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10 Bollywood Movies That Were Ahead of Their Time and Depicted Modern Society

Bollywood Movies

Cinema has been influencing people for years, in good and bad ways. It has the potential to hit &  change the perspective, ideology, of starting a conversation, of creating suspense. And, we’d wish to connect through those golden words of Orson Welles — “Cinema is a language that speaks about the future, although the stories we tell are based on the past”. Hindi film industry ‘Bollywood’ owns a land where magic spells unfurl on the 50-feet wide silver screen. 

The industry, through thousands of controversies, has added some amazing gems that bind the beauty of Indian cinema through timeless shackles. Once a beauty with a brain said “Cinema is a mirror, a sharp reflection of society. The greatest playwrights are moralists” — Yasmina Reza. 

However, she was actually ways ahead of her time just like many Bollywood movies. Cinema reflects the society, it depicts the darkness, speaks the silence and portrays the reality of our society. There are hundreds of such timeless movies in Bollywood. But alas, the timing of these movies did not match with the era and ended up creating misunderstanding. Although these movies later became favorites, the irony is that if people could understand the concept earlier, they could prevent society from taking a wrong turn. So, here when the audience thinks way ahead of their time, we’ve compiled a list of top 10 Bollywood movies that were ahead of their time. 

1) Mera Naam Joker (1970)

The film, which is now millennials favorite, was considered to be the lengthiest movie and badly neglected by the audience to be labeled the biggest flop of the 90’s. It was the story of a joker (Raj Kapoor) who tries to make people happy. This movie hardly managed to score some awards for its songs. The joker has to keep everyone happy, despite his sorry and this is the reality of our life as well. Also the movie had the first nude scene in Indian cinema. The affection of a student for his teacher was another bitter truth of our society. It talks about a deep psychological and philosophical meaning that the 90’s audience couldn’t understand. You must see this movie and you’ll find it related to Joaquin Phoenix Joker (2019) ‘Put on a happy face’.

2) Fire (1996)

This masterpiece creation of Deepa Mehta was one among the selected India films based on homosexuality. Starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, this movie depicted homosexuality in the mainstream cinema in 1996 while films like “Ek Ladki ko Dekha to Aisa Laga” are searching for audience in today’s world. Representing LGBT community on the silver screen was a big, big, very big deal that time. It’s no wonder that the film faced so many protests and problems. However, Deepa Mehta could smell the inequality in that society and try to depict it through cinema and her hard work gets paid today. 

3) Manthan (1976)

This film has already done what today’s so-called activists and politicians are afraid of encountering. Manthan was released in 1976, in which the director Shyam Benegal attacked casteism and classism in the society. He portrayed caste politics in the country’s most rural areas and the cast  compiled some of the most popular gems of the Indian cinema, including Girish Karnad, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, and Amrish Puri. In Fact the film was financed by over 500,000 farmers. Manthan also portrayed a woman who encouraged and challenged upper caste people. 

4) Margarita With a Straw (2014)

Everyone comes up with a thought about the lives & sexuality of specially-challenged people and that’s great because sometimes this curiosity seeds that inspiration to make a difference. This film portrays a girl, Laila with lifelong Cerebral Palsy, on a journey to discover her sexuality and her physical needs. It talks about bisexuality, which has been considered a taboo, thus never portrayed by the industry. Although, today’s youngsters understand this well in its pure form. 

5) Abhimaan (1973)

This film talks about the rights of women, their dreams and why they shouldn’t be sorry for endeavouring accomplishing their dreams. In true words, this movie released in 1973 has better portrayed feminism than “Four More Shots Please!” This film stars Jaya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan and depicts the various phases of their life during the rise of stardom. It also targeted the problems of a modern woman – gender, disparity, sexism. If you ever thought of woman equality, you really mean it. 

6) Mirch Masala (1987)

Starring Smita Patel, who is known for her astonishing performances, including this ground-breaking acting that puts up a question on modern society. It portrays a journey of a woman, her struggle while living in a patriarchal society, and persecutors. This film talked about women empowerment. If we talk about women empowerment in today’s cinema, we’ve hardly 4-5 movies that truly depict it. It shows how a courageous woman could defy societal orthodoxies. 

7) Do Ankhen Barah Haath (1957)

A post-independence film talks about the rehabilitation of criminals – that’s something we discuss once in a blue moon! It was really appreciable how smoothly the makers manage to not just address the topic, but fully interact with the audience. V. Shantaram was one of the earliest directors to realize the potential of cinema and its power to influence the audience. However, a good direction depends on a good script, therefore the credit must go to the writers as well.

8) Pyaasa (1957)

It was the first movie in the India Cinema that really touched upon the topics like artistic dissatisfaction. We are often forced to give up our dreams because of our family and societal expectations from us. The director Guru Dutt fantastically portrays the reality of modern life through a character Gulabo, a sex worker reaches out to him and thank him through her comfort for his works. She appreciated the warmth and welcome that the world never offered him. In her appreciation, he discovers his freedom. 

9) Nishabd (2007)

There are plenty of age lover stories in Indian politics and cinema as well. Whether we talk about Mahesh Bhat’s afraid with Riya Charkarborty or Prinka Chopra & Nick Jonas, there are several stories advocate love stories with an extreme age difference. But this 2007 movie depicts a love story of a man in his sixties, who falls in love with his daughter’s friend, a teenager. The film is quite dark, but it’s way ahead of its time because that time it was tough to discuss topics like love & relationship with extreme age difference. 

10) Mathrubhumi: A Nation Without Women (2003)

Could you imagine a world without women? It’s quite awkward because females have been an integral part of our life, however we always underestimate their value. This film strikes the patriarchal society in which no matter how successful a girl is, she will always have to follow her husband or father’s command. It will show you the breast-like attitude of men for whom a woman is nothing but an object that means entertainment. This film will either change your mind or make you so uncomfortable that you’ve been doing the same for years. 

In today’s world the condition of women is not so good nor it was back in time. However, Indian film makers understood the significance of cinema and portrayed such influencing movies that were way ahead of their release date. From socialism, classism, fattism, racism to casteism, there are plenty of Bollywood movies attacked discrimination, but failed to hit the audience. However, they’re doing well in today’s society where the audience is intellectual enough to get the point. These are some amazing creations of Indian Cinema, popular Indian movies that were ahead of their time. 

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