# Recommend me some good Bollywood films please. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-bollywood-films-please/478803 "2008-12-27T02:37:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![discodancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@discodancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/discodancer)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-bollywood-films-please/478803/1 "2008-12-27T02:37:07Z")
Like the title says, what are some good Bollywood films you’ve seen and recommend. I haven’t seen any, and I’m curious. Are there any that have good character development, interesting dialogue, and/or not-so-cliche plots or am I looking in the wrong genre for that? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-bollywood-films-please/478803/2 "2008-12-27T03:01:57Z")
Well, you’re probably out of luck on the cliche thing. But you have GOT to see **Lagaan**. Yes, it’s a four hour Indian movie about cricket. It’s awesome, and hilarious, and sweet, and totally engaging. It barely feels like two hours, let alone four. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-bollywood-films-please/478803/3 "2008-12-27T04:46:22Z")
**Monsoon Wedding** , FTW. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-bollywood-films-please/478803/4 "2008-12-27T12:27:16Z")
Here’s a thread from not too far back. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=474777&highlight=Bollywood](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=474777&highlight=Bollywood) ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-bollywood-films-please/478803/5 "2008-12-27T15:57:22Z")
“Taare Zameen Par” aka “Every Child is Special” is a fantastic movie about an autistic child’s struggles through the Indian school system. It is totally relatable to non-Indian audiences and can compete with the best of American and European films. The movie was made in 2007 and I saw it on an overseas flight earlier this year. Unfortunately, the U.S. DVD is still in production and will come out “soon” last I checked (anyone have any updates?) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-bollywood-films-please/478803/6 "2008-12-27T16:49:36Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > **Monsoon Wedding** , FTW. Great movie, but not really Bollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-bollywood-films-please/478803/7 "2008-12-27T17:43:47Z")
Neither of these is a Bollywood film per se though they do feature Bollywood stars and are set in India. Water is a film by Deepa Mehta about a child-widow who is forced to give up worldly life and join a home for other widows after her old husband dies. There is a romance in there which doesn’t really work but most of the film is excellent: harrowing but in the end almost uplifting. Being Cyrus is black comedy set in the Parsi (Zorastrian) community. The comedy is quite broad but good fun and like a Coen film the movie turns very dark in the middle. Monsoon Wedding is another not-really Bollywood film and though I think it’s a bit over-rated it’s also quite fun.