5 gripping political thrillers that show how corrupt society has become

The political thriller genre is as interesting as it sounds understanding real-life politics and their long-term implications. Still, political thrillers are often seen as somewhat boring and drawn-out, but these 5 films captivated audiences and amazed even the most skeptical critics. These films further prove the relevance and marketability of this genre.

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The film starts from Indrani’s (Rituparna Sengupta) point of view. She’s the Bengali professor of a prominent college where student elections are covered by the media. We see her sister-in –law, Aditi (Priyanka), celebrating her winning the general secretary's post with her fellow comrades and the leader she hero-worships, Udayshekhar Indu (Rahul). As the professors join the celebrations and start dancing with the students, Indrani is shot by an unknown assassin. The story goes into a flashback from there and we see Indrani’s earlier feud with Indu and her protest against his dadagiri. To see an end to this, Indrani writes a letter to the education minister. A meeting with the minister gives Indrani a chance to be a part of the advisory committee that is looking into the 1000-crore education scam in the state.

With ‘Dharmajuddha’, Raj Chakraborty focuses on the terrible consequences of communal violence and the subsequent incitement of riots. The plot creates certain settings that can be called claustrophobic and crowded. However, this film is aimed at creating a certain uneasiness, asking questions that are all too real, and showcasing incidents that are too close for comfort, with a good deal of graphic detailing to make it even more believable. Dharmajuddha is definitely a movie that paints a convincing picture of how incitements work, and how friends turn enemies in the face of blind hatred, reminding us, once again, of the pity of war, and what violence and misinformation turns one into.

In Arindam Bhattacharya’s ‘Shibpur’, in the eighties, a government employee is killed in a gang-related incident. His widow Mandira struggles to get justice for her husband’s death and reaches out to a local goon named Tapan. With his help, she manages to track down her husband’s killers and kills one of them herself. Tapan gives her a small share in his business and in a few months Mandira becomes an influential figure in Shibpur. She becomes a mobster herself and an eyesore for the two other gang leaders Tapan and Nepal.

The political thriller ‘Proloy’ raised questions against a burning social issue that has plagued Bengal over the years, a common man’s fight against evil politicians. The common people’s fight against corrupt political leaders has been a great source of cinematic material for Bengali cinema but with Barun Biswas (played by Parambrata Chatterjee) in 'Proloy', Raj brings in a real-life protagonist whose courage and heroism struck the right chord among the masses. In ‘Proloy’, Saswata Chatterjee appears as Animesh Dutta, a realistic cop fighting against the crime-prone suburb area. He gets to know a name Barun Biswas, who was brutally killed for protesting the corrupt politicians in the small town. While Animesh plans to control the entire situation but suddenly the serial killing of the criminals gives him a new challenge. Saswata simply bamboozled the audience in a never-seen-before smart officer avatar.

Inspired by the attack on a Dhaka cafe in July 2016, Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki exposes terrorism’s phony religious ideology in this film. The film is loosely inspired by the deadly attack on a quiet bakery cafe, where on July 1, 2016 five armed gunmen took the staff and customers hostage, including many foreigners. The film is set, beginning the action just after it, when things have momentarily calmed down, and draws the curtains just before the police move in for the final kill.