Like a lot of people, I have spent a lot of my non-work time during the pandemic watching movies. Very early on, I started watching Indian cinema. It wasn't a plan; I just happened to watch a movie or two, then looked up what else that director/actor had done and watched more.

At first, it was mostly Hindi films, but I have since watched a lot in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, as well as a few in Kannada, Bengali and Punjabi. Each time I find a new director/actor I like, it has been like discovering a whole new library. I have now watched over 400 films.

Also very early on, I started keeping a log of the films I watched - this is unlike me to be so organized, but I am very grateful I did. I want to share some of my favourites here, in hopes that others will find and enjoy them, and I would welcome your own recommendations.

These favourites are in no particular order. I'll start with some films that really blew me away.

Bombay (Tamil, 1995) - dir Mani Ratnam
This is an amazing film set in the 1992-93 riots, and apparently the first to depict a Hindu-Muslim romance. The city itself is a character.

(I have seen several films about political violence made shortly after the events, and I am impressed at the way film is used to work through such complex situations.)

Ratnam did a trilogy of films of romance set in political violence (Bombay was the second one). The last one, Dil Se (Hindi, 1998), was equally powerful and even more gorgeous to look at. I'm pretty sure it won a cinematography award.

Rang de Basanti (Hindi, 2006) was another knock-out. It is a film about making a film, as a way of talking about India's history of colonization by the British and then raising questions about present-day India.

Halfway though, it's like a second movie starts, and it takes off in a whole new direction, yet still logical. There is a nice parallel between coming of age as college-age students and coming of age as a nation.

Rang de Basanti also stars Aamir Khan, who is one of the best actors there ever was. There are several other films of his I would count among my favourites:

Lagaan (Hindi 2001), which is also about the history of British colonization, told through a 19th c cricket game.

PK (Hindi 2014), which uses a story about a journalist and an alien to launch a brilliant challenge against organized religion. Also very funny.

3 Idiots (Hindi 2009) is a funny and occasionally very dark film about friends in engineering college.

3 Idiots is one of many, many films that touches on the theme of people (usually sons) pressured to do engineering when they really want to be actors, photographers, artists. One of many important sociological conversations taking place though film.

I recommend all those Aamir Khan films, and pretty much anything else he's been in. One more I'll mention specifically is an example of Romeo and Juliet redux. I've seen at least three and they are all good:

The Aamir Khan one is Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (Hindi 1988)

Eeda (Malayalam 2018) is another, set in Kannur. It stars Nimisha Sajayan, who is also the lead in the brilliant The Great Indian Kitchen (Malayalam 2021). She is only 24, and has already done some amazing work.

And then there is Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (Hindi 2013).

This last one is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whose work is big and beautiful and dramatic. It stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, who are both excellent actors and dancers. I think Supriya Pathak Kapoor's performance in it is also brilliant.

Another Shakespearean redux that blew me away is Haider (Hindi 2014). Based on Hamlet, but set in Kashmir, I think it's actually better than the original, of which I am a fan. It has the very wonderful Tabu and Irrfan Khan and Shahid Kapoor is fantastic as the lead.

Haider was written and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, who also did excellent re-sets of Othello (Omkara) and Macbeth (Maqbool).

On a side note that's not really a side note: one of the most wonderful discoveries that came from these films is the music. This is an industry that takes its film soundtracks seriously: from background instrumental scores, to songs that accompany montages to big dance numbers.

Following Mani Ratnam's films brought me to many more that I have loved. One more I will mention here is O Kadhal Kanmani (Tamil 2015), which stars Nithya Menen and Dulquer Salmaan, two ridiculously talented actors.

Talented as they are, they are almost outshone by Prakash Raj and Leela Samson in supporting roles as a older couple, whose relationship is in some ways the real heart of the story. This film also incorporates game animation in a great way - I didn't expect to like it but I did.

The soundtrack for this film is one of my favourites. Ratnam re-made this film in Hindi in 2017, as OK Jaanu, which despite the talent in it (Aditya Roy Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, and Leela Samson again) just didn't work as well. The music is good, though.

The last film I'll recommend for now is Bangalore Days (Malayalam 2014). It has a dream cast of Salmaan, Menen, Nizriya Nazim, Fahadh Faasil, Nivin Pauly and Parvathy. It's a great story of friendship among cousins as the anchor for their individual stories.

In addition to note-perfect performances from everyone, what I love about this film is how every character finds strength inside themselves they didn't know they had, and that's what drives the stories forward.

Many more to recommend - I will come back to this thread again tomorrow. But right now, I'm going to go watch a movie.