Let’s face the truth. Like other film proud nations, regrettably we don’t have an Indian Film Institute even after a century of indigenous cinema and a list, such as given below, is not available for apna cinema.

The American Film Institute (AFI) (established 1967) had the President himself, Lyndon B Johnson signing the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. It was an act which gave muscle and legitimacy to national arts organizations to keep the legacy of American film heritage, educate the next generation of filmmakers and honor the artists and their work.

They may have missed a quote or two while compiling this list but they have a list. The usual suspects figure here of course but there are others which are now dated and forgotten. However the majority when taken together, within the character’s context and existing dramatic situation, still hold strong and ring true.

It also resonates that sometimes brevity can indeed communicate more than a barrage.

So let’s compile a list of our own, Holly and Bollywood. Do send in your favorites and we can catalog the front-runners of film ka ilm readers.

The Top 100

1. Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. GONE WITH THE WIND 1939

2. I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse. THE GODFATHER 1972

3. You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am. ON THE WATERFRONT 1954

4. Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore. THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939

5. Here’s looking at you, kid. CASABLANCA 1942

6. Go ahead, make my day. SUDDEN IMPACT 1983

7. All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up. SUNSET BLVD. 1950

8. May the Force be with you. STAR WARS 1977

9. Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night. ALL ABOUT EVE 1950

10. You talking to me? TAXI DRIVER 1976

11. What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. COOL HAND LUKE 1967

12. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. APOCALYPSE NOW 1979

13. Love means never having to say you’re sorry. LOVE STORY 1970

14. The stuff that dreams are made of. MALTESE FALCON, THE 1941

15. E.T. phone home. E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL 1982

16. They call me Mister Tibbs! IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT 1967

17. Rosebud. CITIZEN KANE 1941

18. Made it, Ma! Top of the world! WHITE HEAT 1949

19. I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore! NETWORK 1976

20. Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. CASABLANCA 1942

21. A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE 1991

22. Bond. James Bond. DR. NO 1962

23. There’s no place like home. WIZARD OF OZ, THE 1939

24. I am big! It’s the pictures that got small. SUNSET BLVD. 1950

25. Show me the money! JERRY MAGUIRE 1996

26. Why don’t you come up sometime and see me? SHE DONE HIM WRONG 1933

27. I’m walking here! I’m walking here! MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1969

28. Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’ CASABLANCA 1942

29. You can’t handle the truth! A FEW GOOD MEN 1992

30. I want to be alone. GRAND HOTEL 1932

31. After all, tomorrow is another day! GONE WITH THE WIND 1939

32. Round up the usual suspects. CASABLANCA 1942

33. I’ll have what she’s having. WHEN HARRY MET SALLY 1989

34. You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT 1944

35. You’re gonna need a bigger boat. JAWS 1975

36. Badges? We ain’t got no badges! We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinking badges! THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE 1948

37. I’ll be back. THE TERMINATOR 1984

38. People all say that I’ve had a bad break. But today…today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES 1942

39. If you build it, he will come. FIELD OF DREAMS 1989

40. Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. FORREST GUMP 1994

41. We rob banks. BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967

42. Plastics. THE GRADUATE 1967

43. We’ll always have Paris. CASABLANCA 1942

44. I see dead people. THE SIXTH SENSE 1999

45. Stella! Hey, Stella! A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 1951

46. Oh, Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon. We have the stars. NOW, VOYAGER 1942

47. Shane. Shane. Come back! SHANE 1953

48. Well, nobody’s perfect. SOME LIKE IT HOT 1959

49. It’s alive! It’s alive! FRANKENSTEIN 1931

50. Houston, we have a problem. APOLLO 13 1995

51. You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk? DIRTY HARRY 1971

52. You had me at “hello.” JERRY MAGUIRE 1996

53. One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know. ANIMAL CRACKERS 1930

54. There’s no crying in baseball! LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, A 1992

55. La-dee-da, la-dee-da. ANNIE HALL 1977

56. A boy’s best friend is his mother. PSYCHO 1960

57. Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. WALL STREET 1987

58. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. THE GODFATHER II 1974

59. As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again. GONE WITH THE WIND 1939

60. Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into! SONS OF THE DESERT 1933

61. Say “hello” to my little friend! SCARFACE 1983

62. What a dump. BEYOND THE FOREST 1949

63. Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you? GRADUATE, THE 1967

64. Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room! DR. STRANGELOVE 1964

65. Elementary, my dear Watson. ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE 1939

66. Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape. PLANET OF THE APES 1968

67. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine. CASABLANCA 1942

68. Here’s Johnny! SHINING, THE 1980

69. They’re here! POLTERGEIST 1982

70. Is it safe? MARATHON MAN 1976

71. Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain’t heard nothin’ yet! JAZZ SINGER, THE 1927

72. No wire hangers, ever! MOMMIE DEAREST 1981

73. Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico? LITTLE CAESAR 1930

74. Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown. CHINATOWN 1974

75. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 1951

76. Hasta la vista, baby. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY 1991

77. Soylent Green is people! SOYLENT GREEN 1973

78. Open the pod bay doors, HAL. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 1968

79. Striker: Surely you can’t be serious. Rumack: I am serious…and don’t call me Shirley. AIRPLANE! 1980

80. Yo, Adrian! ROCKY 1976

81. Hello, gorgeous. FUNNY GIRL 1968

82. Toga! Toga! NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE 1978

83. Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make. DRACULA 1931

84. Oh, no, it wasn’t the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast. KING KONG 1933

85. My precious. LORD OF THE RINGS: TWO TOWERS, THE 2002

86. Attica! Attica! DOG DAY AFTERNOON 1975

87. Sawyer, you’re going out a youngster, but you’ve got to come back a star! 42ND STREET 1933

88. Listen to me, mister. You’re my knight in shining armor. Don’t you forget it. You’re going to get back on that horse, and I’m going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we’re gonna go, go, go! ON GOLDEN POND 1981

89. Tell ’em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper. KNUTE ROCKNE ALL AMERICAN 1940

90. A martini. Shaken, not stirred. GOLDFINGER 1964

91. Who’s on first. NAUGHTY NINETIES, THE 1945

92. Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac…It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole! CADDYSHACK 1980

93. Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death! AUNTIE MAME 1958

94. I feel the need — the need for speed! TOP GUN 1986

95. Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary. DEAD POETS SOCIETY 1989

96. Snap out of it! MOONSTRUCK 1987

97. My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY 1942

98. Nobody puts Baby in a corner. DIRTY DANCING 1987

99. I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too! WIZARD OF OZ, THE 1939

100. I’m king of the world! TITANIC 1997