Here’s Deepanjana Pal’s list of 10 movies to watch that define this era. See how she made her picks
Mani Ratnam’s ode to the City of Dreams, which is characterised by both violence and kindness, is the kind of film one can’t imagine making today.
This was the shuddh desi version of a high-school musical, and it was entirely charming. Never before had so much been invested in a cycle race.
What’s not to like about a love triangle made up of Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and Shah Rukh Khan when they were all at their prettiest?
Starring Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff and Madhuri Dixit, this film has everything from action to comedy, romance and song-and-dance routines. It’s the ’90s in a 191-minute nutshell.
Heavily inspired by the Roman Polanski-Jack Nicholson 1974 film Chinatown, Navdeep Singh’s thriller is nevertheless deeply rooted in the reality of north India. This was Abhay Deol’s breakout role.
Director, writer and composer Vishal Bharadwaj’s love affair with Shakespearean tragedies begins with this fantastic adaptation of Macbeth. The film also made Hindi-film audiences wake up to the genius of Irrfan.
Set partly in the 1970s and partly in early-2000s, this film starring Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal and Shah Rukh Khan (in a double role) is love letter to vintage Bollywood.
Once upon a time, director Ram Gopal Varma made a romantic comedy that managed to be sweet as well as insightful about class, ambition and life in Mumbai.
The hero of the film is Aamir Khan, but the scene-stealer is Naseeruddin Shah who plays a ghazal singer with a dark secret.
It’s one of the few (relatively) restrained acting performances that Shah Rukh Khan has delivered in his career, which is why the film has aged much better than many others from that time.
