Aligarh, Zubaan, Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive - 7 films to look forward to in 2016 if you want to take a break from Salman Khan!

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Our recommendations if you have finer tastes in movies…

2016 is an year where every major star, with the rare exception of Deepika Padukone, has a movie…

While Shah Rukh Khan has Fan and Raees, Salman Khan has Sultan, Aamir Khan has Dangal, Hrithik Roshan will return with Mohenjo Daro, while Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh all have at least one film releasing this year. But if you are actually tired of watching superstar projects, and want to settle for something indie and more realistic, maybe these 7 films may pleasure your palate.

Aligarh

Gone are the days when homsexuality was a topic that was looked down up and not discussed at all in the open. Even with a sanskari Censor Board at the helm of affairs, film-makers are attempting to bring focus on the much debated topic, especially with Supreme Court looking to revise the much reviled Section 377, on screen. Hansal Mehta, who impressed us with the powerful Shahid, has made a film on a real-life incident of an Aligarh professor who was thrown out, because he was caught having sex with a rickshaw puller in the private confines. The trailer was mind-blowing, and Manoj Bajpayee looks like he is definitely a frontrunner for the National Award. The Censor Board tangles have only made the wait for the film more desperate!

Zubaan

When we first heard of Masaan, and the standing ovation it received at Cannes (including bagging an award), it was mostly referred to as a Richa Chaddha film. However, after the release of the film here, we realised there is another talent to look forward to. Vicky Kaushal impressed us so much with his performance of a lower caste boy in love with an upper caste girl, that people cried foul when he was overlooked for Sooraj Pancholi for Best Debutant award. He returns with vengeance in Zubaan, a tale of a stammering boy who finds his soul through. If you loved films like The King’s Speech and has a craze for various genres of music, this film by Mozez Singh will definitely be an interest for you!

Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive

The first film was more than impressive with its use of satire and dry wit. Going by the trailer of the second film, things are going to be bigger, and hopefully, better. Manish Paul is replacing the original film’s lead, Ali Zafar (who will be seen in a cameo). Pradhyuman Singh, the scene stealer from the original film, will reprise his role of the fake Osama Bin Laden, as do the other players from the film like Piyush Mishra, Sugandha Garg, Rahul Singh. Hope catching Laden turns out to be the same experience as it was the first time around, if not better!

Nil Battey Sannata

Swara Bhaskar, the terrific actress who impressed us in Tanu Weds Manu and Raanjhanaa, plays the lead role in this gem which has her playing the role of a mother who wants her daughter to have everything in life, and for she finds an ingenious way to achieve that goal. The film impressed Tamil superstar Dhanush so much that he is planning to remake the film in Tamil.

Bollywood Diaries

We have heard many tales of strugglers wanting to be BIG in the nepotism loving Bollywood, but not everyone can be Shah Rukh Khan or Akshay Kumar. Bollywood Diaries narrates the tale of three strugglers and their never-ending dream of being a Bollywood dream. Ashish Vidyarthi plays a man in his ’40s, who wants to ditch his job to revive his long-gestating starry dreams. Raima Sen plays a prostitute in whom Bollywood aspirations are injected by a screen playwright.

Parched

This film was screened at the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The films stars Radhika Apte, Tannishtha Chatterjee (who is becoming the face of parallel cinema with each release), Surveen Chawla (cast, for some strange reason) and Lehar Khan, and is about four women in a autocratic village, who throw away traditions and experience a sense of freedom. The film is directed by Leena Yadav, who had directed Shabd and Teen Patti, and is produced by Ajay Devgn. If Ajay saab is impressed, there must be something that’s intriguing about the film.

Phobia

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Radhika Apte appears in this psychological horror thriller that is directed by pawan Kripalani, the man behind the cult Ragini MMS. Very few details are being known about the film, but since it’s directed by the man who gave horror a new spin, and an actress whose every film is different from her previous…we are excited!