Top 10 Must-Watch Bollywood Movies in 2021

Kris [email protected] February 28, 2021 | 01:27

Say goodbye to 2020 and welcome 2021 just by looking forward to a slate of feature Bollywood movies. Check out our list of 10 best Bollywood movies in 2021 and make a movie marathon plan for your weekend!

Top 10 Must-Watch Bollywood Movies in 2021

10 best Bollywood movies in 2021. Photo: Pink Villa

The White Tiger

Initial release: January 13, 2021

Director: Ramin Bahrani

The White Tiger is a story of servitude, resentment, and love – and what its hero calls “the contented smile that comes to the lips of a servant who has done his duty by his master”. He does a lot of smiling in this film, but this is about something other than contentment. It is a professional reflex and a personal holding pattern, a blank grin kept in place while the servant decides if he in fact hates his master, and while he also decides if he might somehow one day be the master himself.

Photo: DW

It is an ambiguous smile, which causes him to wonder if he hates the master behind a facade of loving, or loves this role-model behind a facade of hating. And this desperate aspirational cunning and survival-struggle are happening in India, which is shown to have the same ambiguously submissive attitude to the globalized employer forces of China, Britain, and the United States, who all want India’s cheap labor for their outsourcing, The Guardian cites.

Tribhanga

Initial release: January 15, 2021

Director: Renuka Shahane

Tribhanga - Tedhi Medhi Crazy is essentially a story about a family; three women, their struggles, and aspirations. Tanvi Azmi is Nayantara, an acclaimed writer, and mother of Anuradha (enacted by Kajol). Anuradha, a Bollywood actor-dancer, is as complex and fierce as her mother and also a single mother, reported The Hindu.

Photo: National Herald

Mithali Palkar, who is playing Masha (Anuradha’s daughter), is different from the rest of the women in her family. She is a housewife who is willing to comprise on anything to have the “normal” life that she was deprived of. Or as the maker herself explains through the language of dance: Nayantara is Abhanga, a slightly mad genius; Masha is Samabhanga, completely balanced; and Anuradha is skewed and weird, she is Tribhanga. A brain stroke that puts Nayantara in a coma then forces the broken family to reunite and deal with their differences.

The Girl on the Train

Initial release: February 26, 2021 (India)

Director: Ribhu Dasgupta

Once feisty lawyer Mira Kapoor (Parineeti Chopra) is spiraling under the trauma of losing her child, a husband she had loved, and a career that was blossoming… one high-risk case at a time. Well, it doesn’t help either that an unfortunate car accident leaves her with a rare form of amnesia and she eventually turns into a massive alcoholic, as cited by Time of India.

Photo: Bollywood Bubble

But, hope (read obsession) crawls back into her life in the form of a woman. While frequenting the Redbridge-to-Greenwich train route every day, Mira admires the beautiful home and life of who later comes to be known as Nusrat John (Aditi Rao Hydari). However, that solace is short-lived. Nusrat is found dead in a forest and Mira’s digital footprint places her at the crime scene.

Master

Initial release: January 13, 2021 (India)

Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj

Photo: Indian Express

Like any good filmmaker, Lokesh Kanagaraj knows that it takes a fearsome antagonist to turn a protagonist into a hero. This is why he begins Master by establishing the myth of his antagonist Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi). A teenager who is sent to an observation home by the powerful men who had killed his family, Bhavani becomes the very thing that the system doesn't want juveniles to become - a ruthless monster. In one scene, Lokesh even see shows him sporting horns! And he exploits the very system that has made him so, by using juveniles as pawns to establish his criminal enterprise.

This sets up the stage nicely for his protagonist JD (Vijay) to make his entrance. In fact, in classic masala movie fashion, JD's introduction comes right after a character wonders if they would be able to get a brave man to fix things and save the boys from a life of crime.

83

Initial release: June 4, 2021 (India)

Director: Kabir Khan

83 movie is mainly based on India’s win in the cricket World Cup held in 1983. This film is based on a true event and you would not find any actor in this film dancing or singing. In this film, Deepika Padukon has portrait the role of Kapil dev’s wife however I personally feel that in this type of film the actresses are not required.

Photo: Youtube

This film could have been made without the role played by Deepika Padukone. Deepika Padukone is also the producer of this film. Most importantly it has been never been heard that Kapil Dev’s wife has inspired Kapil Dev in winning the cricket world cup. In the real story, The name of Kapil dev’s wife comes in one sequence when she went out of the stadium while Kapil Dev was batting, and afterward, she returns back seeing Kapil Dev's performance and India heading to win the watch, Uslis cites.

