[krama]

Given the number of movies made and regions, and decades, I’d run out of breath. But I’d start here.

Malayalam Films : Known for their subtlety and craft in film making, and obsession with crime novels. Dhrishyam part 1 & 2 are like no movies I’ve seen in Hollywood.

Hindi Films: Or Bollywood movies, known for their big stars, great attention to set pieces of grand dance sequence s and decent romantic comedies / sports movies. Hard to pick one as nothing has shined recently. I’d give “Zindagi Na milega dubara” / “Chak dhe” a look. Again nothing spectacular recently unless you want to watch a classic from the seventies “Sholay”

Tamil movies : Gritty movies about inner city gangs / social upheaval or focus on stellar music/dance romantic comedies and major action blockbusters. From recent years I’d give “Vada Chennai”, or “Vikram Vedha” a chance for gritty urban movies. Or just the most recent action blockbuster “Vikram”. Which has a really good score.

Telugu movies (the original language for RRR) : I’d give “Pushpa” a look before watching CGI drenched RRR.

[bergenty]

Malayalam films really are something else. For everyone else that isn’t Indian, the trope is Bollywood copies Malayalam films (who are known to have fantastic character development and original stories) and makes them over the top ridiculous, campy and throws in sappy love songs with a bigger budget. It’s kind of like the book was better than the movie argument.

[sremani]

Nah Bro.. RRR beats all the 3rd rate movies you have mentioned for global audiences.. this coming from a guy who loved Pushpa more than RRR.

[bhupy]

> Hard to pick one as nothing has shined recently. I’d give “Zindagi Na milega dubara” / “Chak dhe” a look.

+1 for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - one of my all time favorites. For a more recent Bollywood film, Kapoor and Sons is pretty good.

[splintercell]

> “Zindagi Na milega dubara”

Yeah this movie was made for a very specific audience going through a certain age and point in life, ('buddy road movie' but made for Indian millennials) hardly a great work of art.

First it was 'Dil Chahta Hai', when the Indian millennials were of college age or around that time. A movie about three friends hanging out and dreaming of the future they will have with the kind of partners they would hope to be with.

'Zindagi Na milega dobara' is about a early-mid career Indian millennials facing marriage, work issues. It's not a bad movie but the popularity and greatness of it comes from it being apropos for Indian millennials.

On the top of that there is a 'class' thing going on here, where RRR's target audience is a different class, and have an Inglorious Bastard style experience. Just like 'Dil Chahta Hai'/'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' are for the educated millennials class.

[lenocinor]

I appreciate your comment and insight. But I’m an American Gen-Xer and I enjoyed Zindagi Na Milega Dobara very much. So it can appeal to other people too.

For other folks reading I always recommend Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) as the Bollywood movie to start with. It’s a bit silly and over the top (especially the fight sequences) but it has a lot of heart. I miss old Bollywood movies like this that actually had lots of singing and dancing. And it set a record for most Filmfare awards won when it came out so critics obviously liked it too.

Sometimes I wish people would talk about really old Bollywood too. Old Devdas, Barsaat, etc. There are some great movies there. I like Satyajit Ray a lot too (I know he isn’t Bollywood) but I wish people could see greatness in old Bollywood as well. I just rewatched Guide recently for example. Still a good movie.

[never_inline]

Ugramm (Kannada), Maanagaram (Tamil) and Aiyappanum Koshiyum (Malayalam) from top of my mind.

Note there are critically acclaimed Malayalam Movies that not everyone would like (Eg: Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, Maheshinte Prathikaram), they are so slow paced that average viewer would doze off. There's a perception that more realistic is always better. But that's not always true. IMO Tamil middle budget movies get pacing better than Malayalam, for average audience at least.

[prashantsengar]

I will also add "Andhadhun" to the list of bollywood movies. One of the best movies I have ever seen.

[samarthr1]

Second the reco for Pushpa. It has really nice music, which is _mildly_ inappropriate for children (assuming you know telugu, or the song gets subs/dubbed)

[deskamess]

I am partial to #Home - an intergenerational dramedy (Malayalam, Amazon Prime).