Beloved Bhanita Das, of Village Rockstars, must cope with harsh realities, before rediscovering the profound harmonies between music and life. India-Singapore coproduction
Illustration/Uday Mohite
Here are my Top 10 Films to watch for in 2025:
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1. BAKSHO BONDI, SHADOWBOX, by Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi, Bengali, Hindi: Tillotama Shome shines as an ordinary Kolkata woman, who fiercely stands by her traumatised, slow-witted husband, who is accused of murder. Selected by the Berlin Film Festival’s Perspectives for first fiction features. Debut feature by real-life couple, editor-director Tanushree Das and cinematographer-writer-director Saumyananda Sahi.
2. SANTOSH by Sandhya Suri, Hindi: Starring Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar, This debut fiction feature was the UK’s Oscar entry, and in the Academy shortlist for Best International Feature, though unable to secure an Oscar nomination. Powerful police procedural investigating the rape and murder of a Dalit teenage girl, with two policewomen realising justice remains out of reach for most Indian “low” castes. An international co-production, it was in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section.
3. SABAR BONDA, Cactus Pears, Rohan Kanawade, Marathi: Exquisite, tender gay romance, set amid rural, lower castes in Maharashtra, a rarely explored milieu for this theme. The debut feature, starring Bhushaan Manoj and Suraaj Suman, is in Sundance Competition. International co-production; producers include Neeraj Churi, Naren Chandavarkar et al.
4. THUG LIFE by Mani Ratnam, Tamil: Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan TR, Trisha Krishnan and Ali Fazal star in this gangster action drama. Music by AR Rahman. Produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, Madras Talkies and Red Giant Movies.
5. PANJAB ’95 by Honey Trehan, Punjabi: Starring singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh, it was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival 2023, then withdrawn by producer Ronnie Screwvala. Based on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who exposed mass police ‘encounters’ in the mid-90s. Efforts are on to suppress the film since over two years: the Censors demanded 120 cuts, changed the title, and more.
6. VAGHACHIPANI, TIGER’S POND, by Natesh Hegde, Kannada: Selected in the Berlin Film Festival’s Forum section. Crime drama about a skunky feudal man, who is keen to manipulate the local elections, but an outcast sets the wheel of karma in motion. India-Singapore co-production with Dileesh Pothan, Achyut Kumar, et al.
7. EBB by Jeo Baby, Malayalam: With Divya Prabha (All We Imagine as Light, Ariyippu/Declaration) and Jeo Baby, who has written, directed and acted in this film. After The Great Indian Kitchen, Kaathal-The Core, and more, Jeo Baby questions the limits of desire and control in man-woman relationships.
8. VILLAGE ROCKSTARS-2 by Rima Das, Assamese: Selected in the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation 14Plus for older teenagers and everybody. Beloved Bhanita Das, of Village Rockstars, must cope with harsh realities, before rediscovering the profound harmonies between music and life. India-Singapore coproduction.
9. THE UMESH CHRONICLES by Pooja Kaul, Hindi, English: An accomplished, very evocative, coming-of-age story about Radha, an upper class young woman, and Sundar, the househelp, in a period film set in 1980s India. It comments on class differences, and the possibility or fantasy of overcoming them. Starring Aiza Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Kriti Pant, Zayn Marie Khan, Vivek Gomber, Babil Khan, et al. Best Director, Tasveer Film Festival, USA; Stockholm IFF. Producer Rising Sun, Kino Works.
10. DHADAK-2 by Shazia Iqbal, Hindi: Starring Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri in a love story that challenges caste taboos; adaptation of Mari Selvaraj’s brilliant Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal, 2018. Iqbal’s debut feature is produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions.
Special Mentions: Sivaranjini J’s Victoria, IFF Kerala, Malayalam; Varsha Bharath’s debut feature Bad Girl, Tamil, IFF Rotterdam Tiger Competition, Presented by Vetri Maaran and Anurag Kashyap; Subhadra Mahajan’s Second Chance, in Hindi, Kullavi and English, debut feature, Karlovy Vary Competition, Busan, produced by Shyam Bora; Nishtha Jain and Akash Basumatari’s Inquilab di Kheti, Farming the Revolution, documentary feature in Punjabi and Hindi, Hot Docs, IDFA, IDSFF Kerala, Dharamshala IFF, woman director and producer. Tisca Chopra’s Saali Mohabbat, starring Radhika Apte, Anurag Kashyap. A Room of Our Own, aka Feminist Memory project, is an online archive project with 13 short ‘film poems’ in multiple languages. Curated by Reena Mohan, Bina Paul and Surabhi Sharma, it is a collective memory project by FTII’s women graduates, reclaiming the narrative of their contribution to cinema, and includes interviews, photographs and memorabilia. The archive will hopefully be publicly accessible soon.
Note: The above list of 10 films includes five women directors—mainstream, indie and all.
Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at [email protected]
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