Suspense is strongly tied to mystery and thriller genres, making it difficult to categorize. The three genres are frequently grouped. Suspense, in general, refers to a reader’s sensation of fear or eagerness when viewing a movie. This indicates that all mysteries and thrillers, in general, have suspense. What sets you apart is the level of suspense you build throughout your tale.
With their twisted endings, these great suspense movies Bollywood will have you on the edge of your seat.
1)Bees Saal Baad (1962)
Bees Saal Baad is a 1962 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film produced by Hemant Kumar, who also created the music and sung a few songs. It is considered to have been the first suspense movie Bollywood. The film is a rough remake of the Bengali smash thriller Jighansa (1951), which had been largely based on Hemendra Kumar Roy’s novel Nishithini Bivishika and also was based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. Still, it took an approach that was quite indigenous.
The story involves a rich Thakur in Chandanghat who rapes a local girl. She kills herself as a result of the trauma, and the Thakur dies not long after. He was slaughtered, according to the villagers, by the ghost of that girl. Thakur’s brother and son are also massacred later. Fast forward into the future, Kumar Vijay Singh, Thakur’s grandson, returns twenty years later. Villagers continuously caution him to avoid the ancestral house, where his forefathers were murdered. But Vijay, on the other hand, insists on staying and employs a detective.
2)Gumnaam (1965)
Gumnaam is a 1965 Indian Bollywood thriller directed by Raja Nawathe. It includes Manoj Kumar, Nanda, Pran, Helen, and Mehmood as part of the cast. The film is a rough version of Agatha Christie’s 1939 mystery book, And Then There Were None. The plot follows eight people who win a contest and find themselves on a desolate island. The visitors begin to be killed one by one as soon as they settle into a creepy estate partnered with a peculiar butler.
Actors like Aamir Khan, Sharukh Khan, and even Amitabh Bachchan have imitated Mehmood’s unique manner of making his fans chuckle. It is also iconic how whenever Gumnaam and the song “Hum kale hai to kya Hua Dilwale Hain” are played, it brings up memories of Mehmood’s character. The recurrent siren music, a parody on Mancinini’s Charade theme, is appropriately eerie. And the walking changeover to that song was also a hit with the audience, as it made them feel like they were entering another universe.
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3)Jewel Thief (1967)
Hitchcock once remarked, “The greater the villain, the greater the picture.” The villain in Jewel Thief is one of the most unforgettable ones. It’s a rather long film, but newcomers may think of it as four episodes of a favorite show binge-watched in one sitting. Without a doubt, it is one of the finest suspense movie Bollywood to date. Vijay Anand based his film on a fictional figure who never lived, making ‘Jewel Thief’ a wonderful suspense thriller thanks to Dev Anand, Ashok Kumar’s fantastic performances Vjayanthimala, as well as calming background music by SD Burman.
The plot follows Vinay, who is regularly mistaken for Amar, a diamond thief who looks just like him. To clear his record, he teams up with the cops to imitate the thief and bust the criminal organization. Jewel Thief continues to dazzle and shine as the ‘Kohinoor’ of popular Hindi thrillers. It’s frequently stated that even the finest thrillers aren’t worth seeing again. Goldie, alias Vijay Anand, is a prodigy in this regard. Jewel Thief works because of his directing, the fantastic narrative, and the creative writing.
The film’s appeal resides in its fantastic narrative, in which the audience is repeatedly deceived by the filmmaker. Themes from the darkest gothic antics include doubles, innocents on the run, mistaken identification, and manipulation. On the other hand, Jewel Thief is full of bright colors, costumes, huge sets, and melodies, with no hint of darkness.
4)Gupt (1997)
Gupt is one of the great suspense films, starring Bobby Deol, Kajol, and Manisha Koirala. Isha Diwan, played by Kajol, is one of Bollywood’s most unforgettable characters. The film directed by Rajiv Rai was arguably ahead of its time. Despite its monetary success, the film may have done much better if it had been released now. The soundtrack by Viju Shah complimented the picture and helped it become one of Kajol’s best performances.
Gupt is a suspense movie about a man named Sahil who despises his father (Jaisingh). Things get even worse when Jaisingh urges him to marry Sheetal. Sahil, on the other hand, wants to marry another woman named Isha. The two finally disagree, and Jaisingh is killed. The authorities believe Sahil is the culprit and arrest him, and he is sentenced to life in prison. Then, to establish his innocence, he finds a method to flee, with a senior police officer named Udham Singh leading the hunt.
Rajiv Rai’s direction is superb. He has done an excellent job as a writer in keeping the viewers wondering till the very end. As an editor, he also maintains the film’s pace and keeps it tight and flowing.
Gupt has some of the greatest locations ever recorded, and the photography is stunning. The soundtrack had a significant role in the film’s success. I believe the film’s music is one of my all-time favorites. Viju Shah, the film’s music director, did an outstanding job, and the film’s background soundtrack is still a classic.
5)Drishyam (2015)
Nishikant Kamat directed Drishyam, a 2015 Indian Hindi-language thriller film. The film is a remake of the same-titled Malayalam film from 2013. The film follows a Maharashtrian family living in Goa. Their world is turned upside down after their older daughter Anju had an altercation with a college lad named Sameer at a nature camp. When Vijay’s family is threatened by the disappearance of Sameer, a policewoman’s son, Anju’s father attempts everything he can to defend his family.
As the storyline continues, we witness how he leaves no stone unturned to keep his family safe. The Devotion of Suspect X, a Japanese book by Keigo Higashino, is also alleged to have influenced the film.
Drishyam is a fantastic thriller, and Jeethu is a fantastic director and playwright. Mohanlal performed a fantastic job as a regular guy, while Meena looked gorgeous as Rani.
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6)NH10 (2015)
Meera and Arjun, a working couple in Gurgaon, are the central characters of the plot. Meera is attacked by a group of unknown men as she leaves a party late at night. Even though she manages to flee by the skin of her teeth, she is left traumatized. Arjun, partly to blame for not being there that night, tries to make amends by taking Meera on a lavish desert vacation. They see a young girl kidnapped by a gang of hoodlums as they stop for dinner at a Dhaba on the Highway. Arjun chooses to interfere, oblivious to the danger that awaits both of them.
In an industry where heroines are expected to be picture perfect and pure on and off-screen, Sharma has put her name, reputation, and bank account behind a film that few would have the audacity to work with. Navdeep Singh’s film NH10 is a gloomy, brutal movie that provides little temporary relief, few songs, no dances, and no silver linings. It’s tense, gripping, and violent in a way that defies categorization as a film. It’s also proof that Sharma isn’t just a talented actress but also a daring producer.
