Revisiting the 5 BEST gangster films of Bollywood till date!

The Mumbai Underworld is a theme that has always fascinated out filmmakers, particularly Ram Gopal Varma, the man who’s considered to be the pioneer of the genre. We have made every possible film on the said subject and tackled the issue in every possible scenario. From a common man to the people in power, there has been hardly anything that hasn’t been dabbled with. So let’s have a look at the 5 most memorable gangster films of Hindi Cinema:-

1. Satya (1998)

Considered as the greatest gangster saga, Satya wasn’t much about the underworld as much about an ordinary man sucked into the underworld. A city that fulfills the dreams of millions, Bombay, alas, didn’t spare our protagonist Satya and he slowly and gradually veered into this dark and hideous space. The rest of the actors were all criminals, and together they gave us one of the best cinematic experiences till date.

2. Vaastav- The Reality (1999)

Vaastav’s Ragunath faced the same fate as the hero of the aforementioned crime drama. At start, he’s a simpleton who runs a Pav-Bhaaji stall, but fate forces him to become the most dreaded gangster of the city, Raghu Bhai. And it’s to Sanjay Dutt’s unfailing performance that made Vaastav a solid watch.

3. Company (2002)

It wasn’t surprising that the man who gave us Satya gave us yet another gripping and rousing take on the Mumbai Underworld. What begins as an alliance between Mallik (Ajay Devgn) and his protege Chandu (Vivek Oberoi) to wipe out the rivals of their gang soon turns into enmity and battle lines are drawn. When most of the filmmakers pivot on in-your-face melodramatic and over-the-top narrative, Company packed a punch with subtlety and restrain.

4. Ab Tak Chhappan (2004)

Unlike the above films, the protagonist in this film, again by RGV but as a producer, was a daredevil encounter specialist. The name of the film was derived from his pitch-perfect skills. Nana Patekar, although massively popular for those never-ending monologues, allowed his gun to do the talking and had minimal lines and hardly any outburst scenes. But given the powerhouse that he is, Ab Tak Chhappan also left a hefty impression.

5. Sarkar (2005) 

Unlike other filmmakers who blatantly rip-off material from the West and shamelessly pass it off as their own, Ram Gopal Varma was forthright enough to credit the source for his inspiration, The Godfather. Staging the plot of that timeless classic in the milieu of the Mumbai city, Varma gave us three principal characters that were the back-bone of this crime drama. At the center was our protagonist, Subhash Nagre aka Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan), who, despite being involved in nefarious activities, is the messiah of the common people. And then we had his two sons, Vishnu (a magnetic Kay Kay Menon) and Shankar (a restrained Abhishek Bachchan). And together they made Sarkar a worthy adaptation of The Godfather.

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