Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the role of the noted writer Manto, set to release in 2018

1. GARBAGE by Q, Hindi, English: Explosive film on a right-wing, Brahmin, online troll, who lives with a woman he has enslaved. He is exploited by a baba type, and plays deadly games with a slut-shamed woman. Devastating, courageous and provocative critique of fundamentalist politics, patriarchy, misogyny and cyber-bullying in India today. Film likely to be famously underground in India; Q ups the ante big time since Gandu (2010).

2. MANTO by Nandita Das, Urdu, Hindi: On Saadat Hasan Manto, one of our finest South Asian writers, especially on Partition. As a Muslim, Manto left Bombay for Pakistan during Partition, but found his voice suppressed in conservative Pakistan. The film indirectly comments on India's current politics. Nawazuddin is superb as Manto.

3. MUKKABAAZ (The Brawler) by Anurag Kashyap, Hindi: Kashyap's most mainstream film yet, is a powerful critique of caste politics in sports. Vineet Singh plays a Dalit boxer who wants to be a champ and get a job via the sports quota, but finds the system loaded against him. Was at the Toronto Film Festival.

4. Bombay Talkies 2: Love and Lust, Hindi, English: This omnibus film directed by Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar and Dibakar Banerjee, is a cheeky, pensive exploration of love and passion. Lively, if uneven, sequel to Bombay Talkies (2013). Radhika Apte shines.