DesiRulez

How DesiRulez looks

DesiRulez keeps the look of the site it is named after, a large discussion forum for lovers of Indian television and films. The page opens with a dark navy header. At its top left is the logo, a yellow disc with a play arrow and the name in white and yellow above the old motto of the site. Beneath it, a line of grey-blue text welcomes the guest, with two yellow links to the How to watch page and to My List. At the right of the header is a rounded panel with a search box and a yellow button.

Along the foot of the header runs the navigation bar, a row of bold white tabs separated by fine lines: Forum, Movies, Comedy, Romance, Sports, True Stories, A to Z and Help. The tab for the page you are on turns yellow, as it did on the original site. On a phone, the tabs fold into a yellow three-line button beside the logo.

The rest of the page sits on a pale blue-grey background, inside a white panel with rounded corners. A bold breadcrumb with a small house marks your place, and under it come the heading and a line about the catalogue. Then the forums begin. Each group, Movies by genre, Movies by theme and Movies by year, opens with a yellow bar carrying its title in dark bold letters. Under the bar, every forum has a row of its own, alternately tinted and white: a round icon on the left, the name of the forum in bold teal, a short description and three of its best-loved films as small links, the number of films it holds, and at the right the newest film in the forum with its year, in the place where the original showed the latest post.

Below the forums come two rows of posters, New releases and Top rated, then a block of links to the help pages and finally this guide, each under the same yellow bar. The footer is a simple line of small bold links. The navy, the yellow, the teal links, the heights of the bars and the layout of the forum rows were measured from saved copies of the original site and its style sheet from 2013; the typeface is a close relative of the Arial it used, and every part of the page works with a keyboard, a screen reader and a small phone screen.

Small-town comedies

The heart of the catalogue is the comedy of ordinary life in the towns of north India. The Small-town India forum holds 22 films, the Comedy forum holds 124, and the Small-town India and Comedy help pages offer short tours.

Badhaai Ho, from 2018, directed by Amit Sharma, begins with an announcement. Nakul, a young man of twenty-five with a good job and a girlfriend, played by Ayushmann Khurrana, learns that his middle-aged mother is expecting a baby. He is mortified, the neighbours gossip, his grandmother has a great deal to say, and his shy, poetry-loving father can hardly meet anyone's eye. Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao are wonderful as the parents, and Surekha Sikri won a national award as the sharp-tongued grandmother who turns out to be the family's fiercest defender. The film was one of the great successes of its year.

Bareilly Ki Barfi, from 2017, directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, is set in the town of its title. Bitti, played by Kriti Sanon, is a free-spirited young woman who works at the electricity office and despairs of finding a husband who will accept her as she is. Then she reads a novel whose heroine is exactly like her, and sets out to find the author. The trouble is that the real writer, a printing-press owner played by Ayushmann Khurrana, published it under the name of a timid friend, played by Rajkummar Rao, whose transformation from mouse to swaggering tough is the comic highlight of the film.

Bala, from 2019, directed by Amar Kaushik, follows a young man in Kanpur who was once the proud owner of the best head of hair in his school and is now losing it fast; he tries every remedy before learning to like himself. Ujda Chaman, released in the same season, tells a similar story about a lecturer in Delhi who is given a deadline to find a wife, and Gone Kesh looks at the same condition from a young woman's side, with great gentleness. Luka Chuppi, from 2019, sends a television reporter in Mathura and his colleague into a pretend marriage that both their families take very seriously indeed, and Mimi, from 2021, by the same director, stars Kriti Sanon as a dancer in a small town of Rajasthan who agrees to carry a child for a visiting couple, with Pankaj Tripathi as the driver who becomes her loyal friend; both actors won national awards for it.

