TEAM WSL
2018 is just about over and looking back, we can safely say that the year has been filled with meaningful cinema. With our late-year binge-watching now complete, our final assessment- which still only scratches the surface of everything worth watching- proves that the audiences were blessed with a bounty of great offerings in 2018.
While 2017 had been a terrible year for Bollywood, with the hit A-list actors like Shahrukh, Salman, Shah Rukh, Kangana Ranaut delivering duds, 2018 has seen cinema moving towards convincing storylines and strong female characters.
It looks like the lessons had been learned in 2018. The audiences are all for good content in this era of Netflix. It is now content, which is the star, not the Khans or the Kumars. We won’t be exaggerating when we say Ayushmaan Khurana and Alia Bhatt defeated the Khan trinity- Salman, Shahrukh, and Aamir, who have long ruled the Bollywood. It seems as if Bollywood has become immune to star power. Rajkumar Rao turned out to be the dark horse of Bollywood this year. Shahrukh’s Zero fell flat on box office. Salman’s Race 3 and Aamir’s Thugs of Hindostan may be the biggest earners of the year, but when you compare it to the massive budgets of these movies, the return on investment seems to be too low. Besides, Salman’s Race 3 has been among the highly criticized movies of the year. On the other hand, Ayushmaan’s Badhai Ho was made for less than 30 crores and yet managed to ever over Rs. 136 crores, giving a better return than the Khan movies. Ayushmaan credits the success of his movies to superior content. As per Ayushmaan, “It feels great that the audience has accepted my choices. When I choose a script, I look at it as an audience member. I consume them as a layman, as a paying audience member. Both the films had unique scripts.”
Here we have come up with 5 movies which mesmerized the audiences with their superior content and compelling stroyline in 2018.
Raazi
The movie is based on a true story of a young girl in her early 20s, who was sent to Pakistan in 1971, to source out any information she could, as a war was becoming imminent between India and Pakistan. The most important information provided by her was Pakistan’s plan to sink INS Viraat, which helped in saving the pride of India. Alia Bhatt is convincing as Sehmat, the girl who sacrificed it all for the love of her country.
Stree
The movie is a tasteful satire with equal parts horror and humour. A The movie with men afraid of going out in the dark because a tormented woman is roaming the streets would get you hooked. Further, men seeking the company of a female companion before venturing out, to keep them safe, the story is a satire you can’t miss.
AndhaDhun
This is one movie you should blindly put your money on. A gripping thriller featuring Ayushmaan Khurana, the movie is about a pianist who may or may not be blind. We consider it one of the best thriller to come out of Bollywood in recent times. The storyline is filled with unexpected curves that are as intriguing as it gets.
Badhai Ho
The movie deals with a subject that we’ve never dealt with before, be it in India or elsewhere- our parent’s sex life! With a fresh subject and a progressive storyline with Ayushmaan’s yet another impressive performance, you can’t afford to miss this movie. Even the supporting cast is brilliant, from Sanya Malhotra, Neena Gupta to Gajraj Rao, does it get any better than this?
Manto
The film is a biographical account of writer Saadat Hasan Manto’s life and is set in 1940s India. The makers of this movie have explored the reality of fiction like few others have. Unlike other biographies, the movie consciously explores the character not just through his own perspective but also through almost everything associated with him. The creators also didn’t shy away from showing the fallible and selfish sides to Manto, hence not taking away the essence of biography.
