Sooraj Barjatiya made his debut as a film maker with Maine Pyar Kiya — a pristine love story set against the backdrop of a bustling family where the patriarch’s word is law. Karan (Nath) goes abroad to earn money for the marriage of his daughter Suman (Bhagyashree), leaving her with his old pal Kishan (Vachhani). Suman and Prem (Salman Khan), Kishan’s son, fell in love. But Kishan wanted Prem to marry the daughter of his business partner. Kishan then insulted Karan by calling him a gold-digger. Karan took Suman back to his village, but a distraught Prem follows Suman. Karan placed a condition before Prem that unless he earned a respectable sum on his own, he won’t be allowed to marry Suman. The film then showed Prem’s struggle to earn money. The film brought filial bonds, fraternal camaraderie, kinship and tradition centrestage once again. It came like a whiff of fresh air when violence and vulgarity ruled the roost in films.

* Subhash Ghai’s Ram Lakhan was a typical Bollywood masala movie apotheosizing the mother. Sharda (Rakhee) vowed not to immerse her husband’s ashes in holy water until her two sons took revenge of his death from the machiavellian Amrish Puri and his brood comprising Paresh Rawal, Raza Murad and gang. Ram (Jackie Shroff) who becomes an honest police officer, and Lakhan (Anil Kapoor) launched a fight-to-the-finish against the killers. Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s numbers O Ramji, My name is Lakhan, Tera naam liya, Mere do anmol rattan and One two ka four were chartbusters. Jackie with his subtle performance vowed critics and the audience.

Yash Chopra’s Chandni caused a lot of excitement among moviegoers. While showering flowers on his beloved Chandni (Sridevi) from a helicopter, Rohit (Rishi Kapoor) fell and was partially paralysed. He then rejected Chandni. Heartbroken, she left the city and took up a job elsewhere. She endeared herself to her new boss Lalit (Vinod Khanna). After an operation, Rohit was cured and re-entered Chandni’s life when she was about to marry her boss. The O meri Chandni and Mere hathon mein nau nau churian became hits.

Pankaj Prashar’s Chalbaaz was inspired by Seeta Aur Geeta but the film acquired an identity of its own on account of the double role by Sridevi. Sridevi dazzled with her daredevilry. It was her film all the way.

* Aparna Sen’s Sati portrayed the barbaric custom of sati. Uma (Shabana Azmi) was shown as a mute and orphaned young Brahmin girl whose horoscope predicted immediate widowhood for her in case of marriage. Thus, she was married off to a banyan tree. Later, she was seduced by a schoolmaster and became pregnant. She was ostracised by the villagers. One night, while taking shelter from a storm under the banyan tree, lightning struck and she was found dead at dawn by the side of the half-smashed tree, blood on her forehead like Sindoor. Thus, the film was a comment on the practice of Sati.

Tinu Anand’s Main Azad Hoon was an unconventional film which did not fall into commercial trappings. Amitabh Bachchan’s dialogue: Kitne bazoo kitne sar gin ley dushman dhiyan se became a hit.

Girish Kasaravalli’s Ek Ghar was his first explicitly urban film. Rajanna (Naseeruddin Shah) and Geeta (Deepti Naval) moved into newly rented room in a compound, which also housed a motor mechanic’s shop, not allowing them even a wink of sleep. Rajanna worked in a factory manufacturing bulldozers and earth-moving vehicles. As the harassed and hapless couple decide to move into a slum, these very vehicles produced by his factory are pressed into service to demolish their slums. Shah’s natural performance was a complete break from the acting styles that were in vogue at that time.

Mani Kaul’s Nazar was about a middle-aged antique dealer Shekhar Kapoor, who was left alone after the death of his wife, Shambhavi. He travelled back in time to examine their relationship.

J.P. Dutta’s Batwara depicted Rajasthan’s communal wars, the feudal lifestyle of the zamindars, the scant respect for human life and the powerful role of a charismatic leader Bade Thakur (Shammi Kapoor).