Sui Dhaaga - Made in India, from 2018, directed by Sharat Katariya, is the story of Mauji and Mamta, played by Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma. Mauji, the cheerful son of a family of tailors, works as an errand boy for a shopkeeper who makes fun of him; encouraged by his quiet wife, he leaves the job, and the two of them set out to make their own clothes with one sewing machine and a great deal of pride. Dasvi, from 2022, sends a boastful politician with little schooling to prison, where he decides to study for his school certificate, and Kaagaz, from 2021, directed by Satish Kaushik, tells the true and absurd story of Lal Bihari, a farmer played by Pankaj Tripathi who spent nineteen years proving to the authorities that he was alive.

More of the same pleasure waits on the shelf. Behen Hogi Teri is set in a Lucknow neighbourhood where every boy is expected to treat every girl as a sister, which is awkward for Gattu, who is in love with the girl next door. Motichoor Chaknachoor pairs a woman who dreams of living abroad with a man who has just come home from Dubai, Jayeshbhai Jordaar follows a mild-mannered husband in Gujarat who finds his courage to protect his wife and daughter, and Babli Bouncer follows a village girl who takes a job as a bouncer at a Delhi nightclub. Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, set in the Bombay of the 1990s, is about a detective who investigates prospective bridegrooms, and Bhool Chuk Maaf, from 2025, traps a young man of Banaras in the day before his wedding, which repeats until he keeps a forgotten promise.

Big comedies and capers

The older tradition of the loud, star-filled comedy is alive and well, and several long-running series have entries here.

Total Dhamaal, from 2019, sends a crowd of greedy characters, played by Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi and Jaaved Jaaferi, racing across the country towards a hidden fortune in a zoo, and Dhamaal 4, from 2026, sends the gang off on another treasure hunt. Housefull 3 and Housefull 4 continue the series of comedies of mistaken identity, the second of them leaping back six hundred years to explain why three couples are engaged to the wrong partners. Fukrey Returns reunites four friends from Delhi and their scheme for easy money, and Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se brings Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol together again.

Mubarakan, from 2017, directed by Anees Bazmee, gives Arjun Kapoor the double role of twin brothers raised in different branches of a Punjabi family, and Anil Kapoor the role of the well-meaning uncle whose plans to arrange their weddings go wrong at every step. Cirkus, from 2022, directed by Rohit Shetty, is a fresh version of the Comedy of Errors, with two pairs of identical twins in the same town in the 1960s. Hungama 2, by the veteran Priyadarshan, is a farce of two families and one misunderstanding, and Guest iin London is about an aunt and uncle who come to stay with a young couple and show little sign of leaving.

Good Newwz, from 2019, is a comedy about two couples with the same surname, one polished and one exuberant, whose treatments at a fertility clinic are mixed up; Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani make a lively quartet. Khel Khel Mein, from 2024, gathers seven friends at a wedding party, where they agree to share every message that arrives on their telephones during dinner, and Selfiee, from 2023, sets a film star against a transport officer who is his greatest admirer until a small misunderstanding turns them into rivals. Dhoom Dhaam, from 2025, follows a mismatched couple through a chaotic chase on their wedding night, and Happy Bhag Jayegi, from 2016, is about a runaway bride from Amritsar who climbs into the wrong lorry and wakes up in Lahore.

Love stories

The Love stories forum holds 75 films, and the Love stories help page suggests where to begin. The romances of this decade are more varied than those of any earlier one, from big musical journeys to very small and delicate films.

Badrinath Ki Dulhania, from 2017, directed by Shashank Khaitan, follows Badri, the son of a wealthy family in Jhansi, played by Varun Dhawan, and Vaidehi, played by Alia Bhatt, a clever young woman from Kota who wants a career before she wants a husband. The film is a bright comedy with a serious heart, and its songs were heard everywhere. The same director and star returned in 2025 with Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari. Jab Harry Met Sejal, from 2017, directed by Imtiaz Ali, sends a tour guide, played by Shah Rukh Khan, and a young woman from Gujarat, played by Anushka Sharma, across Europe in search of her lost engagement ring.

