There's a certain feeling in watching a film where art imitates life and brings real experiences from history back to life. They are nail-biting most importantly raw and original. With Airlift winning hearts all over the country and the soon to be released Neerja already getting praise from within the industry, we list 10 such films that you can't afford to miss.
#1 Airlift
The film captures the story of the 1,70,000 Indians stuck in Kuwait during that time, through the eyes of Ranjit Katiyal and a few others. This is a story about how these Indians, with the help of Ranjit Katiyal, managed to survive in Iraq, and move across Iraq into Jordan, from where they were brought home to India by Airlift which is largest ever in the history of the world.
#2 Talvar
A hardened cop deals with conflicting perspectives involving a brutal double murder. The case is complicated as the prime suspects are the parents who supposedly killed their teenaged daughter.
#3 Gulaab Gang
A film loosely based on Sampat Pal Devi and her Gulabi Gang who fight for women’s rights in a rural North Indian outpost. A movie based on the brave women who rose above their harrowed circumstances to help society, Gulaab Gang was hard-hitting and brought the ace actresses Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla together to give power packed performances.
#4 Special 26
Special 26 focused on the 1987 Opera House heist, where a group posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers executed an income tax raid on a jeweller in Mumbai with utmost ease and execution. Akshay Kumar, along with Manoj Bajpayee and Anupam Kher gave stellar performances in this fast-paced, intelligent and no-nonsense thriller.
An Indian political espionage thriller directed by Shoojit Sircar starred John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri. Set in the late 1980s and early '90s, when Indian government intervened in the Sri Lankan civil war, along with the assassination of then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. The movie explored issues of grave concern and gave traces to what changed the dimensions of Indian political history.
#6 The Attacks of 26/11
Based on the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on 26th November, the movie traces the real life story of eight terrorists who travel to India and wrecked havoc on its populace for 72 hours. The Ram Gopal Verma product garnered critical acclaim but did not work well at the box-office. The shocking brutality of the ill-fated day has been shown with apt detailing.
#7 No One Killed Jessica
Directed by Rajkumar Gupta, the film was based on the infamous Jessica Lal murder case. The biographical thriller starred Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan in key roles as a journalist and Jessica's sister Sabrina, respectively. The legal battles that stretched out for years and the fight for justice that eventually leads to hope is shown with an impact that lasts long after the movie ends.
#8 Once Upon A Time In Mumbai
Covering the entire growth of the Mumbai Underworld and their many crimes and smuggling operations, the film is set in the 1970 and is touted to be inspired by the lives of Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim. Showing us the rule of Sultan and Shoaib on the murky underbelly of the city, the movie was a critical as well as a financial hit.
#9 Black Friday
Black Friday is based on the investigations following the bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993, taking references from Black Friday – The True Story of the Mumbai Bomb Blasts, a book by S Hussain Zaidi. Directed by Anurag Kashyap, the movie's dispassionate yet journalistic inquiry into cataclysmic social and political events. The movie being controversial was barred from release for three years and was finally released on 9th February, 2007. The wait was worth it.
#10 Border
Based on the battle of the Longewala Post in west Rajasthan during the war of 1971 between India and Pakistan, the film is about the pains and gains of the officers of the Indian army, CRPF and Air Force. Sacrificing dreams and relationships and even their lives, they eventually realize that nothing comes before Mother India and fighting for the nation.
