Aa Dinagalu (2007, Kannada)
Streaming on: Zee5
Kannada films have many gangster dramas that explore the nature of violence and the emerging underworld in the city of Bangalore. However, KM Chaithanya’s Aa Dinagalu remains one of the most harrowing explorations of violence and crime in the city. Based on the famous assassination of the rowdy Kotwal Ramachandra, the film was written by Agni Sridhar, a reformed gangster who was reportedly involved in the assassination. The film is also a love story, with a relationship being the centre of conflict that leads to the assassination. The Bangalore underworld has some interesting lore that has been explored by multiple filmmakers, but Aa Dinagalu remains one of the best in the genre.
Pada (2022, Malayalam)
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video
Kamal KM’s reactionary political thriller, was a cinematic rendition of a real hostage situation that happened on October 4th, 1996, where the District Collector of Palakkad was held captive in his office for close to nine hours by a four-man gang, belonging to the ‘Ayyankali Pada’, a pro-Maoist faction of the tribal rights group, citing the need for changes in the then proposed ‘Tribal Bill’ in the legislative assembly. The politics of Pada mirrored the dearth of efficient legislation governing the administration of tribal affairs, without resorting to ‘quasi-savior narratives’ and honky sentimentalism. Kunchako Boban was cast against the grain in this taut thriller that had great supporting performances from Vinayakan, Joju Goerge and Dileesh Pothan.
Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (2012, Tamil)
Streaming on: YouTube
When a group of youngsters were playing gully cricket, one of them slipped trying to take a high catch. While he was supposed to get married in a few days, the fall led him to experience a case of retrograde amnesia. As he began to forget events that happened around him, his friends freaked out and tried to hide it from others. Balaji Tharaneetharan was one of those friends and years later, he decided to make a film based on this incident. Although his friend was back to normal the next morning, Balaji took creative liberties to make a chaotic comedy-of-errors where his friend suffers from amnesia even until his wedding day. This hilarious comedy is also one of the breakout films for Vijay Sethupathi, who played the protagonist.