Love per Square Foot, from 2018, is a charming comedy about Sanjay and Karina, two bank employees in Mumbai who earn too little to buy a flat on their own and decide to apply for one together, as a couple on paper; Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar play them, and the city is the third leading character. Meenakshi Sundareshwar, from 2021, set in Madurai, follows two newlyweds who must live in different cities when the husband finds a job at a company that employs only bachelors, and Hum Do Hamare Do, from the same year, follows a young man who hires a couple to play his parents in order to impress his future in-laws.

The quieter romances are among the best films in the catalogue. October, from 2018, directed by Shoojit Sircar, follows Dan, a restless trainee at a Delhi hotel, played by Varun Dhawan, who finds a purpose in caring for a colleague after an accident; it is a film about devotion, told almost in a whisper. Photograph, from 2019, directed by Ritesh Batra, follows a street photographer at the Gateway of India, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who persuades a shy student, played by Sanya Malhotra, to pose as his fiancée for his grandmother's sake. Qarib Qarib Singlle, from 2017, sends two people who met through a dating site, a talkative poet played by Irrfan and a reserved widow played by Parvathy, on a journey to visit his former sweethearts.

Dil Bechara, from 2020, with music by A. R. Rahman, is the story of Kizie and Manny, two young people in Jamshedpur who meet through illness and decide to make the most of their time; it was the last film of Sushant Singh Rajput, and it is watched with special affection. Laila Majnu, from 2018, sets the old legend in present-day Kashmir, with Avinash Tiwary and Triptii Dimri, and has found a devoted following since its release. Shiddat follows a young man who will cross a continent for the woman he loves, Meri Pyaari Bindu follows a novelist remembering the neighbour he has loved since childhood, and Fitoor moves Great Expectations to Kashmir.

The newest romances are here too. Nadaaniyan, from 2025, follows a wealthy student in Delhi who hires a classmate to pose as her boyfriend, Loveyapa follows a young couple who are made to exchange telephones for a day, Param Sundari brings a young man from the north to the backwaters of Kerala, and Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri is set during a summer in Croatia. Gustaakh Ishq is a romance of poetry and printing presses in the old city of Delhi, and Do Deewane Seher Mein, from 2026, follows two shy young people in Mumbai who find each other.

Weddings and marriages

The wedding is the great set piece of Hindi cinema, and the Weddings forum holds 39 films. The Weddings help page sorts them into the road to the wedding and the life that follows.

Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, from 2023, set in Indore, follows Kapil and Somya, a young married couple, played by Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan, who live with his large family and long for a home of their own; their plan to qualify for a government flat involves pretending to separate, with predictable complications. JugJugg Jeeyo, from 2022, brings a young couple home from Canada for a family wedding, each intending to announce a separation, only to learn that the groom's father has a surprise of his own; Anil Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor play the parents.

14 Phere follows a couple from two different communities who hire actors to play their parents and hold two weddings, one for each family. Ginny Weds Sunny follows a young man in Delhi who enlists a matchmaker, the mother of the woman he hopes to marry, to help him win her, and Plan A Plan B puts a matchmaker and a divorce lawyer in offices side by side. Veerey Ki Wedding, Jai Mummy Di, in which two mothers who are lifelong rivals discover that their children are in love, Running Shaadi, Mitron, 5 Weddings and Shaadisthan, a road trip with a wedding band, fill out the forum.

A few films look at marriage with more seriousness. Mrs., from 2023, follows a newly married dancer, played by Sanya Malhotra, who finds that her days now belong to the kitchen, and slowly finds her own voice. Sukhee follows a housewife from a small town in Punjab who goes to her school reunion in Delhi and remembers who she used to be, and Tumhari Sulu, from 2017, with Vidya Balan, follows a cheerful housewife in a Mumbai suburb who wins a contest and becomes the host of a late-night radio programme.

Family films

The Family forum holds 84 films, and the Family films help page picks out the best.

