One of Hindi cinema’s most electric moments took place on a stage, instead of the big screen. At a press interaction following the gargantuan success of Siddharth Anand’s Pathaan [the film reportedly grossed more than Rs 1,000 crore worldwide] the film’s lead, Shah Rukh Khan – who was making a comeback to Bollywood films after four years – said pointing to his co-stars, “She is Deepika Padukone, she is Amar. I’m Shah Rukh Khan, I’m Akbar. He is John [Abraham], he is Anthony. This is what makes cinema: Amar, Akbar and Anthony. There are no differences we have, for any culture, or for any aspect of life. We love you, that’s why we make movies.” Despite all the cynicism around us, it’s impossible to ignore Khan’s deliberate choice of words. Especially, given the #BoycottBollywood and other equally harebrained hashtags leading up to the film’s release. In his own inimitable way, Khan was answering the trolls in the most graceful manner. The statement is also a balm on the hearts of millions, who have helplessly witnessed Indian theatres overrun by films championing the most vile, anti-minority, anti-women sentiments.It’s been a hard year for the faithful Hindi film audience, as the industry finds itself between a rock and a hard place. Especially with creative expression being monitored by an increasingly controlling government; stars desperately seeking a blockbuster – however compromised or regressive. Also, after being subjected to multiple obituaries only a year ago, Hindi cinema is arguably more cautious than it’s ever been. It reflects in the films too – when they’re not shamelessly populist, they’re just bloodless and tepid.In 2023, we saw an underwhelming Vishal Bhardwaj movie (Khufiya), a glossy Zoya Akhtar film (The Archies), a dull Meghna Gulzar film (Sam Bahadur) Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s empty provocations (Animal), Luv Ranjan’s laborious understanding of binary genders (Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar) and a lot of Shah Rukh Khan. In the midst of all this, we’ve had a few surprises too – some independent films making their way to the theatres [even if for a couple of weeks], some mainstream filmmakers hitting their stride again, and some of our most topical filmmakers finding a way to beat a system that quashes even the slightest hints of commentary. Here are The Wire‘s picks for some of the best Hindi films that came out in 2023.Joram Devashish Makhija’s fourth feature as director, is the rare political film (in Hindi) that slipped through the fingers of a sensitive censor board. Twenty minutes shorter than its festival cut, the film follows a man (a very physical Manoj Bajpayee) from a tribal community in Jharkhand, whose land is usurped by a mining company, forcing him to join the Naxals, only to later flee to Mumbai where he works as a construction labourer. After being recognised by a local politician (Smita Tambe, who arguably had the highest impact to screen time ratio of the year) in Mumbai, who orders the murder of his wife and implicates him for it, the man is forced to flee with his three-month-old baby tied to his back. Sparingly written and evocatively shot, Joram plays out like one of the most gruelling films of the year – where the marginalised find only injustice at various seemingly invisible junctures. Even after they’ve put their heads down and made peace with the oppression and injustice. Also Read | ‘Joram’: No Country for the Downtrodden in a System Heavily Loaded Towards the Rich and PowerfulThree of UsWhat happens when a selfless, domesticated (even while holding a full-time job) woman in an Indian family is forced to reckon with early-stage dementia? And, how do the people around her react when she suddenly starts putting her wishes ahead of everyone else? Avinash Arun Dhaware’s tenderly-written and excellently performed, Three of Us, tries to explore this premise. Almost a companion piece to Celine Song’s Past Lives (2023), Dhaware’s film delves into the what-ifs. Featuring spectacular turns by its four primary actors – Shefali Shah, Swanand Kirkire, Jaideep Ahlawat and Kadambari Kadam – it’s impossible to not fall for the gentle ways of Dhaware’s film. Maybe going back to the beginning, as much as it refreshes old wounds, is the only form of catharsis some of us need. Pokhar Ke Dunu Paar Parth Saurabh’s superbly observed and languorously-shot directorial debut follows the lives of two lovers, Sumit (Abhinav Jha) and Priyanka (Tanaya Khan Jha), who elope from Darbhanga (Bihar) to Delhi, only to be hit by the pandemic. Forced to move back to their hometown and faced with the prospect of being confronted by vexed parents who have all but disowned them, the couple is forced to recalibrate their own bond while building their happily ever after. While Priyanka is grappling with what the future holds for the couple, Sumit is blissfully ignorant, not fully grasping that his days of wasted youth are over. Saurabh’s dialogues (Jha was credited as an ‘additional writer’) hardly feel written, and Pradeep Vignavelu’s camera seems to be eavesdropping on Sumit, Priyanka, and his friends. Saurabh’s film is the rare ‘love story’ where we see youthful vigour slowly coming to terms with the disappointments of adult life.Afwaah“If I get a good price, I think I’ll even sell my other kidney.”“How will you survive then?”