Roll call: James Boo, David Boyk, Rich Bunnell.
47 Words celebrates the world’s greatest cinematic genre.
Don
Chandra Barot, 1978
Where other Bollywood action comedies are funny only half on purpose, Don is completely aware of how hilarious it is. Amitabh Bachchan, the most famous and awesomest actor in the world, is a goofy betel-nut addict pretending to be a fearsome gangster. Hilarity and amazing dancing ensue. -DB
Disco Dancer
Babbar Subhash, 1983
“Mother, I have my music. I will sharpen this music like a sword and stab the city’s heart with it.” This is dialogue Horatio Alger would have penned with the balls of a Bollywood screenwriter, and why Disco Dancer will outlast every one of his shitty stories. -JB
Teesri Kasam
Basu Bhattacharya, 1966
Comparing everything to Europe is silly, but this Hindi movie feels like Ingmar Bergman, with melancholy songs and spare cinematography. Nonetheless, it’s a moving, sweet and sad movie, starring the Charlie Chaplin of India as an oxcart driver in impossible love with his fare, a beautiful actress. -DB
Karz
Subhash Ghai, 1980
This generation-hopping revenge caper uses reincarnation as a plot device much in the same way that American films fall back on amnesia, and serves as proof that Indian filmmakers have chosen the correct path. It also features an eight-minute musical number staged on top of a giant turntable. -RB
Omkara
Vishal Bharadwaj, 2006
Unlike the Bollywood gangster Patch Adams or the Bollywood E.T. Forrest Gump, the Bollywood gangster politician Othello requires four terms to describe. You already can’t go wrong once guns, revenge and Naseeruddin Shah get involved, and the gritty cinematography, great tough-guy acting, and catchy-ass songs help, too. -DB
Sholay
Ramesh Sippy, 1975
Imagine the best spaghetti western you’ve ever seen, stripped of any sense of restraint, with the chasms of slow-burning intensity filled with songs that dig deep into your brain and generate emotions that you didn’t even know existed. This is India’s Citizen Kane, filtered through Three Amigos. -RB
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