Kapoor & Sons, from 2016, directed by Shakun Batra, is set in the hill town of Coonoor. Two brothers, one a successful novelist in London and the other still struggling in New Jersey, come home when their ninety-year-old grandfather falls ill, and the old rivalries and secrets of the family rise to the surface. Rishi Kapoor, under remarkable make-up, plays the mischievous grandfather whose one wish is a family photograph; Ratna Pathak Shah and Rajat Kapoor play the parents, and Sidharth Malhotra, Fawad Khan and Alia Bhatt the younger generation. It is funny and painful in equal measure, and widely regarded as one of the finest Hindi films of the decade.

Gulmohar, from 2023, gives the Batra family four days to leave the Delhi house where they have lived for thirty-four years, and gives Sharmila Tagore, returning to the screen after a long absence, a part worthy of her, with Manoj Bajpayee as her son. Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi, the first film directed by the actress Seema Pahwa, gathers a large family in Lucknow for the thirteen days of ritual that follow the loss of its head, and watches the brothers, wives and cousins with a keen comic eye. The Mehta Boys, from 2025, the first film directed by Boman Irani, shuts a father and son who rarely agree in one flat for forty-eight hours.

Parents and children are the subject of many of the best films here. Angrezi Medium, from 2020, stars Irrfan, in his last role, as a sweet-shop owner in Udaipur who will do anything to send his daughter, played by Radhika Madan, to university in London. Nil Battey Sannata, from 2016, directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, follows Chanda, a domestic worker in Agra, played by Swara Bhasker, who enrols in her daughter's class at school to shame the girl into studying mathematics. Helicopter Eela casts Kajol as a single mother who follows her son to college, Rajma Chawal casts Rishi Kapoor as a father in old Delhi who tries to reach his son through social media, and Dear Dad and Trial Period, in which a small boy demands a father on thirty days' approval, are gentle variations on the theme.

Old age is treated with unusual warmth in the cinema of this decade. Uunchai, from 2022, directed by Sooraj Barjatya, follows three friends in their seventies, played by Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and Boman Irani, who set out to trek to the base camp of Mount Everest in memory of a fourth. Sharmaji Namkeen, from 2022, follows a retired widower in Delhi who discovers a gift for cooking and a new circle of friends; Rishi Kapoor began the part, and after his passing Paresh Rawal completed it, so that two actors share one role. The catalogue also holds the comedy in which Amitabh Bachchan plays a lively man of 102 and Rishi Kapoor his cautious son of 75; you will find it in the Top rated forum, under the number in its title.

Shiv Shastri Balboa sends a retired bank clerk and admirer of the Rocky films, played by Anupam Kher, on an unplanned road trip across America with Neena Gupta. Mast Mein Rehne Ka is about a lonely widower in Mumbai, played by Jackie Shroff, who decides to start talking to strangers, Kaalidhar Laapata is about an ageing man who leaves home and finds an eight-year-old friend, and Vanvaas follows a father, played by Nana Patekar, who is left behind in Varanasi and befriended by a young rogue. Daadi Ki Shaadi, from 2026, begins when a grandmother's message on social media causes alarm among her children.

Sports films

India loves sport, and the sports film has become one of the most dependable pleasures of Hindi cinema. The Sports forum holds 27 films, and the Sports films help page arranges them by game.

Cricket comes first. M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, from 2016, directed by Neeraj Pandey, follows Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the school fields of Ranchi and a job as a ticket inspector on the railways to the captaincy of India and the winning stroke of the 2011 World Cup; Sushant Singh Rajput's performance, down to the famous helicopter shot, is uncanny. Jersey, from 2022, stars Shahid Kapoor as a gifted batsman who gave up the game and returns to it in his late thirties so that he can buy his small son a team shirt. Shabaash Mithu tells the story of Mithali Raj, captain of the Indian women's team, Kaun Pravin Tambe? tells the true story of a Mumbai club player who made his professional debut at forty-one, and Ghoomer follows a young batter who loses her right hand and learns, under a difficult coach played by Abhishek Bachchan, to bowl with her left. Mr. & Mrs. Mahi, The Zoya Factor and Kacchey Limbu are lighter stories from the same world.

