Bollywood Masala Mix
By Akhil Arora (Part 1)
While Netflix has been betting big on original series from India — from Sacred Games to Baahubali: Before the Beginning — it has yet to match that investment on the film side of things. That said, the world's biggest streaming service has announced a string of Indian film projects in the last year, from the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. The ones that have released have been hit-and-miss. For now then, Netflix's strength in the Hindi film space is thanks to its licensing agreements. Its library is no match for Amazon Prime Video, but it's still got enough to attract viewers. Nearly all of it is contemporary though, with only two titles on our list from the previous century.
To pick the best Hindi-language movies on Netflix, we relied on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb ratings, and critics reviews, to create a shortlist. The latter two were preferred given RT doesn't provide a complete representation of reviews for Indian films. Additionally, we used our editorial judgement to add or remove a few. This list will be updated once every few months if there are any worthy additions or if some movies are removed from the service. Here are the best Hindi films currently available on Netflix in India, sorted alphabetically.
3 Idiots (2009)
In this satire of the Indian education system's social pressures, two friends recount their college days and how their third long-lost musketeer (Aamir Khan) inspired them to think creatively and independently in a heavily-conformist world. Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement.
Aamir (2008)
Adapted from the 2006 Filipino film Cavite, a young Muslim NRI doctor (Rajeev Khandelwal) returning from the UK to India is forced to comply with terrorists' demands to carry out a bombing in Mumbai after they threaten his family.
Andaz Apna Apna (1994)
Two slackers (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan) who belong to middle-class families vie for the affections of an heiress, and inadvertently become her protectors from a local gangster in Rajkumar Santoshi's cult comedy favourite.
Inspired by the French short film L'Accordeur, this black comedy thriller is the story of a piano player (Ayushmann Khurrana) who pretends to be visually impaired and is caught in a web of twists and lies after he walks into a murder scene. Tabu, Radhika Apte star alongside.
Article 15 (2019)
Ayushmann Khurrana plays a cop in this exploration of casteism, religious discrimination, and the current socio-political situation in India, which tracks a missing persons' case involving three teenaged girls of a small village. A hard-hitting, well-made movie, though ironically, it was criticised for being casteist itself, and providing an outsider's perspective.
Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017)
After a free-spirited, young woman (Kriti Sanon) in small-town Uttar Pradesh chances upon an eponymous book whose protagonist reads exactly like her, she sets about trying to find the author (Rajkummar Rao) with the help of the printing-press owner and novel publisher (Ayushmann Khurrana). Many critics loved Rao's work, while some found issue with its unsubtle script.
Barfi! (2012)
Set in the 1970s amidst the hills of Darjeeling, writer-director Anurag Basu tells the tale of three people (Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D'Cruz) as they learn to love while battling the notions held by society.
The Blue Umbrella (2005)
Based on Ruskin Bond's 1980 eponymous novella, the story of a young girl in rural Himachal Pradesh whose blue umbrella becomes the object of fascination for the entire village, driving a shopkeeper (Pankaj Kapur) to desperation. A National Award winner directed by Vishal Bhardwaj.
Manoj Bajpayee plays a schoolteacher who leads a group of teenagers — the reluctant protagonist Jhunku among them — to take on the colonisers in 1930s British India-era East Bengal. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rajkummar Rao also have roles. Shonali Bose is a co-writer.
Company (2002)
Inspired by the real-life relationship between Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan, director Ram Gopal Varma offers a look at how a henchman (Vivek Oberoi) climbs up the mobster ladder and befriends the boss (Ajay Devgn), before they fall out.
Dangal (2016)
The extraordinary true story of amateur wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) who trains his two daughters to become India's first world-class female wrestlers, who went on to win gold medals at the Commonwealth Games.
Delhi Belly (2011)
Three struggling friends and flatmates (Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapur, and Vir Das) are unwillingly caught in the trap of a deadly crime syndicate in India's capital. Praised for its comedy, pacing, imagination, and goofiness, though some took issue with its overreliance on scatological humour. It's largely in English, and though a Hindi dub exists, it's not on Netflix.
Dev.D (2009)
Anurag Kashyap offers a modern-day reimagining of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali romance classic Devdas, in which a man (Abhay Deol), having broken up with his childhood sweetheart, finds refuge in alcohol and drugs, before falling for a prostitute (Kalki Koechlin).
Dhanak (2016)
This National Award-winning film from writer-director Nagesh Kukunoor is the story of two siblings — a 10-year-old girl and her visually-impaired, eight-year-old brother — who set out on a 300-km journey across the desert of Rajasthan to find actor and goodwill ambassador Shah Rukh Khan, believing he can help with a cornea transplant.
