Of Blockbusters & Award Winners

Pan-Indian blockbusters continued to rake in the moolah this year, with star-studded films like Pushpa 2 and Kalki 2898 AD becoming the highest earners worldwide; Stree 2, with no marquee star in the lead, also made it to the top five highest-grossing films of the year. Meanwhile, Indian female artists and filmmakers made history with several nominations and wins at film festivals, including at Cannes. While Anasuya Sengupta became the first Indian to claim the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix award, making it the first Indian feature film to win the competitive award, and Kapadia the first Indian female filmmaker to win a major award at Cannes. The film and its director have been nominated for the Golden Globes next year. 

Even so, our readers enjoyed reviews of other popular desi films. Here are our top five most popular film reviews of the year. 

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12th Fail

This small-budget film sleeper hit (released Oct 2023) is about an ordinary person with an extraordinary drive to achieve an incredibly difficult goal, who has the power to motivate millions, including an American desi teen like herself, says IC Youth Writer Twisha Khokhani in her review Life Lessons From 12th Fail.

A young man smiling in a crowd of other young people.
Vikrant Massey in the movie 12th Fail. Photo credit: Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films. (image courtesy: X:@VVCFilms)

Animal

Released in December 2023, Animal is easily the most controversial blockbuster to come out of Bollywood in the last couple of years. Archita Mandal in her review, Bollywood’s Foray Into Daring Narratives, says the film’s approach to its most debated themes of masculinity and misogyny is neither groundbreaking nor unusual. The film is a daring and unconventional narrative in the Bollywood landscape. For a different perspective on the film, check out Aindrila Roy’s review of Animal Is An Unabashed Celebration Of Violence.

Ranbir Kapoor plays a flawed but gripping character in the much-debated blockbuster, "Animal". He is seen here in a scene from the film, blood-soaked and smoking a cigarette. (Image courtesy: IMDB)
Ranbir Kapoor plays a flawed but gripping character in the much-debated blockbuster, “Animal”. (Image courtesy: IMDB)

Kho Gaye Hum Kahan

The film pushes us to reflect on our relationship with and dependence on social media and how it shapes young lives and their relationships, says IC Youth Writer Kashvi Mittal in her review Kho Gaye Hum Kahan: Losing Ourselves To Social Media.

(From left) Actors Adarsh Gourav, Ananya Pandey, and Siddhant Chaturvedi portray the youth and their relationships with social media and each other, in Netflix film, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan. The three are seen sitting next to each other, looking at their mobile phones. (Image courtesy: IMDB)
Lonely In Company: (From left) Adarsh Gourav, Ananya Pandey, and Siddhant Chaturvedi portray the youth and their relationships with social media and each other, in Netflix film, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (Image courtesy: IMDB)

Monkey Man

India Currents Community Reporter Tanay Gokhale says that Monkey Man an out-and-out Hollywoodesque action film culturally rooted in India. Despite its shortcomings, the film is engaging – the novelty of its craft and the provocative politics elevate the film writes Gokhale in Monkey Man: Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts.

A still of Dev Patel from the film Monkey Man (image credit: Universal Studios.)

Kill

This action thriller pushes the boundaries of violence and intensity in Indian cinema. It is a landmark film in an industry known for more stylized depictions of violence and is destined for cult status among connoisseurs of genre film, writes Monita Soni in ‘Kill’: Two Commandos, 40 Thieves & A Bloodbath On Rajdhani Express.

A woman places a bloodied hand on a train window
Tanya Maniktala in the film KILL which releases in the US in July 2024 (image courtesy: YouTube)