The Bollywood industry is not only for its elaborate romantic love stories or comedies that make you roll on the floor laughing, but it also provides the audience and cinema fans all over with some great works in the thriller and suspense genre. We’re sure everyone loves a great movie with twisted suspense to keep you guessing throughout and a bang on the climax to take you by surprise.
These are our top 10 Suspense Movies of Bollywood.
1. Kahaani (2012)
Vidya Bagchi, played brilliantly by Vidya Balan, is a pregnant woman living in London who travels to the city of Kolkata in search of her missing husband, with nothing and no one to rely on besides her fragmented memory and constantly tiring searches for her lost husband. Every step taken by her leads her to a dead end and every person leads her to a dead end, telling her to believe and accept the fact that her husband, in fact, does not exist. In a city full of colours that hide the gruesome lies beneath, Vidya has set her mind to uncover the truth for her and her unborn child, which leads to the revelation of even more unexpected turns in the story.
2. Talash (2012)
Inspector Shekhawat, played by Aamir Khan, used to be a family man but post his young son’s tragic death; he and his wife have been distant, to say the least. The mysterious death of a famous film star off the road with his car found in water leads Inspector Shekhawat to investigate the incident, whether it was a genuine accident or an intentional crime and in the process, he unveils some unexpected truths not only about this case but also about his own life and a murder that happened years ago that linked the victim’s past to his present life.
3. A Wednesday (2008)
A Wednesday is a thriller story set in the hustle bustle of the metropolitan Mumbai city, based on a series of events that occur between 2 pm and 6 pm on a particular Wednesday, as the title suggests. A retired commissioner of Police, Prakash Rathod narrates the most memorable and significant case of his working life where he and his team were informed about a probable bomb scare in the city of Mumbai by an ordinary anonymous caller. The twists and turns of the movie are bound to keep you on edge throughout, guessing what would happen next.
4. Drishyam (2015)
Vijay Salgaonkar, played by Ajay Devgn, is a native of a small village in Goa, where he lives with his wife and two daughters and runs a cable TV business in his remote village. Even after having failed the 4th grade, Vijay lived a happy life with his family, while also enjoying his love and fascination for watching movies. His happy and peaceful life comes to a halt when one day, the teenage son of a high ranking police official goes missing and the Salgaonkar family is called in as the prime set of suspects. The family goes through massive turmoil through the process and the movie ends with a totally mind boggling climax.
5. Kaun (1999)
A typical Ram Gopal Verma thriller movie ‘Kaun?’, revolves around the story of a young woman who is alone at home on a stormy, dark evening when an announcement is circulate over the television stating that a serial killer is out in the open. Soon, things take a strange turn when the woman hears a doorbell ring only to find a stranger at her door who pleads her to let him in.
6. Khiladi (1992)
Things get ugly when four college friends Raj, Boney, Neelam and Sheetal plan on playing a practical joke by pretending to kidnap Sheetal and demand ransom from her affluent father, and in this process, one of them is mysteriously murdered. It gets worse for them when Raj’s elder brother is the police officer in charge of the murder case. A series of unfortunate events and unexpected turns follow this incident.
7. Gupt (1997)
Sahil, played by Bobby Deol, is wrongly accused and arrested with charges for killing his stepfather. Although he did not commit the crime, there existed circumstantial evidence that put him under the light of prime suspect under the eyes of the police. On being unable to handle the difficulties of prison life, Sahil escapes from jail and sets out on a mission to prove his innocence to the authorities. However, it is not as easy as it sounds…
8. Special 26 (2013)
A group of well trained con artists in the early 1980’s are involved in robbing important public personalities such as businessmen and politicians of their black money by breaking into their homes and offices and conducting fake raids by posing to be members of the Central Bureau of Investigation or income tax officers. With the real CBI tracking their steps and activities, they plan to carry out their biggest robbery ever.
9. Manorama Six Feet Under (2007)
Loosely based on Roman Polanski’s film Chinatown, this movie is a neo noir thriller based on the life of an amateur detective and down on luck public works engineer, living in a small town in Rajasthan with his wife. His life takes an unforeseen turn when he is approached by Mrs. P. P. Rathore, a woman seeking his detective skills and ingenuity to help her gather evidence of the fact that her husband is a philanderer and is having an affair, only to realise later that the woman who came to him with her task was actually an impostor and the real Mrs. Rathore is an invalid. The protagonist digs deeper into this story with the help of his cop friends only to realise that there’s more to what meets the eye.
10. NH10 (2015)
Married couple Arjun and Meera plan to go on a road trip journey for Meera’s birthday, unbeknown to what this trip had in store for them. While having lunch on a roadside Dhaba, a girl named Pinky seeks them out for help as she was being hunted down by a gang of men, only to be murdered by the gang, along with her husband. Arjun and Meera have just witnessed a case of honour killing. Shocked and scared, the two try to escape but were followed and found by the gang that carried out the killing. The story further goes into their fight with the gang members and them trying to find a way out of this mess.
In Conclusion, Alike Hollywood, Bollywood industry also has a long list of great films that have gritty storylines, nail-biting suspense and experience to keep your attention caught throughout. These were our top picks for top suspense movies in Bollywood.
Do let us know in the comments if we missed out any of your favourites!