Ten times Bollywood went truly bold
From 'Julie' to 'Fire', a list of 10 films where Bollywood went truly bold in terms of the issues it took up
New Delhi: Sunny Leone-starrer One Night Stand, which releases this week, is testimony to how far Indian films have come from their coy days; erotic subjects and titles are definitely not a rarity anymore. But even in the past, there were a few times when Bollywood went truly bold in terms of the issues it took up. Here are 10 such movies.
1. Julie (1975): The classic Lakshmi-starrer was one of the first films of its time to take on the issue of unwed motherhood. Also made in Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada, the K.S. Sethumadhavan film earned more than ₹ 1 crore in box office collections, a lot in those days.
2. Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978): Raj Kapoor directed the highly controversial social drama on the idea of physical and spiritual love with Zeenat Aman playing a village girl with a disfigured face but a golden voice. The film, which Kapoor had originally conceived with songstress Lata Mangeshkar in mind, earned ₹ 45 lakh in box office collections.
3. Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985): Raj Kapoor’s last directorial venture is still remembered for the stir it caused with the skin show by lead actor Mandakini, a symbol also of the movie’s political and social commentary. It emerged as the highest grossing film of the year, making ₹ 9 crore at the box office.
4. Adventures of Tarzan (1985): The classic story of feral child Tarzan was remade in Hindi by director Babbar Subhash and starred Hemant Birje and Kimi Katkar in lead roles. The film made about ₹ 2 crore at the box office.
5. Fire (1996): Director Deepa Mehta’s Indo-Canadian drama was one of the first mainstream films to depict lesbian love. Starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, it expectedly sparked off several protests and had quite a few shows disrupted.
6. Aastha: In the Prison of Spring (1997): Basu Bhattacharya’s critically-acclaimed film featured Rekha as a housewife who takes to prostitution. Despite criticism of its unusual subject, the film made ₹ 50 lakh in box office collections.
7. Jism (2003): John Abraham made his debut in the thriller directed by Amit Saxena which featured Bipasha Basu as the female lead. The film produced by actor Pooja Bhatt made ₹ 4 crore at the box office.
8. Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women (2003): The Manish Jha film examined the issue of fraternal polyandry and bride-buying in rural India. Besides touring the festival circuit, the movie, which featured Tulip Joshi in the lead role, made only ₹ 17 lakh at the box office in India.
9. Murder (2004): The Anurag Basu-directed thriller may have spawned an entire franchise but it came with little poster value, later proving a breakthrough for lead actors Mallika Sherawat and Emraan Hashmi. Mixed reviews from critics could not dampen its box office earnings which stand at more than ₹ 4 crore.
10. Sins (2005): Long before Shiney Ahuja became known for real-life scandals, he appeared in the Vinod Pande film on the romance between a Catholic priest and a young woman in Kerala. The movie made a little over ₹ 1 crore at the box office.
All figures have been sourced from movie websites Bollywood Hungama and IBOS Network.
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