While 2018 has been a tremendously successful year for films overall, it was the good stories that won the hearts and the moolah. With the growing demand for fresh ideas, fresh scripts, a lot of films which were unexpected to do extremely well at the box office, have gone on to become massive successes, preceding over the A-lister film and the ensemble big ticket films. Indie or independent films have a growing attraction for audiences as the audiences are craving for a great line up of actors and an impeccable storyline. While the year is filled with massive ensembles, big action dramas, biopics, these are the smaller indie films which are definitely worthy to be on everyone’s watch list for 2019.

Bombairiya

Bombairiya is a black comedy-drama film directed by Pia Sukanya and written and produced by Michael E. Ward. The film stars Radhika Apte, Siddhanth Kapoor, Akshay Oberoi, Adil Hussain, Ravi Kishan, Amit Sial, Ajinkya Deo and Shilpa Shukla. It’s a story where lead actress Radhika, gets involved in a series of events after her phone gets stolen. Bombairiya is scheduled to release on 11 January 2019.

Hamid

Hamid is a heartwarming tale of a relationship between a widowed mother and a young son who loses his father in the unrest set in the backdrop of Kashmir. The film deals and tells the plight of the current scenario of Kashmir and its impact on the people who live there. The story is about an eight-year-old Hamid who learns that 786 is God's number and decides to try and reach out to God, by dialling this number. The film stars Rasika Dugal, Vikas Kumar and Talha Arshad Reshi. Hamid is produced by Saregama's, Yoodlee Films and directed by Aijaz Khan.

No Fathers In Kashmir

No Fathers In Kashmir has been directed by India’s youngest director to be nominated for Oscars and has already won two National Awards, Ashvin Kumar. Ashvin’s film is a love story of two innocent 16-year-olds who are met with the same fortune of having lost their fathers who have disappeared in Kashmir with no certainty of their return. The love-struck teenagers, in their search, uncover the hidden secrets of the lost fathers of Kashmir. The film stars the two kids Zara Webb, Shivam Rana in addition to having an impressive ensemble cast comprising of Kulbulshan Kharbanda, Soni Razdan and Anshuman Jha.

Kaamyaab

The movie Kaamyaab is about a seasoned character actor played by Sanjay Mishra who decides to come out of retirement and realize that all his life he did something, but missed out on one little thing, that makes his life incomplete. It's about a character actor who did many roles but didn't do one important role. Kaamyaam is produced by Eros and Drishyam Films. It also starts Deepak Dobriyal and Isha Talwar in pivotal roles. It’s been directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Hardik Mehta.

Pind Daan

Pind Daan is a Hindi movie that will mark the directorial debut of veteran actress Seema Pahwa who is known for her acting skills in films like Shubh Mangal Savdhan, Bareilly Ki Barfi amongst many others. The cast of the film will have popular actors Vikrant Massey, Naseeruddin Shah, Vinay Pathak, Manoj Pahwa, Konkana Sen, Deepika Amin and Ninad Kamat. The film is expected to be a family drama and the makers will commence shooting early next year. Pind Daan is produced under the banners Jio Studios and Drishyam Films.

Tryst with Destiny

The film Tyst with Destiny is a reference to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech to Parliament on August 14, 1947. The film focuses on social issues that India has been going through since independence in four-part stories. The cast includes Vineet Kumar Singh, Geetanjali Thapa, Amit Sial, Prakash Raj and Suhasini Maniratnam. It’s been produced under the banner Drishyam Films and Backup Media. The film is being directed by Prashant Nair.

Pashmina

The film Pashmina is a film narrated through the point of view of a young Kashmiri girl. Pashmina touches off an interlocking story involving four different people with separate lives colliding with each other. The film stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Shweta Tripathi, Dulquer Salmaan, Zaira Wasim, Ronit Roy, Soni Razdan, Farida Jalal. Pashmina is directed by Danish Renzu.

The Storyteller

Actor and director Ananth Mahadevan will be retelling Satyajit Ray’s The Storyteller in Hindi that will feature Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Revathi and Tannishtha Chatterjee as its main cast. The Storyteller is one adventurous ride which surprises the audiences at times. The Storyteller is a story of an uncle who turns a storyteller after he retires from his job.

Yours Truly

Yours Truly is a romantic drama film directed by National Award winner Sanjoy Nag. The film stars Soni Razdan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aahana Kumra and Mahesh Bhatt in a special appearance. It is an official adaptation of one of the stories from the book LOVE STORIES #1 TO 14 authored by Annie Zaidi. The film is produced by Shiladitya Bora under Platoon One. Actor-director Soni Razdan is all set to share screen space with husband filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt for the first time in Yours Truly.

Cargo

The Masaan fame actress Shweta Tripathi will be sharing the screen space with the very talented Vikrant Massey in Anurag Kashyap, Shlok Sharma and Vikramaditya Motwane's Sci-Fi film named Cargo. Arati Kadav will be directing the film and the film is based inside a spaceship orbiting in the space. Both the actors, Shweta and Vikrant will be seen donning the role of astronauts and were seen together in recently released hit video on demand series Mirzapur.

Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai

Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai is the modern version of Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s classic starring Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil with the same name released in 1980. Soumitra Ranade is all set to revamp the classic into a riveting tale of the protagonist played by Manav Kaul attempting to avenge his father's death. The film also stars Nandita Das, Saurabh Shukla and Kishor Kadam. The film is said to be a road movie and interestingly Nandita Das will be seen playing seven characters in the film.

Photograph

After his successful debut with The Lunchbox producer and director Ritesh Batra’s studio Poetic License Motion Pictures, is all set to bring another masterpiece with his next Photograph. The film traces the life of struggling street photographer played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who persuades, a reclusive stranger played by Sanya Malhotra, to pose as his fiancée to escape the pressures of marriage from family.

Gone Kesh

The bubbly actress Shweta Tripathi after giving a mesmerizing performance in Mirzapur is all set to play a 15-year-old aspiring dancer in GoneKesh which is touted to be India's first ever film based on Alopecia. The film deals with a very common disorder Alopecia which is often neglected by the people affected by it. The film is directed by debutante Qasim Khallow the first ever Tibetan Muslim to work in Bollywood. The film is set in the backdrop of a small town Siliguri, in West Bengal.