5 Essential Bollywood Movies Everyone Should Watch At Least Once

The term “Bollywood,” as most film students will be able to tell you, is a portmanteau of “Bombay” (the former name of Mumbai), and “Hollywood.” The term is used to describe the many, many films that come out of the Mumbai film industry, all presented in the Hindi language. Bollywood films are not to be confused with the many films produced in Telugu (like the recent hit “RRR” featuring Ram Charan and Jr. NTR), Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, or any of the many other languages spoken in India.

Bollywood films also tend to be characterized by a very particular flavor of gorgeously overwrought largesse. No matter the genre, Bollywood films are known for their melodrama, length, and music. Many Bollywood films are musicals, and often feature romance, political intrigue, action, dancing, tears, loss, sorrow, redemption and/or tragedy. They are also often very chaste, featuring a lot of sensual dancing, but no nudity or sex. There is rarely such thing as a subtle, brief, understated Bollywood movie. The films make damn sure you’re going to get your money’s worth, cramming eight different kind of movies into one. The Mumbai film industry is massively prolific, and makes millions every year. It has its own superstars, and regularly produces hit soundtracks. It’s perhaps second only to the United States in terms of production.

Their construct make Bollywood films irresistible around the globe. No matter where you come from, one can relate to the dramatic plight of the characters in Bollywood movies. The industry has a long and storied history that can’t possibly be summed up in only five titles, but we at /Film have endeavored to do just that. Below are five Bollywood films that everyone should see.

Mehboob Khan’s 1957 tragedy “Mother India” was famously nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (now called Best International Film) at the 30th Academy Awards. It lost to Federico Fellini’s “Night of Cabiria,” but the competition was stiff that year. Also nominated was the bleak WWII serial killer movie “The Devil Strikes at Night,” the bleak crime drama “Gates of Paris,” and the decidedly less bleak tale of heroism “Nine Lives.” The bleakest of the lot, however, was “Mother India,” a dark story of one woman’s struggles against abuse and poverty. 

“Mother India” is a litany of suffering. The lead character, Radha (Nargis) marries a man named Shamu (Raaj Kumar), but to pay for the wedding, her mother-in-law has to borrow a hefty sum from an unscrupulous loan shark named Lala (Kanhaiya Lal). The loan puts Radha and Shamu in extreme debt, forcing them to essentially work as slaves for Lala. They have three sons before Shamu loses his arms in a boulder-related accident, leading him to abandon his family. Storms and poverty wipe out crops and family members. Radha can only endure, and her misery increases. When her sons grow up, one of them becomes a criminal that she is ashamed of. Radha is a martyr for India, bearing the weight of all poverty’s ills. 

“Mother India” is bleak and intense and marvelous. It was also revolutionary for its canny ability to blend Indian musical traditions with European Classical sounds. It’s available for rent on Prime Video.

K. Asif’s 1960 epic “Mughal-e-Azam” tells the story of Emperor Akbar (a Mughal emperor from the late 16th century) and his heroic, rebellion son, Prince Salim, who became emperor thereafter. In the film, Akbar was played by early Bollywood superstar Prithviraj Kapoor, and Salim is played Dilip Kumar, an early Indian proponent of Method acting. Madhubala played the court dancer Anarkali, whom Prince Salim fell in love with. Romance! Intrigue!

The story is truly an historical epic. Salim is initially a spoiled brat, but learns discipline, dignity, and horror when fighting as a soldier for years. When he returns, Salim and Anarkali fall in love, but their forbidden relationship is exposed by a rival dancer, leading directly to exile, punishment, and a subsequent rebellious uprising. “Mughal-e-Azam” run a spectacular 197 minutes, and made ten times at the box office what it cost to make. Many Bollywood films tend to romanticize and vaunt Indian history, portraying historical figures as mythic heroes. National identity is at the core of many Bollywood movies, even when the films are being critical of India’s class issues (as in “Mother India”). “Mughal-e-Azam” highlights virtuous philosophies and old-world values like duty and honor, but in a way that feels genuine.

But “Mughal-e-Azam” is no fantasy, also focusing on realistic concerns of 16th century courts, and openly acknowledging the religious conflicts between Hindus and Muslims. It’s not entirely historically accurate, but what cinematic epic ever is? Indeed, it was wise to give the movie a somewhat happy ending, as opposed to the real-life tragedies that befell the historic figures that inspired it. It ensured “Mughal-e-Azam” would be a hit. 