“Doctors told me by then at least one of my kidneys will grow back!”This is a darkly humorous conversation between a truck driver and a runaway henchman in Sudhir Mishra’s Afwaah. In the film’s world, gullible folk get their information via WhatsApp forwards, a news item about an on-the-run couple can suddenly take a communal turn by invoking ‘Love Jihad’. The privileged liberals can literally shut their doors to the needy, by simply closing their eyes and ears to the world burning around them. Sound familiar? Despite Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s affected performance as an urban adman whose F-bombs sound most unnatural, and the commentary being too on-the-nose in more than one place, Afwaah sees a reinvigorated, back-in-form Mishra. The fact that the film sank within a couple of weeks, while Sudipto Sen’s The Kerala Story ran to packed theatres, is one stark circumstance about the kind of ‘topical’ films Indian audiences find solace in these days. I’d like to wager that it surely got a few despondent laughs from Mishra.Also Read | ‘Afwaah’ Holds an Important Mirror to Today’s IndiaFaraazHansal Mehta’s film on a terror attack that took place in Bangladesh in 2016, is arguably the most counter-intuitive film of the year. The young militants (led by Aditya Rawal’s Nibras) invoke Islam, kill in the name of the Quran, say things like “Islam khatre mein hai”, and gloat about how jannat awaits them. On the surface, Faraaz is another hostage drama that villainises Muslims. However, Mehta and writers Raghav Kakkar and Kashyap Kapoor use the mould of a hostage film as a smokescreen, to meditate on religious dogma and fundamentalist beliefs. Tastefully shot by Pratham Mehta and with the momentum of a tense action film, Faraaz reveals itself in its closing moments when it becomes a paean to the idealism of youth. In Mehta’s film – the ‘hero’ isn’t always visible, until they stand up for what’s right in one of the last scenes. Sublime touch!Also Read: Hansal Mehta’s ‘Faraaz’ Brings Nuance and Wit to its Display of TerrorGoldfishIt might be a stretch to call Pushan Kripalani’s Goldfish a “Hindi” film – given how it’s primarily set in London, and set around an Indian mother (Deepti Naval) and her half-British daughter (Kalki Koechlin), who converse mostly in English. However, rarely has a dysfunctional parent-child bond been more accurately and frankly depicted on our screens. Koechlin’s character Anamika (referred to as ‘Mika’ by her mother) is forced to move back home, after she learns her mother accidentally set the kitchen on fire, exhibiting early symptoms of dementia. Also compelled to reckon with her mother’s lover, a grocer down the street (Rajit Kapur) – who is named in her will to inherit the London home — Koechlin’s character is reckless, caring, kind, self-centred, all in the same breath. In a spectacular scene, she confides that only to irk her mother, she would go around telling people she was adopted. Naval’s character shoots back saying she would do the same. And both share an unexpected, hearty laugh. It’s a surprisingly moving scene of fractured bonds, with the undercurrent of repressed affection. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem KahaaniIt’s all about questioning our parents – could very well be the tagline of Karan Johar’s 2023 film. Getting back to the director’s chair after seven years, Johar takes the popular rom-com trope where a couple switch places and live with their partner’s family, and adds a whole lot of personal flavour to it. This includes over-produced songs, ravishing costumes, painstaking production design, gargantuan havelis with matriarchs barking orders. But underneath all the gloss, there’s a whiff of rebellion. It helps that both Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt – among the most gifted young actors working today – fully submit to Johar’s landscape and become shiny objects, but neither bereft of personality. The first half is arguably the funniest Johar has ever been. Also Read: In ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani’, Karan Johar Has His Tongue Firmly in His Cheek12th FailVidhu Vinod Chopra’s film about a UPSC aspirant is one of the most surprising, satisfying Hindi films of the year. Based on a real-life account written in a book of the same name by Anurag Pathak, the film features the most sincere lead performances by Vikrant Massey and Medha Shanker. Sparingly using music to amp up the pathos through most of the film, Chopra earns the audience’s tears by being earnest and never succumbing to easy, dishonest tropes. The film, having one of the longest theatrical runs in recent history – being in theatres for more than three months in multiplexes – embodies the same striving spirit of its protagonist. What could be more poetic!Also Read: Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ’12th Fail’ Floors You with its Kindness and SincerityLust Stories 2, ‘The Mirror’Konkona Sen Sharma’s short in the Netflix anthology is one of the best Hindi films out there – for its economy and for featuring two of the most layered female characters written in recent memory. Isheeta (Tillotama Shome) is a single woman living in Mumbai, who catches her maid Seema (Amruta Subhash) and husband Kamal (Shrikant Yadav) having sex in her bedroom. At first disgusted by the act, Isheeta becomes drawn to watching them have sex, while Seema – even after realising that she’s being watched – embraces her own unspoken desires of exhibitionism. It’s a glorious premise executed with nifty precision by Sen Sharma and her team – managing to say more in its 36-minute runtime than entire feature films. Apart from the star turns by Shome, Subhash and Yadav – Sagar Desai’s music is a highlight of The Mirror. PathaanSiddharth Anand’s film is where it all began for Hindi cinema in 2023 – with Shah Rukh Khan playing the titular character of an R&AW spy teaming up with an ISI spy (Deepika Padukone) to take on a terrorist-for-the-highest-bidder (John Abraham). Even within its template of being an over-the-top action film [shorthand for, “don’t take it too seriously”] – the film makes some subversive choices: having a protagonist, who was seemingly raised by his desh (nation), and saved from certain death by Afghan locals; having a terrorist – who doesn’t invoke Islam or Allah – while blowing a country up; showing a Pakistani character as an ally, also done in Salman Khan’s Tiger films. Pathaan is nowhere near the best action film to have come out of India – even though Anand seems capable of executing massive action set-pieces – but it’s saying something when one of the lasting images from the film is of the titular ‘hero’ closing his ears as he witnesses the deaths of his colleagues (including Dimple Kapadia). It reclaims patriotism from the films that flippantly invoke the tricolour or the national anthem in the climax. That’s got to count for something. Also Read: With Pathaan, Shahrukh Gives His Fans What They’ve Been Missing All These Years