Hockey and football have fine films of their own. Gold, from 2018, directed by Reema Kagti, tells of the Indian hockey team that won the Olympic title in London in 1948, the first as an independent nation, with Akshay Kumar as the team manager who would rest only when the flag was raised. Soorma tells the true story of Sandeep Singh, a hockey player who returned to the national team after a serious injury, with Diljit Dosanjh in the part. Maidaan, from 2024, stars Ajay Devgn as Syed Abdul Rahim, the coach who led the Indian football team to its greatest years in the 1950s and early 1960s, and Jhund, from 2022, directed by Nagraj Manjule, stars Amitabh Bachchan as a retired sports teacher in Nagpur who makes a football team out of the young people of a poor neighbourhood.

The range of sports is wide. Saina follows the badminton champion Saina Nehwal, Panga follows a former kabaddi player who returns to the game as a mother in her thirties, Rashmi Rocket follows a sprinter from Kutch, and Saand Ki Aankh tells the true story of Chandro and Prakashi Tomar, two grandmothers from a village in Uttar Pradesh who took up target shooting in their sixties and won medal after medal. Budhia Singh: Born to Run is about a small boy from Odisha who ran astonishing distances, Poorna is about a thirteen-year-old girl from Telangana who climbed Mount Everest, Toolsidas Junior is about a boy who learns snooker to restore his father's pride, Freaky Ali takes a street-smart Mumbai man to the golf course, and Jungle Cry follows twelve boys from Odisha to a rugby tournament in England. Chhalaang is a comedy about a lazy sports teacher who finally has to prove himself, and Tu Hai Mera Sunday follows five friends in search of somewhere in Mumbai to play football.

True stories

Films taken from real lives have multiplied in the past ten years, and the True stories forum holds 19 of them. The True stories help page offers a short tour.

Super 30, from 2019, stars Hrithik Roshan as Anand Kumar, a mathematician from Patna who gave up a comfortable job at a coaching institute to teach thirty gifted students from poor families, free of charge, for the entrance examination of the Indian Institutes of Technology. Mission Mangal, from the same year, celebrates the scientists of the Indian space agency who sent a probe to Mars at their first attempt and on a remarkably small budget, with Vidya Balan, Akshay Kumar, Taapsee Pannu and Sonakshi Sinha among the team.

Srikanth, from 2024, stars Rajkummar Rao as Srikanth Bolla, who was born blind in a village in Andhra Pradesh, fought for the right to study science, won a place at a great American university and returned to found a company that employs people with disabilities. Sarfira, from 2024, stars Akshay Kumar as a man from a small village who dreams of an airline with fares that ordinary people can afford. Tarla, from 2023, stars Huma Qureshi as Tarla Dalal, the home cook from Mumbai whose books and television programmes taught a nation to enjoy vegetarian cooking, and Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga, with Pankaj Tripathi, is drawn from events near a tiger reserve in Uttar Pradesh.

Several films, though invented, are close to real life. Newton, from 2017, directed by Amit Masurkar, follows an earnest young government clerk, played by Rajkummar Rao, who is sent to run a polling station for a handful of voters deep in a forest of central India and insists on doing everything by the book; Pankaj Tripathi plays the weary officer who escorts him. The film was India's entry for the Academy Awards. Sherni, by the same director, stars Vidya Balan as a forest officer trying to protect a tigress and the villagers who live near her. Batti Gul Meter Chalu is about a town plagued by wrong electricity bills, Pareeksha is about a rickshaw driver in Bihar who wants the best school for his son, Chalk N Duster and Rough Book are about teachers, and All India Rank, set in the 1990s, follows a seventeen-year-old sent away to prepare for the great engineering examination.

Quiet films

Some of the most rewarding films of the decade are small ones, and the Quiet films help page gathers them.

