Suriya's ‘Jai Bhim’ tops 2021 IMDb list of Indian movies

South star Suriya’s Jai Bhim and Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Shershaah have topped the list of Indian films and web series of 2021 announced by IMDb.

IMDb, the world’s most popular source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities, on Thursday unveiled the top ten movies and TV shows in India that were most popular with IMDb users this year, a press release stated.

The data is derived from the IMDbPro movie and TV rankings, which are based on the actual page views of IMDb users and updated weekly throughout the year, it added.

The list includes movies that were released theatrically or digitally in India between January 1 and November 29, 2021 and have an average IMDb user rating of 6.5 or higher.

Tamil language legal drama Jai Bhim, written and directed by T J Gnanavel, is based on true events and revolves around the unfair treatment and discrimination of people from the Irular tribe.

The movie which premiered on Amazon Prime Video last month garnered a positive response from the audience and critics.

The film which ranked second on the IMDb list is Bollywood movie Shershaah, based on the life of Kargil hero Captain Vikram Batra, played by Malhotra.

Directed by Vishnu Varadhan, the movie also starred Kiara Advani and was a massive hit after it was released in August on streaming service Prime Video.

Akshay Kumar’s much-awaited cop drama Sooryavanshi took the third spot on the list. The film, also starring Katrina Kaif with extended cameos by Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh, is directed by Rohit Shetty.

"Sooryavanshi" is the first major Bollywood film to have released in theatres after being delayed for several months owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Released during Diwali, the film clocked reportedly over Rs 230 crore in India.

It was followed by Master, starring Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi. The Tamil movie was a huge blockbuster upon its release in cinema halls in January.

Shoojit Sircar-helmed Sardar Udham, a biopic on the lesser-known story of freedom fighter Sardar Udham Singh starring Vicky Kaushal in the lead, and Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi’s drama Mimi were placed fifth and sixth, respectively.

The seventh spot went to Tamil star Dhanush’s critically-acclaimed Tamil action drama Karnan, which released theatrically in April, while Hindi romantic drama Shiddat, starring Sunny Kaushal and Radhika Madan, was placed at eighth.

Superstar Mohanlal and filmmaker Jeethu Joseph's Drishyam 2 took the ninth spot, with romantic mystery thriller Haseen Dilruba ranking tenth on the IMDb list.

Among the top ten IMDb Indian web-series 2021 includes TVF show Aspirants, YouTuber Bhuvan Bam created web-series Dhindora, Manoj Bajpayee’s blockbuster hit show The Family Man, Amazon Prime Video show The Last Hour, actor-comedian Sunil Grover’s crime-thriller show Sunflower, Richa Chadha and Ronit Roy-starrer murder mystery Candy, Netflix anthology drama Ray, based on the works of the late celebrated filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

They were followed by Disney+ Hotstar crime drama “Grahan”, Tamannaah Bhatia’s web-show November Story (Tamil) and filmmaker Nikkhil Advani created medical drama Mumbai Diaries 26/11.

Yaminie Patodia, head of India, IMDb, said the list of top ten films and web-shows reflects the diversity of the content in India.

“This year’s list of the top movies and streaming series reflects the diversity of popular content in India, including titles across Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam.

"Additionally, demonstrating content consumption patterns in India, for the first time ever, two of this year’s Top 10 Web Series—Aspirants and Dhindora—are available to stream for free on YouTube, while the others are available on subscription-based channels," Patodia said in a statement.