Do you secretly have an obsession with solving a mystery in a movie before the lead character does? Bollywood thriller films, however, provide much more than just that. Every subgenre of thriller film, including psychological, action, drama, espionage, and criminal, has a film produced in Bollywood.

1. Drishyam (2015)

Nishikant Kamat is the director of the 2015 Indian Hindi-language murder thriller film Drishyam (transl. Visual). In the key characters are Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shriya Saran, Ishita Dutta, Mrunal Jadhav, and Rajat Kapoor. It is a remake of the 2013 Malayalam film of the same name. After its July 31, 2015, release, it became a critical and commercial triumph, grossing over ₹111 crores globally. In 2022, Drishyam 2—a follow-up—was launched. When the movie opened in China later in 2022, it brought in $4.05 million, bringing its total earnings globally to nearly ₹147 crores.

In DRISHYAM, Ajay Devgn’s character Vijay Salgaonkar and his family are followed as they become major suspects in the disappearance of Sameer Deshmukh (Rishab Chadha), following a string of terrible incidents. Mother of Sameer, Meera Deshmukh (Tabu), is an extremely determined woman who will stop at nothing to locate her son. She is a high-ranking police inspector in Goa.

2. Drishyam 2 (2022)

Abhishek Pathak is the director and co-producer of the 2022 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film Drishyam 2 (transl. Visual 2). It’s a follow-up to 2015’s Drishyam and a remake of the same-titled Malayalam movie from 2021. T-Series Films, Viacom18 Studios, and Panorama Studios worked together to develop it. Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shriya Saran, and Akshaye Khanna are the film’s stars.In supporting roles are Kamlesh Sawant, Rajat Kapoor, Ishita Dutta, Mrunal Jadhav, and Saurabh Shukla. Seven years have passed since the last movie’s events.

3. Baby (2015)

Neeraj Pandey is the writer and director of the 2015 Indian Hindi-language action spy thriller film Baby. After Special 26, this is Akshay Kumar and Pandey’s second collaboration. Kumar plays the lead in the movie, which also stars Anupam Kher, Rana Daggubati, Danny Denzongpa, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Madhurima Tuli, and Rasheed Naz. In the movie, an elite unit of the Indian intelligence service works nonstop to disrupt terrorists and their plans. One such potentially deadly operation is destroyed by a squad led by an officer.

On September 4, 2014, in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, filming got underway. It was filmed in Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, and Gautam Buddha University in Nepal. On December 4, 2014, the theatrical trailer for the highly anticipated film of the year was unveiled.

When Baby was released on January 23, 2015, critics largely gave it excellent reviews, praising the film’s screenplay, direction, action sequences, and performance by Kumar. At the box office, it was a financial triumph, making over ₹1.43 billion (US$18 million) in revenue globally. Filming for a prequel named Naam Shabana, which starred Pannu as Shabana Khan and Kumar as Ajay Singh Rajput in a cameo, started in September 2016. It was made available on March 31, 2017.

4. Mardaani (2014)

Pradeep Sarkar and Aditya Chopra are the directors and producers of the 2014 Indian Hindi-language action thriller Mardaani, which translates to “masculine.” Rani Mukerji plays the lead part in the movie, while Jisshu Sengupta, Tahir Raj Bhasin, and Saanand Verma provide supporting turns. The protagonist of the story is Shivani Shivaji Roy, a police officer who learns details about the Indian mafia’s human trafficking operations through her investigation into the case of a teenage girl who has been abducted.

When the movie opened in theaters on August 22, 2014, it was well-received by critics and became a financial success thanks to Mukerji’s outstanding performance. In 2019, a sequel called Mardaani 2 came out. In December 2019, the production company revealed that Mardaani 3, possibly with Rani Mukerji in the role of Shivani Shivaji Roy, may be the third part in the Mardaani series, given the popularity of Mardaani 2. This was the last movie Sarkar directed for Yash Raj Films before he passed away on March 24, 2023.

5. Special 26 (2013)

Neeraj Pandey is the writer and director of the 2013 Indian Hindi-language period heist thriller Special 26. The plot, which is based on the Opera House robbery of 1987, centers on a group of criminals (Akshay Kumar and Anupam Kher) who carry out raids while posing as CBI agents in order to steal black money from politicians and businesses. They choose to carry out their largest robbery to yet since Manoj Bajpayee, the actual CBI, is pursuing them. Divya Dutta, Rajesh Sharma, Jimmy Sheirgill, Kajal Aggarwal, and Kishor Kadam are also featured in the movie.

In Delhi, filming got underway on February 23, 2012. The movie was filmed in Mumbai and Chandni Chowk, which is close to Jama Masjid. On December 20, 2012, a theatrical trailer was made available online. Wide Frame Pictures and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures distributed the movie throughout India.

The release date of Special 26 was February 8, 2013. The reviews were largely positive about it. It was ranked among the year’s top movies by a number of reviewers. With a gross of ₹103 crore, or ₹175 crore or US$22 million in 2023, it became a commercial triumph. It was remade in Tamil as Thaanaa Serndha Koottam in 2018, with Suriya playing Kumar.

