List of Best Movies
to watch before travelling to India
List of Best Movies
to watch before travelling to India
Set in the 16th century AD, the movie brings to life the tale of the doomed love affair between the Mughal Crown Prince Saleem and the beautiful, ill-fated court dancer, whose fervor and intensity perpetrates a war between the prince and his father the great Mughal Emperor Akbar, and threatens to bring an empire to its knees.
Stream on: Prime Video
A kaleidoscope of color and culture clash humorously as an Indian family in London tries to raise their soccer-playing daughter in a traditional way. Unlike tarty elder sister Pinky, who is preparing for an Indian wedding and a lifetime of cooking the perfect chapatti, Jess' dream is to play soccer professionally like her hero David Beckham.
Stream on: Prime Video
A story set in the modern upper-middle class of India, where tele-communications and a western lifestyle mix with old traditions, like the arranged wedding young Aditi accepts when she ends the affair with a married TV producer. The groom is an Indian living in Texas, and all relatives from both families, some from distant places like Australia, come to New Delhi during the monsoon season to attend the wedding.
Stream on: Prime Video
HBO's first mini-series, set in 19th century British colonial India, involves war battles, love, treachery and intrigue as well as love and honor involving a romance between a British cavalry officer and an Indian princess who has been promised in an arranged marriage to a despotic ruler.
Stream on: Rent on Amazon
A sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodha. Politically, success knew no bounds for Emperor Akbar, After having secured the Hindu Kush, he furthered his realm by conquest until his empire extended from Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal, and from the Himalayas to the Godhavari River.
Stream on: Netflix
This is the story about the resilience shown by the Indians when they were under the British Rule. They are already taxed to the bone by the British and their cronies, but when Jack Russell announces that he will double the Lagaan (tax) from all villagers, they decide to oppose it. A farmer named Bhuvan accepts the challenge of Captain Andrew Russell to beat his team in a game of cricket and enable his village to not pay taxes for the next three years.
Stream on: Netflix
The heroic Peshwa Bajirao, married to Kashibai, falls in love with Mastani, a warrior princess in distress. A born cavalry leader, Bajirao was unequaled for the daring and originality of his genius. Mastani, the fabled warrior princess, an expert dancer, singer, and warrior. A chance meeting on a battlefield where they fight on the same side puts Bajirao and Mastani on a course of passionate love that is unstoppable by their families, by war, or by death itself.
Stream on: Prime Video
"Gully Boy" is a film about a 22-year-old boy "Murad" from a ghetto in Mumbai, India. The son of a driver, his parents worked hard to get him educated so that he could have a white collar job. Meanwhile, Murad realizes his calling to be a rapper. Authentic Hip Hop in India is a recent phenomenon and like anywhere else in the world, is rising from the streets. Art is a distant dream for the colonized poor of India and this story is about Murad's journey.
Stream on: Prime Video, Apple TV
Sue comes to India to make a film on Indian revolutionaries. She is helped by her friend Sonia who introduces her to her friends Karan, Aslam, Sukhi, and their head DJ. Sonia's fiance, Lt Ajay Rathod, also joins the gang when in town. Their gang always gets in trouble with political member Laxman who opposes their Western culture. After many auditions Sue decides to cast DJ and his friends in her film; she also gives Laxman a role, ending his feud with the gang.
Stream on: Netflix
Set in modern day India, Swades is a film that tackles the issues that development throws up on a grass root level. It is to this India, which is colorful, heterogeneous and complex that Mohan Bhargava, a bright young scientist working as a project manager in NASA, returns to on a quest to find his childhood nanny. The film uses the contrast between the highly developed world and this world back home in India, which is at the crossroads of development.
Stream on: Netflix
P.K. is a comedy of ideas about a stranger in the city, who asks questions that no one has asked before. They are innocent, child-like questions, but they bring about catastrophic answers. People who are set in their ways for generations, are forced to reappraise their world when they see it from PK's innocent eyes. In the process PK makes loyal friends and powerful foes. P. K.'s childlike curiosity transforms into a spiritual odyssey for him and millions of others.
Stream on: Netflix
Set in the 1970s in a pretty corner of India, Barfi. is the story of three young people who learn that love can neither be defined nor contained by society's norms of normal and abnormal. Barfi, a hearing and speech impaired boy falls in love with Shruti. In spite of her deep affection for Barfii, Shruti gives into societal and parental pressure to marry a 'normal' man and lead a 'normal' life. Many years later their paths cross once again when Barf is on the run from the police.
Stream on: Netflix
Oh my God is a story about a person (Kanji Lalji Mehta) who loses his shop in an earthquake. The shop is located an area in Mumbai, known as chor bazaar. Kanji is a person, who even does not fear God and even puts God on ill usage, for his benefit. After disaster, Kanji lodges complaint against God as he does not get benefit of insurance due to act of God. The notice is sent to all bigger baba's. He first goes through a lot of resistance, but eventually people turn out in his favor.
Stream on: Netflix
In 1893, Mohandas K. Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being an Indian and traveling in a first class compartment. Gandhi realizes that the laws are biased against Indians and decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After this victory, Gandhi is invited back to India, where he is now considered something of a national hero. He is urged to take up the fight for India's independence from the British Empire.
Stream on: Rent on Amazon
In college, Farhan and Raju form a great bond with Rancho due to his refreshing outlook. Years later, a bet gives them a chance to look for their long-lost friend whose existence seems rather elusive. While recollecting hilarious antics, race to locate Rancho, at his last known address - little knowing the secret that was kept from them all this time.
Stream on: Prime Video
The story of a quiet, sweet tempered housewife who endures small slights from her well educated husband and daughter everyday because of her inability to speak and understand English. Then one day on a trip to visit her sister in Manhattan she decides to enroll in an English Learners class and meets a host of new people who teach her to value herself beyond the narrow perspective of her family.
Stream on: Prime Video, ErosNow
A saga of love, separation, courage, and sacrifice. A love that is divine, a love that is whole-hearted, a love that is completely consuming, a love that grows with separation and deepens with sacrifice. Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh, in the line of duty he comes across a stranded Zaara-a girl from Pakistan who has come to India to fulfill her surrogate mother's dying wish. 22 years later Saamia, a Pakistani human-rights lawyer finds herself face-to-face with an ageing Veer Pratap Singh.
Stream on: Prime Video
Rahul embarks on a journey to a small town in Tamil Nadu to fulfill the last wish of his grandfather: to have his ashes immersed in the Holy water of Rameshwaram. En route, he meets a woman hailing from a unique family down South. As they find love through this journey in the exuberant lands of South India, an unanticipated drive awaits them.
Stream on: Netflix
Made In Heaven chronicles the lives of Tara and Karan, two wedding planners based in Delhi. India is a potent blend of old and new. Tradition jostles with modern aspirations against the backdrop of a Big Fat Indian Wedding revealing many secrets and many lies. The supposedly liberal fabric of the upper crust unravels as the duo navigate through arranged marriages, dowry transactions and virginity tests.
Stream on: Prime Video