Earlier there was a time where legendary Manoj Kumar was making patriotic based movies such as 'Purab and Paschim', which had a complete different picture to showcase among audience. Also there were war-based movies such as 'Haqeeqat' (1964) that were creating a good interest among Indians. Well now, the scenario has been completely changed and the filmmakers have successfully created and portrayed different flavors of patriotism among the mango people. This 66th Independence Day, we present you the Top 10 Contemporary Patriotic Movies in Bollywood, which were released after the year 2000.
Lagaan (2001)Lagaan is India's official entry to Oscar that dealt with the issue of Patriotism in a slightly different and interesting way. Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, it incorporated the concept of India's most watched game Cricket with Nationality issue. The ancient pre-independence historic feel could be seized throughout the movie.
The Sunny Deol starrer movie broke all the box office records when it was released in 2001. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha created a historic feat of achieving phenomenal business returns, as well as triggering the emotions of many Indians in the process too! Directed by Anil Sharma, it's a love story of an Indian man and of a Pakistani girl that was set against the backdrop of Partition. It won many awards and can be classified as one of the best Love Story-Patriotic film combination of all time.
The Raj Kumar Santoshi's version of Bhagat Singh's story wasn't commercially successful but it was a wonderful effort. What was really heart touching was the director's effort and the brilliant character portrayals by the actors. Ajay Devgan even got the National Award for his exceptional performance of Bhagat Singh.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero, also known as Bose: The Forgotten Hero, is a 2004 film directed by Shyam Benegal and starring Sachin Khedekar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajit Kapur, Arif Zakaria, and Divya Dutta. The movie depicts the life of the Indian independence leader "Netaji" Subhas Chandra Bose. It starts with Bose resigning the president post of Indian National Congress (INC) and moves to the meeting with Italians by crossing Afghanistan's rugged terrain and entering Europe. Then it shows him romancing his Austrian secretary and his appointment with Adolf Hitler in Berlin, followed by inspiring the Indian POWs of the 'Punjab Regiment' (British Army) for fighting the British forces in India, through his patriotic speeches. After that it shows his journey to Japan, battles in Burma and India. Film ends with the trial of INA war heroes at Red Fort, and freedom of India.
Swades is a very good patriotic film but somehow failed to do well at the Box Office, where Shah Rukh Khan gave one of his best performance. Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, it's about a well to do NRI who comes to India in search of his Nanny and eventually finds it difficult to break the bond of attachment to his mother country. It was reported that many NRI's who saw the movie, got actually inspired and permanently returned back to India.
Lakshya is one of the most inspiring movies of the recent times, where Hrithik Roshan gave one of the finest performance and brilliant portrayal of human emotion during wartime. Transition of a young, rich and spoilt boy to a responsible army officer, and his grit in handling his personal life problems, have formed the crux of Lahsya's plot. It's a must watch movie for any Patriot at any point of time.
Rang De Basanti was the 'coming of the age' genre movie, where it narrated the life of a group of friends, and how the death of one of their friend changes their lives forever. It went on to create a noteworthy history for itself, after being tagged as one of the best patriotic films for the current Indian youth. Directed by Omprakash Mehra, the movie starred actors like Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, and others.
'A Wednesday!' is a 2008 Indian thriller drama film written and directed by Neeraj Pandey. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher in the lead roles. Set between 2 pm to 6 pm on a Wednesday, the film depicts an about-to-retire police commissioner (Anupam Kher) narrating a sequence of events that unfolded on a particular Wednesday. The film, made at a small budget, was a sleeper hit at the box office grossing over Rs. 340 million worldwide. Subsequently, it won a number of awards including the Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director at the 56th National Film Awards.
Road to Sangam is a 2009 Bollywood film written and directed by Amit Rai. The film features Bollywood actors Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Pawan Malhotra. It's a simple story of a God fearing, devout Muslim mechanic named Hasmat Ullah (Paresh Rawal) who has been entrusted the job of repairing an old V8 ford engine, not knowing the historic significance that it once carried the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi which were immersed in the holy Triveni Sangam. It won many awards and accolades.
D-Day is a 2013 Indian crime-thriller film directed by Nikhil Advani, starring Arjun Rampal, Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Huma Qureshi, Shruti Haasan and Sandeep Kulkarni in the lead roles. The film is about bringing back the most wanted underworld criminal to India. It is allegedly based on real-life mafia king Dawood Ibrahim.
There has never been lack and shortage of movies based on Patriotic movies in Bollywood till date, and filmmakers are still looking forward to make films based on such events of National importance. Well, we can only wish for this trend to continue for long.