Karwaan, from 2018, is a road film. Avinash, a discontented office worker in Bangalore, played by Dulquer Salmaan in his first Hindi film, sets out for Kochi with his friend Shaukat, a van owner with an opinion on everything, played by Irrfan, and a college student named Tanya, played by Mithila Palkar; along the way he makes peace with the memory of his father. Mukti Bhawan, from 2016, also known as Hotel Salvation, follows a busy son who accompanies his elderly father to a guest house in Varanasi and finds, to his surprise, that the days there are full of laughter. It won prizes at festivals around the world.

Three of Us, from 2023, follows Shailaja, played by Shefali Shah, who returns with her husband to the coastal town of her childhood and meets an old friend, played by Jaideep Ahlawat. Once Again is about a film star and the owner of a small restaurant who speak every evening by telephone, 8 A.M. Metro is about two strangers who become friends on the morning train in Hyderabad, Yours Truly is about a lonely clerk in Calcutta who falls for the voice of a station announcer, and Waiting, from 2016, brings a retired professor, played by Naseeruddin Shah, and a young woman together in the corridors of a hospital.

The Storyteller, taken from a short story by Satyajit Ray, pairs Paresh Rawal as a retired man of Kolkata with a gift for telling tales and Adil Hussain as a businessman who hires him to cure his sleeplessness. Gulabo Sitabo, from 2020, set in a crumbling mansion in Lucknow, is a comedy of wits between an elderly landlord, played by Amitabh Bachchan, and his stubborn tenant, played by Ayushmann Khurrana. Zwigato, directed by Nandita Das, follows a delivery rider in Bhubaneswar, played by Kapil Sharma, and Kaamyaab follows a veteran character actor, played by Sanjay Mishra, who comes out of retirement to complete his five hundredth film.

Children are at the centre of several small films. Hamid follows an eight-year-old boy in Kashmir who dials a number in the hope of speaking to God, Chintu Ka Birthday follows an Indian family abroad determined to celebrate their son's sixth birthday in difficult times, Halkaa follows a boy in Delhi who wants a proper toilet for his home, and Chippa follows a ten-year-old through the streets of Kolkata on a winter night. The Wishing Tree is a fable about five children and a magical tree, and Shastry Viruddh Shastry is about a small boy caught between his parents and his devoted grandparents.

Other discoveries include Eeb Allay Ooo!, a satire about a young man hired to scare monkeys away from the government buildings of New Delhi; Axone, a comedy about friends from the north-east of India trying to cook a strong-smelling wedding dish in a Delhi flat; Ghoomketu, with Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a would-be writer who gives himself thirty days to succeed in Mumbai; Ram Singh Charlie, about a circus performer who must find a new life; Milestone, about a veteran lorry driver; Music Teacher, set in the hills; Jamun, Ribbon, Blue Mountains and Humans in the Loop.

Friends and college

Chhichhore, from 2019, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is the best-loved film about college life of recent years. When the son of a divorced couple is in hospital after disappointing examination results, his father, played by Sushant Singh Rajput, gathers the friends of his own student days to tell the boy about their time in the hostel known for its losers, and about the sports championship they very nearly won. The film moves between the 1990s and the present, with Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Tahir Raj Bhasin and Naveen Polishetty, and its message, that the effort matters more than the result, struck a chord across the country. It won the national award for the best Hindi film.

Yaariyan 2 follows three cousins who move to Mumbai, Friday Night Plan follows two brothers who slip out to the party of the year while their mother is away, and Middle Class Love follows a student who is tired of counting every rupee. Upstarts is about three graduates who start a company, Mere Desh Ki Dharti is about two engineers who turn to farming, Tumse Na Ho Payega is about a young man who leaves his job to sell home-cooked lunches, and Nawabzaade and Jhootha Kahin Ka are cheerful comedies of friendship.

Films led by women

One of the pleasures of the decade is the number of films carried by their actresses. Taapsee Pannu alone appears in eight films in the catalogue, among them Saand Ki Aankh, Rashmi Rocket, Shabaash Mithu and Mission Mangal. Vidya Balan leads Tumhari Sulu, Sherni and Mission Mangal; Kriti Sanon leads Bareilly Ki Barfi, Luka Chuppi and Mimi; and Sanya Malhotra leads Photograph, Meenakshi Sundareshwar and Mrs..

