SMD Top 20 All-India Films of 2023

Heres my Top 20 AllIndia Films of 2023 Films 110 appeared last week Film ranks are shifting sands as the films include fiction documentary and short filmsmdashand Indian films made in Farsi Nepali and English11 BE KUCHEYE KHOSHBAKHT BY SREEMOYEE SINGH AND TOWARDS HAPPY ALLEYS IN FARSI Moving personal documentary fully shot in Iran Enchanted by Iranian film and poetry Singh a Jadavpur University student in Kolkata travelled to Iran She met filmmakers Jafar Panahi and others and filmed repressed Iraniansrsquo fight for liberty Yoursquove never seen an Indian film like this Berlin Film Festival Panorama Best Film BAFICI Argentina Dharamshala film festivals FFs Woman director and producer12 JORAM BY DEVASHISH MAKHIJA HINDI Powerful thriller on how India exploits its tribals starring Manoj Bajpayee Rotterdam Sydney Busan FFs Produced by Zee Studios Anupama Bose and Devashish Makhija distributed theatrically worldwide by Zee Studios Woman producer13 GHAATH BY CHHATRAPAL NINAWE AMBUSH MARATHI Taut thriller set in the bloody civil war between Naxalite guerrillas and the police and the people trapped in between in central Indiarsquos forests Berlin Film Festivalrsquos Panorama Jio Mami Mumbai FF14 FAMILY BY DON PALATHARA MALAYALAM Quietly daring film exposing how Church and community protect predators of child sexual abuse in a devout Christian community in Kerala Rotterdam FF15 WHISPERS OF FIRE amp WATER BY LUBDHAK CHATTERJEE BENGALI Remarkable experimental film commenting on mining and exploitation of nature using sound as a means of exploration Brilliant concept unforgettable images Locarno FF16 GURAS BY SAURAV RAI RHODODENDRON NEPALI A little Darjeeling girl embarks on an adventure while looking for her missing dog Tinkle Deeply felt beautifully crafted IndoNepali coproduction Proxima Special Jury PrizeKarlovy Vary Busan and Jio Mami Mumbai FFs17 BAHADUR THE BRAVE BY DIWA SHAH NEPALI KUMAONI Sensitive portrait of the plight of Nepali migrant labour in India during the pandemic Debut feature won Kutxabank Award of R45 lakh equivalent at San Sebastian FF Silver Gateway at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival Woman director18 SAPTA SAGARADAACHE ELLO BY HEMANTH M RAO SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE SEVEN SEAS KANNADA Welldirected tragic love story of a middle class couple Rakshit Shetty Rukmini Vasanth in two parts Released theatrically ldquoSide Ardquo is on Amazon Prime Video19 JOSEPHrsquoS SON BY HAOBAM PABAN KUMAR MANIPURI FILM IN TANGKHUL MEITEI LANGUAGES NORTH EAST As Joseph Guru Rewben Mashangva travels looking for his missing son the violence and tragedy he witnesses implies the film anticipates the ethnic conflict that besets Manipur with 35 different tribes and North East today Shanghai FF Special Jury Award Kolkata FF20 KAYO KAYO COLOUR BY SHAHRUKHKHAN CHAVADA WHICH COLOUR HINDI GUJARATI This humanist blackandwhite debut feature follows the routine life of Razzak and his lower middle class family in Ahmedabad Gujarat as he struggles to buy a rickshaw As nonstereotyped ordinary Muslim life is significantly erased from our mainstream cinema except in a few pockets this film is a quietly courageous revelation Rotterdam Melbourne NETPAC Award JogjaNETPAC Asian FF Rashid Irani Young Criticsrsquo Choice Award Jio Mami Mumbai FF Woman producer Wafa Refai with ChavadaFilms I Also Loved Senior director Anurag Kashyap wonrsquot mind if his Kennedy Cannes FF makes way on the list for young filmmakers Kiran Raorsquos brilliant Laapataa Ladies too TIFF Toronto will instead be on my Films to Watch For in 2024 Here Irsquod include Avinash Arunrsquos Three of Us MOST exquisite also in my 2022 list Aamir Bashirrsquos Maagh The Winter Within Kashmiri Urdu Kanu Behlrsquos Agra Cannesrsquo Directorsrsquo Fortnight Varun Groverrsquos All India Rank Rotterdam Karan Tejpalrsquos Stolen Venice Film Festival Achal Mishrarsquos Ri Ladakhi Pushan Kripalanirsquos Goldfish English Atul Sabharwalrsquos Berlin Parth Saurabhrsquos Pokhar Ke Dunu Paar HindiMaithili Jude Anthany Josephrsquos 2018 Malayalam Indiarsquos Oscar submission Anupama Srinivasan and Anirban Duttarsquos Flickering Lights IDFA Amsterdam woman director Harshad Nalawadersquos Follower Shruthi Sharanyamrsquos B32 Muthal 44 Vare woman director Anand Ekarshirsquos Aattam and Sujay Dahakersquos Shyamchi Aai MarathiIndian shorts I loved Also selected at top festivals include of many worthy ones Yudhajit Basursquos Nehemich Always Marathi FTII stunning Cannes La Cinef Reema Mayarsquos Nocturnal Burger Sundance woman director Rishav Kapoorrsquos Next Please written produced by Chaitanya Tamhane Jio Mami Mumbai FF Pranjal Duarsquos The Flamingos amp Other Migratory Birds Tour and Subarna Dash and Vidushi Guptarsquos This is TMI SRFTI animation TIFF Toronto women directors This list includes films by 10 women directors and producersMeenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival National Awardwinning critic curator to festivals worldwide and journalistReach her at meenakshisheddemiddaycom