10 Bollywood films that were way ahead of their time

‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.’ (2007)

Not only did this film have a brilliant line-up of actors, it had a great script and a novel Radio-style voiceover that impressed many. Added to this of course, was a fantastic line of hit songs.

‘Being Cyrus’ (2006)

Homi Adajania's debut vehicle ‘Being Cyrus’ was a film that was called way ahead of its time in its use of language. It is a psychological drama revolving around a dysfunctional Parsi family.

‘Taare Zameen Par’ (2007)

This movie produced and directed by Aamir Khan dealt with the subject of dyslexia and had the very talented Darsheel Safary essaying the main role of Ishan Awasthi. A subject like this wasn’t explored earlier and this movie was a superhit amongst the children and the adults alike.

‘Dil Chahta Hai’ (2001)

This movie explored the undying bonding and friendship between Sid, Akash and Sameer played by Akshaye Khanna, Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan. The songs, the plot of the movie were modern and way ahead of their time and the movie was a hit with the audiences, especially the youth.

‘Monsoon Wedding’ (2001)

'Monsoon Wedding' is a 2001 film directed by Mira Nair and written by Sabrina Dhawan, which depicts romantic entanglements during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding in Delhi. Director Mira Nair’s insight into the big fat Indian wedding was too accurate. The film won the Golden Lion award and received a Golden Globe Award nomination.

‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ (1983)

'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' is a 1983 Hindi comedy film directed by Kundan Shah and produced by NFDC. It is a dark satire on the rampant corruption in Indian politics, bureaucracy, news media and business, and stars an ensemble cast that includes the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Satish Shah, Satish Kaushik, Bhakti Barve and Neena Gupta. This film released at a time when the audience was not receptive to a dark genre, let alone satire.

‘Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ (2010)

This movie directed by Dibakar Banerjee dealt with three anthropological stories that were linked together in an otherwise brutal film. The film smoothly handled the complex issues of honour killing, casting couch and sexual repression. It was shot entirely on digicam, making it one of the first films coming out of India to be presented in the found footage style.

‘Dhobi Ghat’ (2011)

This film marked Kiran Rao’s debut as a director. The story revolves around three lives that of a painter, a photographer and a laundry guy in Mumbai. This film stars Aamir Khan, Monica Dogra and Prateik Babbar in lead roles. This movie was critically acclaimed but it couldn’t fare well at the box office.

‘Water’ (2005)

This film released in 2005 and focused on the lives of Hindu widows and the rescue of a child widow. It’s an Indo-Canadian film and the director Deepa Mehta faced a lot of criticism from the right wing. The film stars Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, John Abraham, and Sarala Kariyawasam in pivotal roles and Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman, Raghuvir Yadav, and Vinay Pathak in supporting roles.

‘That Girl In Yellow Boots’ (2011)

'That Girl in Yellow Boots' is a 2011 Indian thriller film by director Anurag Kashyap, starring Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah. The film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010, followed by the Venice Film Festival after it played in several festivals worldwide including the South Asian International Film Festival. Watch it for its attempt to push what's acceptable in Indian cinema.