6. Raazi (2018)

Raazi, which translates to “Agreement/Secretive,” is a 2018 spy thriller in Hindi language that was produced by Vineet Jain, Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar, and Apoorva Mehta under the labels of Dharma Productions and Junglee Pictures. It was directed by Meghna Gulzar. In addition to Vicky Kaushal, Rajit Kapur, Shishir Sharma, and Jaideep Ahlawat in supporting parts, Alia Bhatt plays the main character. The movie is based on the 2008 book Calling Sehmat by Harinder Sikka, which tells the true story of an Indian agent for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) who marries into a family of Pakistani military officers at her father’s request in order to transmit intelligence back to India before the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War. Raazi’s main photography started in Mumbai in July 2017 and ended on October 27, 2017. It was filmed in a number of places, including Doodhpathri, Patiala, Nabha, and Malerkotla.

Raazi was made available on May 11, 2018. Raazi, which had a ₹350 million (US$4.4 million) budget, ended up becoming one of the highest-earning Indian films with a female lead after grossing ₹195.75 crore (US$25 million) globally. It was also well received by critics, who praised Meghna’s directing and Bhatt’s acting.

Raazi tied with Andhadhun for the lead five wins at the 64th Filmfare wins, which included Best Film, Best Director (Gulzar), and Best Actress (Bhatt). Raazi garnered fifteen nominations.

7. Badla (2019)

The 2019 Indian mystery thriller film Badla (transl. Revenge), which stars Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Tony Luke, and Amrita Singh, was directed by Sujoy Ghosh. The movie, which is a remake of the 2016 Spanish film The Invisible Guest, is produced by Universal Entertainment, Red Chillies Entertainment, and Azure Entertainment. The narrative centers on a businesswoman who, at an interview with a lawyer, maintains that she is being falsely accused of killing her partner.

Badla was a huge commercial success when it was released on March 8, 2019, earning over ₹1.38 billion (US$17 million) globally despite having a ₹370 million (US$4.6 million) production budget. It was highly praised by critics for its modified tale and script, language, images, cinematography, and acting performances. It was widely acclaimed.

Badla was nominated for four awards at the 65th Filmfare Awards, including Best Supporting Actress (Singh).

8. The Kashmir Files (2022)

Vivek Agnihotri is the writer and director of the drama film The Kashmir Files, which is set to release in 2022 in Hindi. A fictitious plot revolves around the 1990 flight of Hindu Kashmiris from Indian-administered Kashmir. It presents the migration and the circumstances that preceded it as a genocide—a framework that academics believe is incorrect. The movie asserts that a conspiracy of silence hid these facts.

Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumar, Anupam Kher, and Mithun Chakraborty are the stars of The Kashmir Files. The story revolves around a Hindu college student from Kashmir who was raised by his grandfather, who was exiled, and was kept in the dark about his parents’ circumstances of death. The student, who had grown to think during his time at college that the exodus was not harmful, is motivated to learn the truth about his family’s deaths after the passing of his grandfather. The plot shifts between the student’s journey in 2020 and his family’s struggles thirty years prior. The movie opened in theaters on March 11, 2022. It’s been successful commercially.

The Kashmir Files took up two prizes from the 69th National Film Awards: Best Feature Film on National Integration and Best Supporting Actress (Joshi). The movie was nominated for seven awards at the 68th Filmfare Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Kher), Best Supporting Actor (Kumar and Chakraborty), and Best Director (Agnihotri).

9. Talvar (2015)

Meghna Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj collaborated on the 2015 Indian Hindi-language crime-thriller drama film Talvar (transl. Sword), which was distributed globally as Guilty. The film, which is co-produced by Bhardwaj and Vineet Jain, is partially inspired on the 2008 double murder case in Noida that included a teenage girl and the servant of her family. The film, which stars Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, and Neeraj Kabi, centers on the investigation of a case from three distinct angles: the police investigation, the initial Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, and an investigation by a different CBI team. It aims to determine whether her parents are guilty or innocent of the murder charges.

Bhardwaj came up with the idea after meeting some of the police officers looking into the case. After meeting Meghna, he told her that he wanted to work with her to produce a movie, and together they came up with the concept of a movie based on the actual case. After two years of investigation, they discovered multiple inconsistencies in the case, with each side having some merit. The Rashomon effect was demonstrated in Bhardwaj’s script. The film’s editor was A. Sreekar Prasad, while its director of photography was Pankaj Kumar.

10. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Anurag Kashyap is the producer and director of the 2012 Indian Hindi-language epic black comedy crime film Gangs of Wasseypur. Kashyap and Zeishan Quadri wrote the screenplay. Featuring an ensemble cast including Manoj Bajpai, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Richa Chadda, Huma Qureshi, and Tigmanshu Dhulia in key roles, the film revolves around the coal mafia (Mafia Raj) of Dhanbad and the underlying power struggles, politics, and vengeance between three crime families. The tale takes place across 68 years, from 1941 to 2009.

The film was originally intended to be a single, 321-minute long film that debuted at the 2012 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. However, it was broken into two parts specifically for the Indian market because no theater there would offer to exhibit a film longer than five hours.

Both movies were commercially successful at the box office and won numerous accolades from critics. With its dark humor, unique music, and unvarnished, genuine filmmaking approach, it has amassed a sizable cult following over the years, surpassing that of any previous Bollywood production. It was ranked 59th out of the top 100 movies of the twenty-first century by The Guardian in 2019.