Om Shanti Om

Ticking all the boxes of a quintessential Bolly film (magic, masala, madness, et al), Om Shanti Om is always worth a revisit. The familiar retro genre tropes, blended seamlessly into a fun watch in the mould of an

exaggerated Manmohan Desai-styled movie, still feel fresh. So does the Farah Khan tongue-firmly-in-cheek treatment, packing in many in-jokes, movie references and quirky homages. Plus, a fresh-faced Deepika Padukone on debut, Shah Rukh Khan in his Dard-e-disco element in a double role, and that star-studded

Deewangee number with every Bolly star dropping in to shake a leg. What’s not to love?

Taare zameen par

Two years before he told the world to pursue excellence rather than chase success in 3 Idiots, Aamir Khan’s only film as director till date had the actor shine the spotlight on how we need to encourage our children to think out-of-the-box and not push them into the rat race. Taare Zameen Par still works because it packs in important life lessons without hammering them in, courtesy Aamir’s smiling Nikumbh sir. Then there is endearing Darsheel Safary and that gem of a soundtrack from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, with few of us managing to hold back our tears even now when Maa plays out.

Life in a... metro

Anurag Basu’s promise of a sequel with Irrfan (“I would love to play Monty again. I wonder ab woh kaisa hoga itne saalon baad,” Irrfan had told The Telegraph in the autumn of 2017) will sadly remain unfulfilled, but there’s always his delightful 2007 film, loosely based on The Apartment, to go back to. Irrfan’s Monty was, undoubtedly, the life and soul of Life in a... Metro, delivering the film’s best lines and carrying off its standout scenes, Konkona Sensharma’s Shruti for company. We still smile through that beautiful chemistry between Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali. And then, of course, is that glorious Pritam sountrack — In dino to Alvida to Baatein kuch ankahi si.

Jab we met

Jab We Met is an anytime, every time watch. Kareena Kapoor’s effervescent Geet, Shahid Kapoor’s Prince Charming Aditya, the laugh-out-loud one-liners, each of which is meme gold, the sweet love story, Pritam’s foot-tapping score, the final kiss between Geet and Aditya... there is so much in this Imtiaz Ali film that still makes us chuckle and cheer. And isn’t feel-good all that we need in these times?

Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd

Irreverent, quirky and so much fun... Reema Kagti’s directorial debut turned many a Bolly formula on its head, giving us a film whose many moods and moments — Raima Sen’s Mili parasailing with abandon in a sari, Aspi and Zara, played by Abhay Deol and Minissha Lamba, showing off some smooth moves and that surprise superhero twist at the end — remain firmly etched in memory. It’s a film that’s aged well, with even done-to-death Goa coming off as fresh every time we tune in for a rewatch.

Chak de! India

The mark of a good film is that you keep returning to it, even when you know, beat for beat, how it’s going to play out. Whether its Shah Rukh Khan’s Kabir Khan (has the man ever looked better?) taming the ‘rakshaso ki sena’ and delivering that inspiring ‘Sattar minute’ speech in the locker room to the girls shattering many a glass and gender ceiling, Shimit Amin’s film keeps as us riveted today as it did 14 years ago. And even now, we will Vidya, in those heart-stopping few minutes at the end, to steal a glance at Kabir and save that final goal... goosebumps!

No country for old men

What. A. Film. Exploring the trademark Coen Brothers’ themes of fate, conscience, and circumstance, this neo-Western crime thriller delivers a cinematic experience like few others, bolstered by incredible performances from Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem. A solid, raw and gritty film that handles tension brilliantly, No Country for Old Men if not for anything else, is worth going back to for Bardem’s Oscar-winning act as the cold-blooded Anton Chigurh, giving us a villain for the ages.

Sourced by the correspondent

Mr Bean’s Holiday

Who doesn’t love going back to Mr Bean?! While it’s true that Mr Bean’s Holiday — that shows Mr Bean win a raffle ticket and take off on a road trip that ultimately lands him in Cannes — isn’t as funny as some of its predecessors, but trust Rowan Atkinson, who can make you chuckle with just a twitch of an eyebrow, to deliver some laughs when you need it the most.

Music and Lyrics

A sardonic Hugh Grant and a good ol’ formulaic rom com is always an instant pick-me-up. And this one has Drew Barrymore, so win-win. There are some films that don’t demand too much out of you and yet manage to entertain, even when they throw up no surprises. This story of a has-been musician (a wrinkled Grant in too tight pants but with wit and wry quip intact) teaming up with a newbie songwriter (played by Barrymore) for a comeback song, and finding love in the bargain, is just the right film to curl up with on a Saturday night, some popcorn for company.

Into the wild

At a time when all of us have been cooped up at home for the better part of the last one year, this Sean Penn directorial about a man who gave up everything and chased wanderlust to hike across North America into the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s, is a film that allows us to live vicariously. Emile Hirsch’s act as Chris McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp is right up there among one of the best, with Into The Wild not only delivering as an adventure film but also as a poignant and powerful character study.

Zodiac

A David Fincher thriller is always worth going back to. So is the case with Zodiac, a pulsating watch that chronicles the manhunt for the Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who terrorised the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, playing a cat-and-mouse game with both the police and the media. It’s a rare thriller, mostly a police procedural, that’s quiet and is driven more by a feeling of anxiety than scenes of extreme violence. Plus, does it get better than a film that stars Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal, all at the top of their game?

Juno

Sharp and sweet, this coming-of-age film that made Ellen Page a star, still elicits a chuckle. That’s mostly courtesy Page’s Juno, a caustic-tongued pregnant teen whose gruff exterior is nicely tempered with believable moments of vulnerability. What works for this cleverly written film is that it’s peopled with characters that look and feel real. Powered by an Oscar-winning screenplay by Diablo Cody, Juno still feels like a cup of hot chocolate — with a pinch of spicy cinnamon — on a cold winter’s day.