Let’s first understand the meaning of Cult Classic or Cult Movie. A cult film/movie or a cult classic is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Cult films are often known to be eccentric, often do not follow traditional standards of mainstream cinema and usually explore offbeat topics. Normally, cult movies fails to achieve fame outside the small fan bases; but, there are many exceptional cult movies that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences also. Many cult movies have gone on to transcend their original cult status and have become recognized as classics. So today we will list out some of the cult classics of Hindi Cinema.
Pyaasa was produced and directed by Gurudutt. It was actually a story of the struggling poet, Vijay (Guru Dutt), trying to make his works known in post-independence India. Gulabo (Waheeda Rehman), a prostitute, eventually helps him get his poems published. In 2005, Pyaasa was rated as one of the 100 best films of all time by Time Magazine, which called it “the soulfully romantic of the lot.”
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro was released in 1983. It was directed by Kundan Shah and produced by NFDC. It is a dark satire on the rampant corruption in Indian politics, bureaucracy, news media and business. Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Pankaj Kapur, Bhakti Barve and Om Puri played the main roles in the film.
Chashm-e-Buddoor is a sweet romantic comedy film starring Farooq Shaikh, Deepti Naval, Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Baswani and Saeed Jaffrey. It was directed by Sai Paranjpye and produced by Gul Anand. The film is about three students; Siddharth (Farooq Shaikh), Omi (Rakesh Bedi) and Jai (Ravi Baswani) at Delhi University, who don’t go home during summer vacation and how a girl Neha (Deepti Naval) comes in their life.
Gunda was released in 1998, directed by Kanti Shah. It stars Mithun Chakraborty, Mukesh Rishi and Shakti Kapoor in lead roles. Since its release, it has attained a cult following due to its dialogues, murder and rape scenes and lots of villainous characters.
Surakshaa, a 1979 spy thriller, directed by Ravikant Nagaich was actually based on the famous Bond movie ‘Man with the Golden Gun’. The film stars Mithun Chakravorty, Ranjeeta, Jeevan, Jagdeep, Iftekhar, and Aruna Irani. The film enjoys enormous “fame” due to its tacky B class production, dance numbers, good acting, story and theme. The code name of Mithun is Gunmaster G9 who is the secret agent of Government Intelligence bureau. It was the first of a two of such films with Mithun as Gunmaster G9, the other being Wardaat.
Andaz Apna Apna, a 1994 Hindi film co-written and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, starring Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Paresh Rawal and Shakti Kapoor in the lead roles. The film was a disaster at the box office upon its release, it has since gained a strong cult following over the years.
Veerana, Purana Mandir and Bandh Darwaza are some of the most famous Hindi horror movies of Bollywood. They were produced, directed and edited by the Ramsay Brothers.
Golmaal (1979) is considered as the best comedy film ever made in India. Utpal dutt is just great and so is Amol Palekar. Two great actors and very well supported by Dina Pathak, Deven Verma and David. It is story of next door people in a most heart warming manner with a good dose of clean and genuine humor that takes a clean bite at the culture and traditions of middle class India.
N.B :: This list is not complete. We will continue adding other movies in the list.
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