All throughout this past summer, I was ecstatic with the idea of coming back to Mount Holyoke for my second year in the fall. However, it hasn’t been as exciting as I had expected. Contrary to what you may think, the first year of college isn’t as saddening when it comes to missing home, at least not as much compared to the years that follow. At the start of your first semester of college you’re overcome with excitement and meeting new people, but after you’ve settled in and are returning a year later, there’s not much fun to it. For me, being back home for four months, all the way in New Delhi, India, just made things worse. Homesickness has been more than just missing my family and friends. It’s missing the (really spicy) food, the music, restaurants and stores, and the movies. And these Bollywood movies manage to exhibit all these factors that I have been missing from home. So here is a list of some of the amazing Bollywood movies that I recently watched to feel closer to home:
1. Raazi
The movie is centered around an Indian spy who marries a Pakistani soldier during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. It is extremely emotional and gripping and has a continued sense of mystery throughout the movie. I personally believe Alia Bhatt, who played the lead role of Sehmat, did a phenomenal acting job and made the movie even more interesting to watch.
2. Sanju
Based on a true story, the movie revolves around Sanjay Dutt, a reputed Indian actor, who was born in the limelight, having been born in a family with several famous actors. The movie shows the struggles faced by Sanju, portrayed by Ranbir Kapoor, as he battled drug and alcohol abuse, along with a terrorism-related political scandal. This movie was really interesting, and something I truly loved watching; before watching it I didn’t have great opinions of the actor, but the movie presented facts to how his situation was not entirely his fault and stemmed from a lot of different occurrences.
3. Mulk
The movie is set in a Varanasi, a small Indian city that is a religious centre for Hindus but also has a large Muslim population. Here, the story is focused on a large Muslim family who faces a court case after a member of their family gets involved in terrorism, and how the family attempts to redeem their social status. I found this movie extremely touching and felt that it was really relevant in a time like today where discrimination based on religion is extremely prominent.
4. Veere Di Wedding
The movie follows a group of high school friends who come back together for one of their weddings. Although it is a typical rom-com, I really enjoyed watching it because there aren’t many movies like this that have been made and released in the Indian cinema. In fact, it has perhaps been the only rom-com as we see in Hollywood.
I would definitely recommend watching these movies, regardless of whether or not you understand Hindi. The movies are gripping, really interesting, and helped me through my homesickness.
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