10 Best Dibakar Banerjee Movies and Where to Watch Them
When it comes to daring and provocative Bollywood movies, Dibakar Banerjee is one of the leading directors. From exploring social taboos in the Love, Sex, aur Dhokha franchise to crafting satirical comedies like Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Banerjee has had an impressive track record.
Which Dibakar Banerjee movies should I watch first?
To understand the evolution of Dibakar Banerjee’s filmmaking craft, it’s best to start with his earliest works which were relatively more light-hearted. You can then progress to his later works that went on to explore darker themes with diverse genres.
Banerjee’s debut film Khosla Ka Ghosla remains a thoroughly entertaining watch even today. Starring Anupam Kher as a hard-working middle-class man who gets scammed by a greedy property dealer (played to perfection by Boman Irani). The film’s family-friendly humour along with its social commentary on the real estate industry made it a powerful debut for Banerjee.
His follow-up was the Abhay Deol-led heist comedy Oye Lucky Lucky Oye. With Deol playing a streetsmart thief and Paresh Rawal in a triple role, the comedy cemented Banerjee’s status as a director of dark comedies.
Banerjee took his satirical tendencies up a notch with the adult-oriented found footage drama Love Sex Aur Dhokha. Exploring dark themes like honour killings, MMS sex scandals, and crime journalism, the anthology film proved to be a gamechanger in 2010s-era Bollywood.
In 2012, Banerjee flirted with the crime genre again with the political thriller Shanghai that reunited him with Abhay Deol while also featuring Emraan Hashmi and Kalki Koechlin. The nail biting drama was a Hindi remake of the acclaimed 1969 French film Z and explored the aftermath of a political activist’s death.
Perhaps one of Banerjee’s most stylish movies has been the 2015 period thriller Detective Byomkesh Bakshy. The late Sushant Singh Rajput portrayed the titular Bengali detective who uncovers a conspiracy in British-ruled India. The film boasted period-accurate set pieces, impressive visual effects, and a sleek noir aesthetic.
After the COVID pandemic, Banerjee’s feminist crime drama Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar was released directly on Prime Video instead of the cinemas. Boasting career-best performances by Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor as a mismatched duo on the run, the Prime original continued Banerjee’s streak of crafting entertaining but thoughtful crime films.
Banerjee has also made several short films that have been featured in anthologies like Bombay Talkies and the Netflix originals Lust Stories and Ghost Stories.
Why is LSD 2 the best Dibakar Banerjee movie to watch?
Dibakar Banerjee’s latest endeavour has been a sequel to Love Sex Aur Dhokha, and it proves that he still has the wit and charm of his previous works. Titled LSD 2, the 2024 release yet again follows an anthology format. This time, the segments are mainly focused on social media trends and the dangers new-age technology like Artificial Intelligence poses.
Notably, the stories also usher in a new era of transgender representation in mainstream Bollywood. This is summed up by a standout performance by newcomer Bonita Rajpurohit. The other segments are equally interesting with satirical takes on Indian reality shows and YouTube influencers.
If you wish to watch Banerjee’s best movies (like his latest LSD2 which dropped on Netflix), we offer you the very best of his filmography. We’ll also show you how and where to stream all of these movies in India!
