List of popular Bollywood films

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Popular Bollywood films (in reverse chronological order)

No claim is made that these are the best Bollywood movies, though many of fans' all-time favorites will be found on this list. However, the non-Indian explorer of Indian cinema will learn a fair bit about Bollywood history and conventions by watching these films. The list is biased towards recent films, but this may be an advantage for some users of the list, as the recent films are more likely to be found in video rental stores. Submissions of notable older films are invited.

When box office data is available, the list gives the top-grossing films of the year, or decade. There are also lists of the critically-acclaimed films, as determined by combining lists from the film review sites (Upperstall, Bollywhat, and Greencine) linked below.

The capsule reviews are written in the usual brief television-film-schedule style. More complete reviews, lists of stars and director, &c., can be found by clicking on links to films that have their own pages.


Contents

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2000 onwards

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2006

  • Family (2006): Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi ,A story of two conflicting families that live side by side. The dark family is represented by Amitabh Bachchan an underworld kingpin, while the good family is represented by Akshay Kumar a chef.
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2005

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Five top-grossing films of 2005

  • Sarkar (2005): Stars the real life father-son duo Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan as father and son. Concerns an underworld "don" who is good at heart and helps others. Said to be inspired by the "Godfather" trilogy.

For box office grosses for top 2005 films, see [1]

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Critically acclaimed films of 2005

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2004

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Five top-grossing films of 2004

For a ranked list of the top-grossing 2004 films, see [2]

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Critically-acclaimed films of 2004

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2003

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Five top-grossing films of 2003

  • Munnabhai M.B.B.S. (2003): Comedy starring Sanjay Dutt. A Bombay gangster pretends to be a doctor in order to impress his parents. When this fails, he enrolls in medical school.

For a list of the top-grossing films of 2003, see [3].

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Critically acclaimed films of 2003

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2002

  • Devdas (2002): Yet another film rendition of the classic Bengali novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Devdas (Shahrukh Khan) loves his childhood friend Paro, (Aishwariya Rai), but lets family opposition prevent their marriage. He then dallies with a courtesan, Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit) while drinking himself to death. Lavish sets and costumes made this the most expensive movie ever made in India, at least as of 2002.
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2001

  • Lagaan (Tax) (2001) (a. k. a.: Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India): A vicious British colonial officer doubles taxes for drought-stricken villagers. Led by the outspoken Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), the villagers protest. The officer offers them a wager: if the villagers can beat the British at cricket, the taxes will be remitted. Ends with a well-filmed, edge-of-the-seat cricket match. The Film was an Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film.
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2000

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1990s

  • Rangeela (1995): This light-hearted movie stars Aamir Khan as Munna and Urmila as Mili. Mili dreams of being a movie star and, with some help, happens to become a top Bollywood star. Munna loves her but says nothing as he feels that she'll reject. At the end, they fall in love. The film has brilliant dialogue and Aamir Khan's exceptional performance made him one of the best stars. The music is by veteran A. R. Rahman.
  • Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994): Enormously popular family romance. Prem (Salman Khan) falls in love with Nisha (Madhuri Dixit) when Prem's brother marries Nisha's sister. Lavish wedding festivities, with much singing and dancing.
  • Roja (1992): A movie about a woman who's husband is kidnapped by terrorists. Although the movie did not do very well at the box office, it is even recognized by Time Magazine and has won numerous awards.
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1980s

  • Chandni (1989): Rohit and Chandni meet and are determined to marry at any expense. The movie owes some of its fame to Sridevi's dance number in the song Mere Haathon Main Nau Nau Choodiyan Hai and the movie's Filmfare Best Cinematography award.
  • Salaam Bombay (1988): Oscar nominated film about child slaves in modern day India.
  • Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (movie) (1983) A take on corruption in Indian society, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor, Satish Shah. It did poorly when released, but gradually acquired a devoted following.
  • Kalyug (1981): Directed by Shyam Benegal.
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1970s

  • Amar Akbar Anthony (1977): Three brothers are separated by a family disaster, adopted by kind strangers, and raised as a Hindu, a Muslim, and a Christian. Amitabh Bachchan stars.
  • Jai Santoshi Maa (1975): A good woman is abandoned by her husband and mistreated by his malicious sisters-in-law, but her devotion to the Hindu goddess Santoshi Maa solves all. This religious B-movie was an unexpected success and elevated a regional deity (Santoshi Maa) to wider fame.
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1960s

  • Aradhana (1969): Arjun (Rajesh Khanna) and Vandana (Sharmila Tagore) fall in love and Vandana becomes pregnant and they both have a quiet temple wedding ceremony. Unfortunately, Arun is killed, and Vandana is unable to convince anyone of her marriage with him, and as such must re-locate to hide her shame. She gives birth to a baby boy, who she must place in an orphanage, and then adopt. Unfortunately for her, the boy, Suraj, is adopted by someone else. She manages to find out their whereabouts, and gets a job as a servant.
  • An Evening in Paris (1967): In romantic Paris, two Parisians of Indian origin are in love namely Shyam or Sam and Roopa. Mystery and intrigue surround this romance, as Roopa is abducted and held by criminal mastermind Jack and his minions, who will trade her for a hefty ransom. Roopa has a look-alike in the shape and form of Suzy, who is sent in place of Roopa to ensure that the money is received, while the real Roopa is still being held captive. Sam must use all the resources available to in order to set Roopa free, but he will have a difficult time to differentiate between Suzy and Roopa.
  • Teesri Manzil (1966): Sunita (Asha Parekh) falls for drummer Rocky (Shammi Kapoor) -- then must figure out if he killed her sister!
  • Bandini (1963): Explores the human conflicts of love and hate intertwined in the mind of Kalyani (played by Nutan). One of her finest performances.
  • Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962): A country boy watches the dissolution of a great family. Meena Kumari turned in a great performance as the long-suffering daughter-in-law.
  • Mughal-e-Azam (1960): The son of the Moghul Emperor defies him for love of a beautiful dancing-girl (Madhubala). A lavish production for its time, featuring a fine score by Naushad and poetic Urdu dialogue. The film was recently recolored and remastered with the exception of a few scenes that were originally filmed in color such as the famous song Pyar Kiya To Darna kya.
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1950s

  • Do Aankhein Barah Haath (1957) A former jailer (V.Shantaram) rehabilitates hardened prisoners by welcoming them onto his family farm, where they learn to work and cooperate.
  • Mother India (1957): Heroic peasant woman (Nargis) does her duty towards her husband and sons despite heart-breaking obstacles. This movie was nominated in the "Best Foreign Film" category of the Oscars.
  • Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955) One of India's first color films. A lovely courtesan studies dancing under a strict guru, and falls in love in defiance of his orders to think only of dance. Many lavish dance sequences.
  • Awaara (1951): A young man (Raj Kapoor, who directed and starred) is rejected by his father, a judge, and turns to crime. He is redeemed, in the end, by his love for a young lawyer (Nargis). The film, especially the title song Awaara Hoon, was famously popular in China, the Soviet Union, Turkey, and much of the Mideast and Africa
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1940s

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External links

Other film lists that may interest readers and cinephiles.

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