Every year, we crowd into multiplexes to see our favorite actors repeat the same comic formula films like Dilwale, Rowdy Rathore, Dabangg, and Ready (the list goes on and on). And, believe it or not, they never let us down because they always give precisely what they promise: hopeless masala flicks!

However, every now and again, some good film comes along to revive some sense of your life. In Bollywood, there is no shortage of such high-quality films. It’s simply that we don’t hear much about them due to the marketing gimmicks of meaningful commercial films, which these underappreciated films can’t often afford.

1. Masaan (2015)

In the village of Varanasi, Masaan explores two independent story arcs that finally intersect. One chronicles Devi’s (Richa Chadha) trip as she copes with the loss of her partner and the guilt she feels for his death. The second film follows Deepak (Vicky Kaushal), a man from a family that fires funeral pyres on the ghats of Varanasi. The film obtained positive reviews from reviewers and won a couple of accolades at the Cannes Film Festival.

2. In the City, Shor (2011)

The film, directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K., follows five primary characters as they encounter problems in the film’s depiction of a crime-ridden Mumbai.

3. Ankhon Dekhi (2013)

Rajat Kapoor’s film Ankhon Dekhi is a melancholy story of a guy who has an epiphany and resolves to believe only what he sees with his own eyes. As the father of a middle-class family residing in Old Delhi, Sanjay Mishra delivers a superb portrayal.

4. Titli (2015)

Titli, the youngest member of a violent car-jacking fraternity, prepares a desperate escape from the ‘family’ business, which is dodgy as hell, amid the badlands of Delhi’s underbelly. His plans are foiled by his rowdy brothers, who force him to marry against his will. Titli, on the other hand, finds an odd friend in his new wife, Neelu, who has her own set of thwarted goals. What follows will suffocate you in Titli’s world!

5. Sonchiriya

Abhishek Chaubey co-wrote and directed The Golden Bird, a 2019 Indian Hindi-language western action film starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey, and Ashutosh Rana. The film tells a deeply entrenched story set in Chambal. On March 1, 2019, the film was released in 940 theaters throughout the world, including 720 in India and 220 in other countries. The critical response to the film was overwhelmingly good. The discourse is completely in the Bundeli dialect.