Sudhir Mishra’s Serious Men is streaming on Netflix.

In our series Streaming Guide, we list the works of a filmmaker or actor which are available on streaming platforms like ZEE5, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Eros Now and YouTube among others.

This edition features filmmaker Sudhir Mishra who has films like Serious Men, Dharavi, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and Chameli among others to his credit.

Main Zinda Hoon (1988)

Streaming on: Cinemasofindia.com

Starring Kulbushan Kharbanda, Rajender Gupta, Sushmita Mukherjee, Deepti Naval, Alok Nath and Pankaj Kapur, Main Zinda Hoon is a film about a young woman Beena (Deepti Naval) who moves to Mumbai after marriage. A few days after her marriage, she is abandoned by her husband (Alok Nath), but she continues to support her in-laws and finds a job. Just when she is returning to normal life and finds love in her co-worker (Pankaj Kapur), her husband returns. Naval has given a brilliant performance in the film. At the 36th National Film Awards, Main Zinda Hoon won the National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues.

Dharavi (1991)

Streaming on: Cinemasofindia.com

The beauty of the Sudhir Mishra directorial lies in its depiction of life in Dharavi-known as the biggest slum of Asia. It showcases how dreams are overpowered by poverty through the story of a taxi driver Rajkaran (Om Puri). Rajkaran lives in a small house in Dharavi with his wife Kunda (Shabana Azmi) and son. He desires to make his financial condition better by starting a cloth factory and invests all his resources towards making this dream a reality. But his dream is shattered when he gets embroiled with gangsters, and his wife leaves him. Om Puri is outstanding in the film, and Shabana Azmi too delivers a stellar performance.

Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996)

Streaming on: YouTube, Amazon Prime Video

Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin is an underrated gangster drama which deserves all your attention. Based on a story written by Sudhir Mishra’s brother Sudhanshu Mishra, the film’s entire plot unravels on a single night. It is the story of an advertising executive Aditya (Nirmal Pandey), who insults an underworld don Raman Bhai (Ashish Vidyarthi) that too in front of his rival gang without knowing his identity. Furious at the insult, Raman Bhai, who is already weighed down by sadness and frustration about his best friend becoming his enemy, looks out for Aditya who is on the run. The film has a slew of interesting characters, and it is the unpredictability of its narrative that keeps you hooked.

Calcutta Mail (2003)

Streaming on: YouTube

Anil Kapoor in a still from Calcutta Mail. (Express archive photo)

Starring Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Manisha Koirala, Satish Kaushik and Saurabh Shukla among others, Calcutta Mail is an interesting story of a budding novelist in search of a story, a father in search of his son and a rich politician’s daughter in Bihar in search of the perfect mate.

Chameli (2003)

Streaming on: Sony LIV, Netflix, Hotstar

Kareena Kapoor proved her mettle as an actor when she played a sex worker in Sudhir Mishra’s Chameli. She beautifully projected sex-workers as authoritative characters instead of showing them as victims and her portrayal got her critical acclaim. Sudhir Mishra was so impressed with Kareena’s work that he had said, “It wasn’t possible to make Chameli without her (Kareena).”

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005)

Streaming on: Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar

Shiney Ahuja and Chitrangada Singh in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. (Express archive photo)

Starring Kay Kay Menon, Shiney Ahuja and Chitrangda Singh, the critically-acclaimed film is set against the backdrop of Emergency and chronicles the story of three young people in the 1970s when the country was undergoing social and political upheaval. Characters in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi talk about ideals, oppression, poverty, capitalism and inequality with passion. The film’s title is borrowed from a famous poem by Mirza Ghalib.

Khoya Khoya Chand (2007)

Streaming on: Disney+ Hotstar

Set against the backdrop of 1950s Bollywood, Khoya Khoya Chand gives a glimpse of the lifestyle of film stars. It follows the story of an actress Nikhat Bano, played by Soha Ali Khan. She falls for writer-director Zafar, played by Shiney Ahuja and their love story makes for the narrative of the film. Sudhir Mishra has given a perfect visual treatment to the movie which beautifully transports you to a bygone era. Special mention to the film’s music which has been composed by Shantanu Moitra, with lyrics by Swanand Kirkire.

Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011)

Streaming on: YouTube

A poster of Yeh Saali Zindagi.

The crime thriller stars Irrfan Khan, Chitrangada Singh, Arunoday Singh and Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead roles. The story unfolds in Delhi and its surrounding areas. Irrfan Khan plays a sly CA, Arun, who has been an asset to his shady boss Mehta (Saurabh Shukla). While on business, he meets a singer Preeti (Chitrangada Singh) and falls in love with her, but she loves a businessman. Into this love story comes a gangster Kuldeep (Arunoday Singh) who, to secure his wife (Aditi Rao Hydari) and his son’s future, kidnaps Preeti to extort some money. Ultimately, everybody is running after somebody and this game of hide and seek becomes chaotic and interesting.

Daas Dev (2018)

Streaming on: ZEE5

Daas Dev stars Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Saurabh Shukla and Rahul Bhat.

Starring Rahul Bhat, Richa Chadha and Aditi Rao Hydari, Daas Dev is a reverse retelling of Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s famous novel Devdas. It is a film about power, love, and addiction. Bhat is seen essaying the tragic character of Dev. Chadha is Paro who is manipulative and loves power as much as she loves Dev. Hydari is Chandni, a modern-day version of Chandramukhi’s character.

Serious Men (2020)

Streaming on: Netflix

Serious Men stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead role. (Photo: Netflix)

In her review of Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Serious Men, The Indian Express’ Shubhra Gupta wrote, “Based on Manu Joseph’s novel of the same name, Sudhir Mishra’s adaptation of Serious Men is a bitingly sharp, satirical look at Aspirational India. Nawaz is very good, channelling Ayyan’s seething rage into something we can empathise with; the tender passion he exhibits with Indira Tiwari rounds off his character. Aakshath Das, as Adi, is perfect, and the real star of the movie. The most effective parts of the film are between these three; the rest, which include those in the research institute where Ayyan works, and in the party office of the politician father-and-daughter duo (Narvekar and Prasad) are somewhat woolly, even though the actors all fit their parts well.”

Hostages (Web series)

Streaming on: Disney+ Hotstar

Hostages starred Ronit Roy in the lead role.

An adaptation of the Israeli show of the same name, Hostages tells the tale of a doctor (Tisca Chopra) whose family is taken hostage, and she has to make a tough decision – to kill the chief minister and save her loved ones. It also stars Ronit Roy, Dalip Tahil, Parvin Dabas, Aashim Gulati and Mohan Kapoor among others. The two seasons of the crime thriller are streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Entertainment News, download Indian Express App.

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd