Naseeruddin Shah has always given sleeper hits in his career. Nasser, Smita, Shabana and Om Puri were the four pillars of parallel cinema in the 70s and 80s and they gave many acclaimed films some of which also became hits not because of the promotions or star power but by word of mouth. At the very least these films starring Naseer etc ensured that the producers will recover their investment.
Aakrosh (1980): The debut film of Govind Nihlani as a director, Aakrosh is deeply disturbing film with an ending that people may or may not agree with. The film is grim and carried by terrific performances by Naseeruddin Shah Om Puri and Amrish Puri. The film not only won 6 Filmfares and a National award but earned good money at the box office due to terrific word of mouth.
Hum Paanch (1980)- The film was made by a flop producer who was in a debt of 19 lakh rupees. The film had a star cast of largely art cinema (Naseer, Shabana, Deepti Naval) alongside hardly known or new actors (Gulshan Grover, Raj Babbar with Sanjeev Kumar and Mithun as the only known mainstream actor). The result was a critically and commercially successful film. The story was based on Mahabharata and the film received a lot of acclaim translating into commercial success as the film earned 1.90 crores at the box office.
Masoom (1983)- The film went empty screens for 6 days and was removed from one theatre but then on the 7th day the audeonce started walking in due to word of mouth and by the end of its run the film became highly successful film at the box office launching the career of director Shekhar Kapoor and winning a best actor Filmfare for Naseeruddin Shah.
Jaane bhi Do Yaaro (1983)- The film was made on a shoestring budget of just 7 lakhs (for reference Amitabh Bachchan’s Coolie released in the same year was made on a budget of 3 crores). Naseeruddin Shah was the highest paid star of the film who got 15000 for the film. The film was funded by NFDC who paid 6 lakhs to make the film and rest was paid by the makers. The film was highly acclaimed and is considered one of the best comedy films of Indian cinema. The film earned 29 lakhs at the box office despite being released with no publicity and promotion and made some profit for the makers.
Ardh Satya (1983)- Ardh Satya was largely an Om Puri film and Naseer only played a small role. Ardh Satya is one of the most successful art film which was made on a budget of 16 lakhs, sold for 21 lakhs and earned 50 lakhs at the box office. Nobody expected an art film to cross 50 lakhs and therefore it was hailed as a milestone for parallel cinema.
Paar (1984)- The commercial success of Paar was hailed not only because it was a dark film and get succeeded but also because it was released primarily in Bengal territory where it did stupendous business. At that time films were generally considered a success based on their business in the Bombay circuit but the film Paar had a regional flavour and was made by a Bengali maker Gautam Ghose and therefore it responded well with the Bengali audience. The film also gained collections because both the lead pair Shabana and Naseer won National awards for Best Actress and Best Actor respectively which helped in its commercial business.
Another major reference of his sleeper hit must be Jalwa (1987) which became an unexpected hit because nobody expected Naseeruddin Shah to do a mass commercial film with songs and fights and yet deliver a hit. The film became a success collecting 1.75 crores and established Naseer in the commercial cinema as well.
Another film that I would like to mention is Chakra (1981) a very underrated film which fetched Smita Patil a National award for Best Actress and she defeated Rekha for Umrao Jaan to win the Best Actress Filmfare Award as well. Naseeruddin Shah didn't take bath for many days to play a slum dweller and won a best actor Filmfare for his performance. The film won National awards in 1980 which helped the film to attain commercial success when it released in limited screens. Unfortunately the director of the film passed away soon and never made another film.