Dil Se... (1998)
Shah Rukh Khan plays a radio journalist who falls for a mysterious revolutionary (Manisha Koirala) in this third and final instalment of writer-director Mani Ratnam's thematic trilogy that depicted a love story against a political backdrop. Here, it's the insurgency of Northeast India. Also known for A.R. Rahman's work, especially the title track and “Chaiyya Chaiyya”.
Drishyam (2015)
Ajay Devgn and Tabu star in this remake of the 2013 critically-acclaimed Malayalam original, about a local cable operator (Devgn) who does everything he can to protect his family, suspected in the missing-persons case of a high-ranking police officer's (Tabu) son, who had blackmailed his daughter with a nude video. It's overlong and simplistic, watch the original — on Hotstar — if you're okay with subtitles.
Gurgaon (2017)
Set in the titular Haryana city, this neo-noir thriller explores gender inequality and the dark underbelly of the suburban wastelands through a story of a real estate tycoon's (Pankaj Tripathi) undisciplined son who kidnaps his own sister to pay off a gambling loss. Its grittiness didn't particularly suit audiences, but critics were more appreciative.
Guru (2007)
Mani Ratnam wrote and directed this rags-to-riches story of a ruthless and ambitious businessman (Abhishek Bachchan) who doesn't let anything stand in his way as he turns into India's biggest tycoon. Loosely inspired by the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.
Haider (2014)
Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespearean trilogy concluded with this modern-day adaptation of Hamlet, that is also based on Basharat Peer's 1990s-Kashmir memoir Curfewed Night. Follows a young man (Shahid Kapoor) who returns home to investigate his father's disappearance and finds himself embroiled in the ongoing violent insurgency.
Hamid (2018)
Set amidst the most militarised zone in the world, a young Kashmiri boy tries to contact his father, who he's told is with Allah, by dialling a number that he somehow learns. Based on Mohd. Amin Bhat's play “Phone No. 786”. Won a National Award, though some critics found it to be slightly simplistic.
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003)
Set against the politically-charged backdrop of the Emergency in the 1970s, writer-director Sudhir Mishra's film revolves around three friends (Kay Kay Menon, Chitrangada Singh, and Shiney Ahuja) whose lives are transformed in the wake of the turbulent period.
I Am Kalam (2010)
Nila Madhab Panda's feature directorial debut is the story of an intelligent and impoverished boy (Harsh Mayar), who befriends the son of a once noble family, and is inspired by the life of India's late President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam — whose family was also poor in his childhood — to pursue an education. Mayar won a National Award.
In writer-director Nagesh Kukunoor's National Award-winning film, a hearing- and speech-impaired farm boy (Shreyas Talpade) pursues his passion for becoming a cricketer for the national squad, with the help of a washed-up ex-coach (Naseeruddin Shah).
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008)
Imran Khan made his acting debut — in writer Abbas Tyrewala's directorial debut — as Jai, a mild-mannered, peace-loving young man, who is the opposite of his best friend Aditi (Genelia D'Souza). The two begin to search for a partner post-college, oblivious and ignorant of how perfect they are for each other, as their friends and family know very well.
Jodhaa Akbar (2008)
Definitely overlong at three and a half hours, this 16th-century epic is the story of the eponymous Mughal emperor (Hrithik Roshan) and the Rajput princess (Aishwarya Rai), whose political marriage turns into true love, as he realises she's every bit his equal. Simply told yet effective, its message is increasingly important in an increasingly intolerant India. Ashutosh Gowariker directs.
Kahaani (2012)
A pregnant woman (Vidya Balan) travels from London to Kolkata to search for her missing husband in writer-director Sujoy Ghosh's National Award-winning mystery thriller, battling sexism and a cover-up along the way.
Khosla Ka Ghosla! (2006)
After a powerful property dealer (Boman Irani) holds a middle-class, middle-aged man's (Anupam Kher) newly-purchased property to ransom, his son and his son's friends devise a plot to dupe the swindling squatter and pay him back with his own money. Dibakar Banerjee's directorial debut.
Lagaan (2001)
Set in a small drought-wrecked Indian town during the height of the British Raj, a village farmer (Aamir Khan) stakes everyone's future on a game of cricket with the well-equipped colonisers, in exchange for a tax reprieve for three years. From director Ashutosh Gowariker, it was nominated at the Oscars.
(to be concluded)