5 Indian Independent Films for the Holiday Season

Best independent film

As they say, ‘the best time of the year’ is just around the corner. The warm embrace of your loved ones and the warm fragrance of hot chocolates are just what make this holiday season special. However, it also comes with the craving to watch something super nice with your friends and family. So before you spend hours on various OTTs just to find something like that, let us save you time with the best independent film recommendations.

Indie artists are gradually taking over the world and how. The sheer talent and beauty of art you witness in an independent film are awe-inspiring. We have curated this list of the top 5 Indie films you can watch during your holidays. Start taking notes!

Mukti Bhavan

This indie film is based on the Kashi Labh Mukti Bhavan, a real guest house in Varanasi, India. Since its establishment in 1958, over 14,000 visitors have died there. The visitors are allowed to stay for two weeks. If they haven’t passed away by then, they are asked to check out so that others can get in line to reach salvation.

The bitter and sweet father-son relationship is beautifully depicted in Mukti Bhavan by two phenomenal actors, Lalit Behl and Adil Hussain. Rajiv took his 77-year-old father, Daya, to Mukti Bhavan when they thought his last stage had arrived. This forces both of them to confront their unsettling differences while also providing a fresh start for their relationship. The best part? It separates the depth of family bonds from the melodrama that we are used to watching in commercial cinema. This one is definitely one of the best independent films to watch with your family.

Watch the trailer here.

Village Rockstars

Village Rockstars has travelled to global festivals and represented India at prestigious stages like the Academy Awards. The film was written, directed, shot, and edited by Rimi Das, who tirelessly developed the story for over three years to create the Italian neorealism-inspired film.

This independent film is about rural poverty and teenage aspirations. The plot centres on 10-year-old Dhunu, who desires to own a guitar and teams up with the boys to form a rock band in a remote Assamese village. We catch her showing off her inflated guitar and dreaming about her musical aspirations, even when floods hit the village. Watch it for a girl with big dreams. Watch it for Dhunu.

Watch the trailer here.

Goldfish by Pushan Kripalani

This is a heartfelt tale of a mother and daughter that will make you laugh and cry at the same time. Pushan Kripalani paints a beautiful portrait of a dysfunctional relationship where Anamika (Kalki Koechlin) leaves her job and grudges when her mother, classical singer Sadhana (Deepti Naval) battles with dementia. It will leave you with difficult questions like, what do you do when the pitfalls of ageing start appearing to a person you love and hate as they turn into a stranger?

While deciding whether to put her mother in a care home or be with her, Anamika and her mother catch a few serene moments that will touch your heart on a deeper level. This elegy is a must-watch for this holiday season.

Watch the trailer here.

Shankar’s Fairies by Irfana Majumdar

Shankar’s Fairies won Best Feature at the Dallas Fort Worth South Asian Film Festival 2022. The film is set in the early 1960s and follows the friendship of a young girl born into a wealthy family and a village man, Shankar, the family servant.

“Shankar, tell me a story.” Anjana, a nine-year-old girl, frequently requests him to transport her to other worlds. He obeys, invoking tales and folklore to pique the curious and friendly child’s imagination. Shankar is indispensable to Anjana’s family, but he cannot cross certain invisible lines in the paternalistic world created by Irfana Majumdar and Nita Kumar, providing insight into India’s complex class system.

Watch the trailer here.

A Match by Jayant Digambar Somalkar

The next indie film on our list had its world premiere at TIFF. For the first time, director Digambar Somalkar makes us meet Savita, who is trying to find her agency amid suitors for her arranged marriage. The young girl in the finest clothes that her family owns is self-consciously perched on a stool, surrounded by men analyzing her cooking and physical attractiveness.

In a society where women don’t have much say in their own lives, we see every frame as a plea to disrupt the status quo through a woman finding her place. Watch it for a compelling narrative of ordinary joys and freedom.

Watch the trailer here.