Hindi cinema has always been loath to turn the corner. But stuck in the status quo, some films have nevertheless dared to dream.

A checklist of those mainstream films that pushed the envelope and succeeded:

1. "Kismet" (1943) - India's first 'lost-and-found' film paved the way for the films of Manmohan Desai. It was also the basis for all anti-hero roles played by Amitabh Bachchan in the 1980s. Gyan Mukherjee's "Kismet" was Indian cinema's first bonafide blockbuster and also one of the most influential films of all times.

2. "Awara" (1951) - Created a sensation worldwide specially in the Soviet Union where the theme song became an anthem. "Awara" told the story of crime, heredity and karma that was emulated for decades. Director Raj Kapoor blended drama and sex, music and romance in a social message that audiences found eminently palatable. Raj Kapoor and Nargis became the youth's romantic icons.

3. "Mother India" (1957) - Mehboob Khan's mammoth melodrama extolling the virtues of motherhood patented the Mother Figure as the Goddess-Sublime, ready to go to any extent to protect her children and society...not necessarily in that order. Nargis' awesome character served as a role model for cinemas for all times to come.

4. "Ganga Jumma" (1961) - The ultimate dacoit drama and the precursor to other landmark films like Yash Chopra's "Deewaar" and Shekhar Kapoor's "Bandit Queen", Ganga-Jumna's battle between good and evil took Hindi cinema out of stuffy studios for a rollicking drama in the ravines. The chemistry between Dilip Kumar and Vyjanthimala was awesome.

5. "Mughal-e-Azam" (1961) - The deep impact of this ornate pseudo-historical romance was felt last year when K. Asif's magnum opus was re-released in colour. Remarkable for creating a new niche for romance in costume and tried out later in films like "Taj Mahal" and "Pakeezah".

6. "Zanjeer" (1973) - Enter the brooding, scowling, fuming hero. Amitabh Bachchan's angry cop's role changed the face of mainstream Hindi cinema. From here onwards the hero didn't have to sing songs, romance the heroine or run around trees. What he had to do was fight for justice.

7. "Sholay" (1975) - 'Arrey oh samba"! Amjad Khan's villainy set a new trend in Hindi cinema. The awesome terror of a comic-book villain was now an integral part of Hindi films. But like most historic hits, wholesale replicas of "Sholay" were resounding failures. What worked were the derivations. The impact of "Sholay" is felt to this day. In Leena Yadav's "Shabd", Sanjay Dutt quips to Sadiya Siddiqui, "Your name should have been Basanti." A reference to the over-talkative Hema Malini in "Sholay".

8. "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" (1995) - Taking the mustard fields of Punjab to London, debutant Aditya Chopra turned around the filmic formula to accommodate NRI viewers into a sizeable support-system for Indian cinema. Shah Rukh Khan wooed Kajol all the way from London to Ludhiana. He was the cool dude who believed in Hindustani 'sabhyata'. A sort of made-over version of Salman Khan in Sooraj Barjatya's "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun", though far less god-fearing and traditional.

9. "Satya" (1992) - Ram Gopal Varma's genre-defining gangster drama which turned raw realism into a fatal passion, changing our perception of crime-on-screen forever. The camera captured the restless blood-thirsty ambience of Mumbai's underworld with guttural genuineness. Varma continues to push and stretch Hindi cinema into unbelievable shapes.

10. "Black" (2005) - Sanjay Leela Bhansali's fourth feature film knocks the bottom from genre-defined mainstream cinema to invent an entirely new idiom of expression. Blending compassion with rage, enrapture with envy and emotions with technique, Bhansali has created India's first truly international film. Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee have set standards for celluloid acting that would be hard to equal or rival for generations to come.