How to curate your own movie night

It’s that time of the year when film fans start drawing up lists and worrying about titles they haven’t gotten around to yet. To make your task easier, we asked four experts to share with us the best films they watched for the first time in 2021.

DIPTAKIRTI CHAUDHURI AUTHOR

Borunbabur Bondhu (2019)

Anik Dutta, with a reputation for sharp observation and smart dialogue, directed this film about an octogenarian (Soumitra Chatterjee) whose childhood friend becomes the president. His friends and family find new respect for him, intending to cash this in for presidential favours. An excellent ensemble cast plays out the clashes of young vs old, tradition vs modernity, ethics vs practicality and even correct grammar vs staccato communication—but with topical twists.

Jai Bhim (2021)

What is commercial cinema? Who is a filmi hero? Superstar Suriya and director Gnanavel turn these questions on their head in their take on the story of a lawyer, Chandru, and his crusade against police brutality on tribespeople living on the fringes of society. Jai Bhim is a brilliant reminder of how even message-driven films can be gripping.

Sarpatta Parambarai (2021)

While Hindi film fans had their eye on Toofaan, the “national boxing champion” from Dongri was upstaged by a 1970s Madras dockyard labourer whose sparring identity is defined by his lower-caste clan. Pa. Ranjith’s writing and Arya’s performance are so good it is impossible not to get caught up by the boxing bouts happening in an unknown suburb, two generations back. And the boxing action is gut-spillingly real!

ROHINI RAMANATHAN RADIO PRESENTER

Pieces Of A Woman (2020)

After watching Vanessa Kirby in The Crown, I wanted to watch everything she was in. Pieces Of A Woman is a film about loss that I think resonated so deeply with me because I watched it during the pandemic. The much raved about opening scene is designed to make you “feel” the labour as Kirby delivers the baby with the help of a midwife who then becomes a focal point in the narrative.

Nomadland (2020)

Personally, I guess the theme for this year has been loss. Loss in the movies spoke most to me; maybe it was the pandemic that affected my choices. And what better film to feel loss of a personal nature and the landscape itself than Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland? It was also the first film I saw in a theatre in that brief window in February when theatres opened up in Mumbai.

Sound Of Metal (2020)

Riz Ahmed’s portrayal of Rueben Stone, a drummer who loses his hearing, won him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. A fantastic film that follows his journey to try and save his ability to hear.

ASEEM CHHABRA AUTHOR AND CRITIC

Belfast (2021)

Director Kenneth Branagh walks us through his memories of growing up in the Northern Ireland city, torn by riots and strife between Catholics and Protestants. It’s a stunning achievement with black and white photography, strong performances and songs by Van Morrison.

Flee (2021)

Flee is a cinematic wonder—an animation film, a documentary that narrates the story of a gay Afghan refugee and his family’s escape from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the late 1990s. When director Jonas Poher Rasmussen set out to make the film, he had no idea that the Taliban would be back in power in mid-2021. A moving account of the struggles, torments and resilience of Afghan refugees, desperately trying to a find way out of the clutches of a ruthless regime, Flee often plays like a suspense thriller.

Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana (2021)

Raj B. Shetty, a young Kannada writer, actor and film-maker, follows Ondu Motteya Kathe (2017) with a thriller set in Mangaluru. Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana is the story of two gangsters—ambitious, insecure Hari (Rishab Shetty) and his adopted brother, the calm, brutal Shiva (Shetty)—and a cop, Brammayya (Gopal Deshpande), sent to finish their reign of terror. Shiva and Hari start their journey of crime together but a departure in visions leads to a gripping drama.

ARATI KADAV, DIRECTOR

Happy Hour (2015)

Ryusuke Hamaguchi‘s five-hour film about the friendship and lives of four women over a few months feels like an anti-epic: fragile, intimate. The director uses its length to create its language and form, letting some scenes feel real-time while letting entire relationships be born and die on screen. The best thing I can say is that it felt too short—you feel like you could stay in the world longer.

Sherni (2021)

This movie feels like it’s well-researched and has a world so fascinating and dense— the forestry department filled with competing interests, characters, politics and bureaucracy but also decent competent officers—that you feel you are reading a rich novel. The ambitious movie feels like a landmark film in Indian cinema.

Dune (2021)

Happy to start my cinema outings post- pandemic with this magnum opus. Made to be watched on the biggest screen you can find, every shot feels like a painter’s creation, meticulous, with lots of care and thought. Sci-fi has the possibility of filling the world with new images, new ideas, new sounds—and this film does that. It was mesmerising, meditative and strangely, a very warm watch. It made me miss the magic of cinema and the big- screen experience even more.