While writing articles on latest Bollywood films for last two months, I recently noticed that the number is psychological thriller films is quite high this year. Wikipedia defines Psychology thrillers film as a “thriller story which emphasizes the unstable psychological and emotional states of its characters.” In last four weeks, at least four Bollywood psychological thriller movie trailers have been released. These include Anurag Kashyap directed “Raman Raghav 2.0”, Ribhu Dasgupta directed “Teen” , Nishikant Kamat directed “Madaari” and “Phobia” directed by Pavan Kirpalani.
It’s not a new genre for Bollywood cinema. A Bollywood movie “Bees Saal Baad”, produced by Hemant Kumar was probably the first psychological thriller film made in Bollywood. It was released in 1962 and was a super-hit film.
In 1964, one more black-and-white psychological mystery film released in India title and became the instant hit on box office. This film was “Woh Kaun Thi?, directed by Raj Khosla and starring Sadhana Shivdasani, Manoj Kumar, and Prem Chopra. Sadhana was so much appreciated in this film that the Director repeatedly casted her in two more suspense thrillers: Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967 film).This film
This film frightfully recounts the tale of one Dr. Anand who is going to acquire a vast fortune however the condition is that his psychological well-being ought to be great. The plot rotates around Dr. Anand who sees Sandhya at many places where she couldn’t be available.
Since then, Bollywood has given many super hit film of this genre. Some of these films include Ghajini (2008), Murder 2 (2011), Deewangee (2002), Kaun (1999), Karthik Calling Karthik (2010), Darr (1993), Aparichit (2006), Talaash (2013). Ghajini is one of the finest examples of psychological thrillers, which was inspired by a critically acclaimed Hollywood movie Memento. The lead actor Amir Khan is suffered from short-term memory loss in this film and he relentlessly kills people in taking the revenge of his lover’s murder. The murderer name is Ghajini on which the movie is based.
But in last few year, Indian movie audience couldn’t any big psychological thriller. In 2014, Anurag Kashyap made a neo-noir psychological thriller film “Ugly” which was perhaps the only noticeable psychological thriller film in last two years. The film explores the psyche of the mother, who’s battling depression, the father and the stepfather who are constantly trying to upstage each other while also trying to find the missing daughter.
Many articles have listed Drishyam (2015, directed by Nishikant Kamat) and Talvar ( 2015, directed by Meghna Gulzar ) as psychological thriller but I can’t consider it here because I don’t think it actually comes under the definition of Psychological thriller as there is no visual appearance of an unstable psychological character in these two movies.
But this Year ( 2016 ) seems to be quite special for this genre. At least 7 known pure psychological thriller films are going to release this year in India.
Here I have listed some of the psychological thriller movies from India that are coming soon in theaters near you.
1. Raman Raghav 2.0
A phantom production psychological thriller film based on the life of Raman Raghav, a psychopathic serial killer who operated in the city of Mumbai, India in the mid-1960s. This film is directed by Anurag Kashyap and the title character is played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vicky Kaushal is playing the role of a cop in the film.This film is set to release on June 24. Watch the trailer below:
2. Madaari
Madaari is a psychological thriller starring Khan and Jimmy Sheirgill & Tushar Dalvi in leading roles, This film is directed by Nishikant Kamat in which Irrfan Khan plays the role of a dutiful citizen who has been frustrated and depressed by the system and now seek revenge. Jimmy Sheirgill will be seen as a cop who bears the responsibility to save the day and life. This film is set to release on June 10. Watch the trailer below:
3. Phobia
Phobia is also an upcoming psychological thriller motion picture directed by Pawan Kirpalani in which Radhika Apte is the leading character . The story of this movie revolves around Radhika Apte who plays an agoraphobic woman (suffering from a crippling fear of stepping into the outside world) who later finds that staying indoors could actually be more dangerous than she thought. This film is scheduled to release on 27th May 2016. Watch the trailer below:
4. Te3n
Te3n is an upcoming Indian suspense thriller film written and directed by Ribhu Dasgupta. Since this is a suspense thriller so the story is not out but the trailer indicates that it probably has a psychic angle too. Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui & Vidya Balan are in lead roles. This film is set to release on 10 June 2016. Watch the trailer below:
5. Monsoon Shootout
Monsoon Shootout is directed by Amit Kumar and produced by Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap, Arun Rangachari and Vivek Rangachari. The main leads are Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tannishtha Chatterjee. The film was first shown during the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in the Midnight Screenings section. The release date of this film in India is not yet confirmed but it is expected to release this year. Watch the Cannes trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFusJjW8c3o
6. 54321
54321 is an upcoming 2016 Tamil language Indian psychological thriller film. It is written and directed by debutant Raghavendra Prasad. The main leads are Shabeer, Aarvin and Pavithra with Rohini, Pasanga Sivakumar and Ravi Raghavendra who are playing supporting roles. The story revolves around 5 persons who are interconnected through life situations and all plotted in one house. Watch the trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3h6-XX4ttU
7. Missing
‘Missing’ is the first film of Manoj Bajpayee as a producer which is going to release in second half of July this year. This Movie will be co-produced by Neeraj Pandey and directed by Mukul Abhayankar. Though the plot of this film is not out but it is said to be a psychological thriller. Main leads of this film are Tabu, Manoj Bajpayee and Annu Kapoor.
Are you waiting for any of these movies? Do you have anything to say or add in this? Please write below in comment section and share this article among your movie-friends.
Stay alert!