Ramesh Sippy’s 1975 flick “Sholay” is a 204-minute modern action-adventure of the highest order. It follows the adventures of ex-cons Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra) who are recruited by an armless cop (Sanjeev Kumar) to infiltrate the bandit gangs of the dangerous super-criminal Gabbar (Amjad Khan). In so doing, naturally, both men fall in love with two local women nearby to the bandit hideouts. It’s a crime epic and a love story, as so many Bollywood films are. The plot will eventually involve battles, entire villages fighting bandit armies, and characters throwing dynamite off of a bridge. Kumar’s character fights Gabbar with spike-soled shoes. It’s pretty wild. 

“Sholay,” which still leaning into themes of national identity, is a much shallower film than the others on this list. It’s more about traditional action movie violence, and the glorification thereof. There is little in the way of sex and queerness in Bollywood films, especially of this era, but one might see a pseudo-romantic masculine regard between Jai and Veeru. This theme was discussed in “Between Yaars: The Queering of Dost in Contemporary Bollywood Films,” a thesis written by Dinah Holtzman. Like all action films, “Sholay” taps into the audience’s inherent desire for justice, but presented in a parallel universe where murder and violence offer a shortcut to it. 

“Sholay” was panned upon its initial release for these reasons, with critics citing its dunderheaded use of action in place of any real themes. Despite this, audiences flocked to it, and it was seen by hundreds of millions of people. “Sholay” is available to stream on Kanopy.

Some American audiences might know about Ashutosh Gowariker’s 2001 movie “Lagaan” (an Indian sports drama musical) as it was the third and most recent Indian film to have been nominated for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards. “Mother India” was the first and 1988’s “Salaam Bombay!” was the second. 

The premise of “Lagaan” sounds impenetrable, but it’s amazingly accessible. Set during the British occupation, a small Indian village called Champaner is about to be taxed into oblivion by the local British Lord (Paul Blackthorne). A lagaan is a land tax. Because cricket is popular in England, the Lord makes a proposal: If the villagers can beat his men in a cricket match, they won’t have to pay any taxes for three years. If they lose, however, they’ll owe triple. This is a troublesome wager, as the villagers don’t know the rules of cricket. The handsome and ambitious young farmer Bhuvan (Indian megastar Aamir Khan) accepts the wager, however. The bulk of the film is Bhuvan learning about and training the villagers in cricket. He falls in love (natch), and breaks through class systems to make his team work; even the so-called “untouchables” are invited to play. 

“Lagaan” is an imminently satisfying sports drama with love songs, issues of class, and a corking final cricket match that’s as tense as anything in “Rocky.” The 233-minute movie was one of the rare breakout Bollywood success stories in the United States, getting some play in indie theaters, and, as mentioned, snagging an Oscar nomination. It lost to the Bosnian film “No Man’s Land.”

Another crossover hit with Aamir Khan, Rajkumar Hirani’s 2009 film “3 Idiots” made about $90 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Indian film of all time (at the time). It has since been surpassed, but “3 Idiots” proved that Bollywood movies were truly a global phenomenon. “3 Idiots” is an inspiring coming-of-age comedy about weaknesses in academia, and the importance of being unique; one may be reminded of “Dead Poets Society,” if the film was a 171-minute musical comedy. The film stars Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, and Sharman Joshi as the titular idiots Rancho, Farhan, and Raju. The bulk of “3 Idiots” is set at the Imperial College of Engineering, where Rancho led his friends to think outside the box. The name “idiots” is meant to be ironic, as the three men are actually quite brilliant, and happily challenge the stuffy status quo, represented by the grumpy professor Viru (Boman Irani). 

Much, much more happens, of course, and Rancho is given a love interest in the form of Pia (Kareena Kapoor), Dr. Viru’s daughter. “3 Idiots” is told in flashback, and the drama will hinge on the ultimate — and inspiring — fate of Rancho. Given his handsome face and natural on-screen affability, one can easily see why Khan is such a superstar. The comedy in “3 Idiots” is gentle and broad at the same time, making it widely appealing, and explaining why it was such a massive hit. Its record was beaten in 2013 with the release of the “Fast & Furious” knockoff film “Dhoom 3” – another Aamir Khan movie. As of this writing, the record is held by 2016’s “Dangal” … another Aamir Kahn movie. “3 Idiots” is available to rent on Amazon and on Apple TV.