Dhak Dhak, from 2023, sends four women of different ages, played by Ratna Pathak Shah, Dia Mirza, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanjana Sanghi, on motorcycles from Delhi to one of the highest roads in the world. Double XL follows two women who refuse to be judged by their size, Maja Ma gives Madhuri Dixit the role of a devoted mother with a secret of her own, Single Salma follows a woman from Lucknow who has supported her family for years and is at last thinking of herself, and Salaam Venky, directed by Revathi, stars Kajol as the mother of a young man who meets great difficulty with a smile. Noor follows a young journalist in Mumbai, and Patna Shuklla follows a housewife who is also a lawyer and takes up the case of a student.

Music and adventure

The Music and dance forum holds 14 films, and the Music and dance help page introduces them. Jagga Jasoos, from 2017, directed by Anurag Basu, is a true musical: Jagga, a schoolboy detective with a stammer who can speak freely only when he sings, played by Ranbir Kapoor, travels the world in search of his missing father. It is a film of rare invention, and families return to it often. Rock On 2 reunites a rock band in the hills of Meghalaya, Banjo follows a street musician from Mumbai, Fanney Khan follows a taxi driver, played by Anil Kapoor, who wants his daughter to become the singer he could have been, and Street Dancer 3D and Bhangra Paa Le are films about dance.

Adventure has a small shelf of its own. Mohenjo Daro, from 2016, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, takes Hrithik Roshan to the cities of the Indus valley four thousand years ago. Junglee, from 2019, follows a veterinary surgeon who returns to his father's elephant reserve and defends the herd against poachers, and Azaad, from 2025, is the story of a stable boy and a spirited horse in the India of the 1920s. Firangi, with Kapil Sharma, is a comedy set in a village under colonial rule, Phillauri is a fantasy in which a bridegroom is followed home by a friendly spirit from another century, played by Anushka Sharma, and Hello Charlie sends a simple young man across the country with a very unusual passenger.

Actors to follow

The Actors to follow help page suggests a way of exploring the catalogue through its faces. Ayushmann Khurrana built a career on parts that other stars avoided, and Badhaai Ho, Bala, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Doctor G, in which he plays a reluctant student of gynaecology, Dream Girl 2 and Gulabo Sitabo show how much comedy he found in embarrassment. Rajkummar Rao, who appears in ten films here, can play a timid salesman, a principled clerk and a blind industrialist with equal conviction: see Bareilly Ki Barfi, Newton, Chhalaang, Hum Do Hamare Do, Srikanth, Mr. & Mrs. Mahi and Bhool Chuk Maaf.

Pankaj Tripathi, once a character actor glimpsed in small parts, is now a star whose name alone sells a film; he is at his best in Newton, Mimi, Kaagaz, Bareilly Ki Barfi and Luka Chuppi. Neena Gupta enjoyed a remarkable second career after Badhaai Ho, with Uunchai, Shiv Shastri Balboa, Mast Mein Rehne Ka and Panga. Among the older generation, Paresh Rawal appears in ten films, Amitabh Bachchan in four and Rishi Kapoor in three of his last and finest.

Three much-missed actors are well represented. Irrfan can be seen in Karwaan, Qarib Qarib Singlle and Angrezi Medium; Rishi Kapoor in Kapoor & Sons, Rajma Chawal and Sharmaji Namkeen; and Sushant Singh Rajput in M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, Chhichhore and Dil Bechara.

Year by year

Three forums arrange the catalogue by date, and the Year by year help page describes them. The 2016 to 2018 forum holds 69 films, including Kapoor & Sons, Nil Battey Sannata, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Newton, Tumhari Sulu, October, Karwaan, Sui Dhaaga - Made in India and Badhaai Ho. These were the years in which the small-town film found its audience.

