There’s tons of very serious Indian movies. They just don’t usually capture western audiences

Sholay is a classic , in the vein of Eastwood films.

Don is our take on Godfather

Rang De Basanti and Lagaan are also great films.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum , Dil Chahta Hai and other romantic dramas are also very serious but do have songs etc because they’re huge drivers of engagement.

In the west, people see the dancing as making the movie silly. But those musical breaks are prevalent in very serious films too. There’sa whole difference in cultural norms when it comes to cinematic language.

Like every other film industry, Bollywood movies also have a indie counterpart. I've seen quite a few, though it might not translate very well to a watcher who is not familiar with the cultural context for the movies.

Still if you want a list of movies which are "serious" but still approachable enough (i.e doesn't gaze at it's own asshole) and fairly new, I do have a few recommendations -

Udaan, Kahaani, Satya, Maqbool, Khosla's Nest, Masaan, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Gangs of Wasseypur, Johhny Gaddar, Kaminey, Black Friday (2004), Aaranya Kaandam (not bollywood)

This list isn't some exhaustive "greatest" ever, just some oddball movies which stick out in my head.

Also keep it in mind this is just the list of Hindi/Bollywood movies which were historically known as "Indian" movies. Other regions of the country have their own list of favorites.

Netflix’s Sacred Games. It was their first domestic production and is a straight faced noir cop drama. It’s my favorite crime series of all time - I think it blends The crime boss mythology of The Usual Suspects with the multi-decade story telling of The Godfather. It is told in a way that it feels like a picture coming into focus, rather than a linear narrative.

It is not even a 'best' indian movie. It just the current most popular indian movie with western audience.

Tumbbad is somewhat considered masterpiece of indian cinema. It was made with just 700 thousand $ https://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews....

>Pretty much every Indian movie I've seen is full of amazing and fun nonsense in one form or another.

They are the most popular genre. Production houses love them as they make them money and viewers also love to watch them as they can be watched by whole families.

>Not that I've seen more than 10 or 15 Indian movies, just curious what the mix is of serious drama vs, break into dance and or show crazy stunt movies is

Most of indian cinema is action genre with slice of life twist. There are also good serious movies with genres like drama, romcom, comedy, horror, history, sci-fi etc.

You must also know that Indian cinema is not a monolith like hollywood. There are 7 big 'woods' in india branched due to various languages. There is hindi wood (bollywood), tamil, telugu, kannad, marathi, bengali etc. Each have their own tasted with respective viewers. Over the counter action movies (like RRR) are most popular in south industries and viewers.

> Tumbbad is somewhat considered masterpiece of indian cinema.

By whom? Don't get me wrong, Tumbbad is an excellent movie but masterpiece is over selling it. And the low budget for VFX really shows.

> kannad

Wince

I'm curious what the wince is for - do Kannada-language films have a reputation?

> I'm curious what the wince is for

The language is called Kannada. Schwa deletion turns it into Kannad which sounds grating and seeing it written without the a is even worse.

> do Kannada-language films have a reputation?

I'll just say Sturgeon's law applies.

Ahhh sorry I didn't realise, I thought it was just a typo :)

probably for “Kannad” instead of Kannada

and if KGF 2 is any indication, they should stop making movies altogether

> probably for “Kannad” instead of Kannada

Yup. It's inconsequential but I find it very grating.

> and if KGF 2 is any indication, they should stop making movies altogether

I absolutely hated KGF 1 and didn't bother with the sequel. I honestly don't understand why people compare it to RRR.

Reportedly the Bollywood movies are worse and they would rather watch KGF

That sounds entirely plausible.

I'm not very attuned to modern Indian cinema, but Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy is excellent, as is Charulata.

For non fiction, Mira Nair's "So Far from Home" and Roberto Rossellini's "India: Matri Bhumi" are also captivating watches.

Satyajit Ray's entire catalog is delightful, and timeless. The Indian new wave parallel cinema movement that held such promise back then has bemoaningly since declined to a disappointing one or two entries every couple years. Distributors and studios being conservative and reluctant to change from the "bollywood doctrine" held the indian film industry hostage in a state of arrested development for the past few decades. It's kind of why I'm thankful for the rise of streaming services, they're enabling younger indie directors to break free and be bold again. It's a very hopeful time for indian cinema.

"The Kashmir Files" is the most serious movie in the recent past.

Not sure why this is in gray. It has the highest collections in 2022 after rrr. And highest among Bollywood movies so far. Clearly people liked it and it’s a very serious movie.

Ugly (2013) Court Jai Bhim

Off the top of my head