14 Phere

Initial release: July 9, 2021 (USA)

Director: Devanshu Kumar

14 Phere movie is an upcoming Bollywood social drama directed by Devanshu Singh who has earlier directed the famous Chintu ka Birthday movie and produced by Zee Studios. 14 Phere movie has Vikrant Massey and Kriti Kharbanda in the main lead. The duo teams up for the first time for this romantic social drama which is to be released on 9 July 2021. After Deepika Padukone, Tapsee Pannu, and Yami Gautam, Vikrant is ready to romance with Kriti Kharbanda, in an incredible funny love story.

Photo: Zee News

According to My Upcoming Movies, it is a story of a small-town boy Sanjay & Aditi. The story is written by Manoj Kalwani who has aptly penned down this social comedy-drama that unfolds in North India. Vikrant further says, “That’s a good feeling and I’m looking forward to getting to know Kriti better through the making of this film”. It is a quirky, contemporary social drama that is very relevant in today’s world. The story is fresh and answers several pertinent questions. The film is being shot at Kamalistan Studio, Delhi, Jaipur, and Lucknow.

Tuesdays and Fridays

Initial release: February 18, 2021

Director: Taranveer Singh

Written and directed by Taranveer Singh, the film hesitates to spell out its interests: Open relationships? Intermittent dating? Varun doesn't play the long game — “I have a seven-week rule,” he says, exceeding which he calls it quits. Sia, meanwhile, wants firmer assurance; she likes Varun but won’t put an ‘expiry date’ on her heart. Her biweekly plan, thus, is a ruse to accommodate both.

Photo: Bollyy

According to Cinema Express, the concept is amusing — there’s even an arbitrary ‘no sex till Date 3’ rule thrown in — but it struggles to sustain the film. Both Varun and Sia swing wildly between coolness and confusion. Debutant Anmol is no match for career charmers like Ashton Kutcher and Saif Ali Khan. It’s a tall order, but the film barely tries. There’s no urgent chemistry between the leads, and each is pinned to an absent father arc — Bollywood shorthand for ‘commitment-phobia’.

Atrangi Re

Initial release: February 14, 2021

Director: Aanand L. Rai

After the failure of Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal, Sara Ali Khan is all set to star in another love story with Akshay Kumar and Dhanush. The stars are coming together for Anand L Rai's Atrangi Re. While it was earlier speculated that the actress will be seen romancing the southern star in the film and Akshay will have a cameo, reports now suggest that Sara will be romancing both the actors.

Photo: OtakuKart

According to India Today, Anand L Rai's Atrangi Re is a cross-cultural love story set in Bihar and Madurai. While Sara plays a girl from Bihar, Dhanush will be seen as a guy from Madurai. Talking about the film in a statement, the director said, "All the three characters are funnily weird and it's their emotional journey. I am always looking for partners who are as emotionally touched as I am with the story and all three of them are like that. Every character in this film has its own traits that will put them in an unseen space."

Bell Bottom

Initial release: May 28, 2021 (India)

Director: Ranjit Tiwari

Photo: India TV News

Akshay Kumar has been on a film signing spree these past few years. With four releases due in 2020, the actor has just announced yet another upcoming film titled Bell Bottom (2021). Helmed by Ranjit M Tiwari, who made his directorial debut with Lucknow Central (2017), the film is produced under Vashu Bhagnani’s banner Pooja Films.

The story inspired by true events is written by Aseem Arora & Pervez Shaikhand and is touted to be a very high-end espionage thriller. Akshay Kumar will be Represent as a never seen before avatar and the makers are riding high on the content. The film is produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh in association with Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani, and Nikhil Advani.

Phone Bhoot

Initial release: 2021

Director: Gurmmeet Singh

Photo: Pz10

Phone Bhoot was announced in July last year with this tiny detail and nothing else: "Your one-stop shop for all bhoot related problems, Phone Bhoot ringing in cinemas in 2021." The film is being directed by Gurmmeet Singh and will be produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment. Ishaan Khatter, Katrina Kaif, and Siddhant Chaturvedi play the roles of desi ghostbusters in the horror-comedy, which is expected to release sometime this year.

For more: Best Movies to Watch: Top Movies of All Time, Top Action Movies, Top Thriller Movies, click here!

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