The 2019 to 2021 forum holds 67 films. Its first year was a rich one, with Chhichhore, Super 30, Bala, Mission Mangal and Good Newwz; then theatres closed for long periods, and many films, among them Gulabo Sitabo, Dil Bechara, Chhalaang, Mimi and Sherni, went directly to the streaming services, where they reached families at home.

The 2022 to 2026 forum holds 77 films, from Jhund, Uunchai and Sharmaji Namkeen to Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, Srikanth, Maidaan, The Mehta Boys and the newest arrivals. The New releases row on the home page always shows the twelve most recent films in the catalogue.

The highest rated

The Top rated forum gathers the 22 films with the highest ratings from viewers around the world, and the Top rated help page explains how it works. It is the quickest way to the very best: M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, Chhichhore, Kapoor & Sons, Badhaai Ho, Super 30, Newton, Karwaan, Sui Dhaaga - Made in India, Angrezi Medium, Nil Battey Sannata, Gold, Soorma, Maidaan, Srikanth and Jersey are all there. The forum is rebuilt each time the catalogue is refreshed, so newer films join it as more viewers rate them.

Finding a film

There are several ways to find a film on DesiRulez, and the Finding titles help page describes each one. The search panel in the header accepts a title, in Hindi or in English, and shows matching films as you type. The A to Z page lists all 213 films in alphabetical order, the Movies page lists them by popularity, and the twelve forums on the home page arrange them by genre, by theme and by year.

Hindi titles are spelt in English letters in many ways, and film-makers are fond of unusual spellings, so if a search finds too little, type a shorter part of the name. Sequels carry their numbers, so Housefull 3 and Housefull 4, or Dream Girl 2 and Fukrey Returns, are easy to tell apart, and the year on each page separates a new film from an older one with the same name: Laila Majnu here is the film of 2018, and Love Aaj Kal the film of 2020.

What a title page shows

Every film has a page of its own. At the top are the poster, the title, the original Hindi title, the year, the running time and the rating from viewers around the world. Below come the story in English, the genres, the director and the leading actors, and a row of related films from the same forums. The Watch now button opens a list of the official services that carry the film in your country, with a note of whether each one offers it to subscribers, to rent or to buy.

Recent Hindi films are easy to find on the large streaming services, and most are offered with English subtitles and often with dubbed sound in several Indian languages. Availability differs from country to country and changes from month to month, so the list on each title page is the best place to look.

Each title page also has an Add to My List button. One press stores the film in a private list held by your own browser, with neither an account nor a password, and the list is waiting for you on your next visit from that device. The My List help page explains how to add, review and remove films and how to carry the list to another device.

A first week

For a newcomer, seven evenings are enough to meet the best of the decade. On the first evening, laugh with Badhaai Ho. On the second, watch Kapoor & Sons with the whole family, and on the third, Chhichhore with anyone who has ever been a student. On the fourth, take the road with Karwaan. On the fifth, cheer for Gold or M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. On the sixth, enjoy Bareilly Ki Barfi, and on the seventh, be inspired by Super 30.

A second week is easy to plan: Sui Dhaaga - Made in India, Newton, Mimi, Uunchai, Jagga Jasoos, Angrezi Medium and Tumhari Sulu. A third might be given to quieter films, October, Photograph, Mukti Bhawan, Three of Us, Gulmohar, The Storyteller and Sharmaji Namkeen, and a fourth to pure fun, with Total Dhamaal, Mubarakan, Good Newwz, Luka Chuppi, Bala, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke and Dhoom Dhaam.

How the catalogue is kept

The catalogue on DesiRulez is checked by hand. Each film is read against its story, its certificate and its reviews before it joins a forum, so that the collection stays suitable for a family audience. The descriptions are written in plain English, the years and running times are checked against the public film databases, and the posters are the official ones. The forums, the counts and the New releases row are rebuilt each time the catalogue is refreshed.

DesiRulez is a guide. It hosts neither films nor downloads; each Watch now button leads to an official, licensed service, so every viewing supports the people who made the film.

Questions and answers

Questions