Ratnam's Nayakan, which surprisingly ended up on Time's Top 100 list (not that it matter a whole lot), is an Indianized "Godfather," meaning that it's very violent and... musical. Nayakan is a good film with a great central performance. (I've also enjoyed Ratnam's more "commercial" recent films such as The Youth and Bombay.)

Ankur was the debut feature of Benegal, an Indian 'New Cinema' pioneer. This film, along his later efforts Nishant and Manthan, attempted to expose the oppressive mechanisms prevalent in rural patriarchal societies. I remember it mostly for Shabana Azmi, who also made her debut, I think.