India is celebrating its 75th glorious year of Independence, this 15th of August. For decades, centuries even India has fought a major war in getting the independence it desperately needed from the British Raj. The history of India’s independence is not an unknown one to any of us, we have been thoroughly taught about what went on, and what led to India’s independence. It was a long struggle but in the end, everything was worth it.
Indian cinema has told a lot of stories that will move people and shake them to their core. Indian cinema has brought forward an immense amount of stories that have over the years narrated the tales of struggles and war. But there were also some movies made, which told stories that will make every Indian see a different story, other than the valor and courageous accounts of war. Here are a few that you could definitely watch, that will make you think about the country in a different way altogether.
Manto (2018): Jio Cinema
Well, what better way to start a story than writing about the great writer “Manto” himself. The movie starred Nawazuddin Siddque in the titular role as the famous writer. He was supported by actress Rasika Duggal and Tahir Raj Bhasin. The movie tells the life and story of famous writer Manto. The reason he is special is because he is one such writer that has over the span of his life written stories that shook the nation. He wrote stories and accounts on the British Raj and later the separation of India and Pakistan. His stories back then, ended up being controversial and saw the rage of both the Indian government and the Britishers. His freedom of writing was taken away and that unleashed him to fight for his rights, but that went on for years until the time it was impossible for him to take it.
Kesari (2919): Amazon Prime Video
Kesari is one of the most legendary movies of recent times. Kesari starred Akshay Kumar, Mir Sawar, Vikram Kocchar, Parineeti Chopra in the lead role. The movie is about a time before the independence of India. The movie retells the legendary battle of Sarhagari, which has now gone down in history. It tells the story of how a battle ensued between 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs of the British Indian Army and 10,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen back in 1897. It went on to be known as one of the greatest land wars ever fought. Those 21 soldiers never stood a chance but the way they protected the fort and didn’t make them go ahead is the basic story of the movie.
Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran (2018): