Growing up in a mixed household that was half white and half-Indian, I never really got that much exposure to Bollywood from my family, so I had to seek it out myself. It can be pretty intimidating trying to find the right movie to start with, as Bollywood is the number one film producer in the world, churning out over 1,600 movies per year, compared with Hollywood’s 476. Here I will give you a short list of amazing Bollywood films that are sure to get you hooked onto the genre. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be Indian to watch Bollywood movies, just check the comments section of any Bollywood song – they’re filled with international fans. We have subtitles for a reason!
1. ‘Three Idiots’
This popular film follows two friends, Farhan and Raju, who meet the wondrous yet elusive Rancho during their first year as engineering students in college. While Farhan and Raju struggle deeply in their studies and fret over disappointing their families, Rancho, a mastermind of engineering, teaches them how to live their life joyously and carefree. The film does a great job constructively critiquing the intense pressure India’s education system puts on its students while also leaving room for plenty of jokes and romantic pursuits. Check it out on Netflix or Amazon Prime!
2. ‘Om Shanti Om’
Om Shanti Om starts with Om, a junior artist in the 1970s who is deeply in love with the actress and superstar Shantipriya. Unbeknownst to the public, Shantipriya is married to a devious movie producer who ultimately kills her in a fire – a murder, which Om is witness to. While both our main characters end up dying in this fire, they come back reincarnated thirty years later, in a role reversal – now Om is a wealthy actor and decides to use his power to get back at the man who killed his one true love. I will be honest, the plot to this movie is a bit convoluted, but the movie is paced slowly enough that everything does make sense eventually. Besides that, the stunning visuals, music, and acting are what make this movie so famous to this day and is a must-watch for anyone dipping their toe into Bollywood. Om Shanti Om is available for streaming on Netflix.
3. ‘Queen’
While Queen is far from a classic, being released in just 2013, it has achieved widespread praise for its depiction of a female-lead coming-of-age story and its strong feminist undertones. Queen tells the story of Rani, an insecure girl on the verge of her wedding getting dumped seemingly out of nowhere by her fiancé. Instead of moping around in her own sadness, Rani seizes her opportunity and decides to take the honeymoon trip solo, adventuring to Paris and Amsterdam and leaving her home country for the first time. Queen is a slightly off-beat Bollywood movie, lacking the spontaneous songs and the impassioned romance seen in other cult favorites, but Queen is special because of that. It is a true bildungsroman in that we get to see Rani really unravel from her wary self into a strong woman who is sure of herself and her actions. Queen can be streamed through Netflix.
4. ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge!’
This is probably the ultimate love triangle ever portrayed in a Bollywood movie – and they don’t do it in an annoying way like much of Western media. This film follows one boy Raj who moves to London leaving his two childhood friends Pooja and Tina behind in India. He has a crush on Tina, so during their farewell he tells her to email him every day so they can stay in touch. The next day when Tina tries writing to Raj, she quickly becomes bored and instead tells the shy and quiet Pooja to email him – which she does, only she signs the name “Tina” at the end. Raj and Pooja continue emailing each other back and forth for fifteen years slowing opening up to each other and developing romantic feelings. When Raj comes back to India for a holiday, the drama unfolds in an unexpected way that makes it different from any other love triangle story. Besides the juicy plot, this film has gorgeous music and even one epic song that spans twelve minutes long – yes twelve. Mujhse Dosti Karoge! can be found on Amazon Prime.
5. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
While this list hasn’t been written in any particular order, I would be remise if I did not admit that I saved the best for last. Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, roughly meaning, at times there’s joy and at times there’s sorrow, and abbreviated to “K3G”, is a simultaneously heart-wrenching and heart-warming movie which follows a wealthy Indian family who’s eldest son, Rahul, has just returned home from studying abroad. While the parents are fully intent on arranging Rahul to marry Naina, an equally wealthy family friend, Rahul goes and falls in love with Anjali – a woman who’s financial standing is much lower than his own. When Rahul’s father refuses to accept Anjali as a proper option for marriage, the couple breaks off to London to live their life departed from the family. Years later Rahul’s younger brother, Rohan, returns from studying abroad to find his family is disarray and makes it his personal mission to head to London and salvage the family back together. This film is a whopping three-and-a-half hours long – hence the lengthy synopsis, but I promise it is worth the time commitment. K3G stars almost every famous Bollywood icon of the era, so needless to say it had a massive budget and the quality of the movie still holds up today, almost twenty years later. Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham can be streamed on Netflix.
While this list is in no way comprehensive of all the top-rated Bollywood films – since that would be 30+ movies long- it is a good start for someone who has little clue about the genre as a whole and wants to learn more. I will warn you that Bollywood movies do tend to be much longer than Western ones, but they all have a built-in intermission so feel free to take a break and get back to it later if you find yourself losing concentration. Although if you can make it all in one stretch, the experience will be better. Good luck to all you Bollywood-beginners and enjoy!