadia and scored by Madan Mohan, the film is powered by Sadhana’s performance. The inspiration for the plot is Wilkie Collins’s novel The Woman in White.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
Also read:
The debt that Indian cinema owes to Wilkie Collins and his ‘The Woman in White’
Yavanika
KG George’s fabulously directed and performed Yavanika (1982) is an examination of the dynamics of a drama troupe as well as a dissection of toxic masculinity. The alcoholic tabla player of a theatre group has gone missing. Has he fled or is he dead? Mammooty plays the police inspector whose patient interrogations reveal a world of competing love and perverse sexual politics. The ensemble set of actors, each of whom gets equal treatment, includes Bharath Gopi, Nedumudi Venu and Thilakan.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar.
Also read:
Home theatre: 14 essential Films Division documentaries about the lives of interesting Indians
Home theatre: 11 timeless silent films that are a click away on YouTube
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