Bollywood has dealt in diverse subjects when it comes to film making and has presented some rare gems in each of these subjects. One of these genres is war films, which portray the courageous acts of heroes of wars, the great Indian soldiers. While many of these movies have shown aspects related with adversities of war, they have also shown the emotional side of the soldiers serving their motherland and bearing the sadness of being away from their families.
Here is a list of top 10 war based Bollywood movies till date:
10. Tango Charlie
A directorial venture of Mani Shankar, “Tango Charlie” is a touching movie that narrates the agony faced by soldiers during the war. The story was based on more than one war, the Kargil War as well as the internal conflicts by Naxalites and Bodos. The star cast had some big names like Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Bobby Deol and Sunil Shetty.
9. Aakraman
From here we move back to the seventies when the epic war film called “Aakraman” was released in 1975. This ensemble film was set in the backdrop of Indo Pak War of 1971 and had acclaimed actors like Ashok Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar, Rakesh Roshan, Rekha and Mumtaz starring in it.
8. Param Vir Chakra
The next name on the list of top 10 war based Bollywood movies till date is that of the 1995 release called “Param Vir Chakra”, a film written and directed by Ashok Kaul. It had Hema Malini , Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Saeed Jaffery giving some mind blowing performances. Though not a big hit, this one was hailed as a remarkable movie.
7. Vijeta
One of the exemplary war movies made in the Indian film industry is the Govind Nihlani film called “Vijeta”, which depicted the metamorphosis of an aimless young lad into a dedicated air force pilot serving the nation. The movie had Kunal Kapoor as the protagonist Angad, while Rekha and Shashi Kapoor played his parents.
6. LOC Kargil
“LOC Kargil” is a war film by director J P Dutta, which has a forte in this particular genre. This 2003 release covered the story of Operation Vijay which was carried out during the Kargil War of 1999, in which gallant soldiers like Captain Vikram Batra, Sanjay Kumar, Anuj Nayyar and Manoj Kumar Pandey, laid down their lives for the nation. The movie was a star studded one with a number of leading actors of the new generation.
5. Lakshya
Another widely appreciated war based Hindi movie of all time is “Lakshya”, this one again set in the 1999 Kargil War. The 2004 release saw a brilliant performance by Hrithik Roshan who started off as a carefree lad and went on to become a responsible Army Officer. The star cast included some other veterans like Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Om Puri and Boman Irani.
4. Hindustan Ki Kasam
The seventies was a period when the Hindi film industry saw huge popularity of war based movies and one of these successful movies was the 1973 release called “Hindustan Ki Kasam”. The film was based on the Indo-Pak War of 1971 and revolved around the role of Air Force in it. It was directed by Chetan Anand and starred Raj Kumar, Vijay Anand, Priya Rajvansh and Balraj Sahni.
3. Lalkaar
Featuring next on the list of 10 best war based movies in Bollywood till date is “Lalkaar”, which hit the theaters in 1972. A story of two brothers, this one starred Dharmendra and Rajendra Kumar. This one had them play as army and air force officer in the World War II invasion of Burma by Japan. Mala Sinha played the female lead in the movie.
2. Border
One of the epic war films of Bollywood is “Border”, which was one of the biggest hits of 1997. The movie narrated an incident during the Indo Pak War of 1971, which took place in a small village called Longewala in Rajasthan. J P Dutta directed this legendary movie while the main star cast had some big names like Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Akshaye Khanna, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Puneet Issar, Rakhee and Puja Bhatt.
1. Haqeeqat
When we mention the best Hindi war films, the 1964 release called “Haqeeqat” will definitely always be remembered as the best. The National Award winning movie was based on the plight of the soldiers during the Indo-China War of 1962. The movie had actors like Dharmendra, Balraj Sahni, Vijay Anand and Sanjay Khan and was directed by Chetan Anand.
Though several other movies have also been made on war theme, these ones will always deserve special mention.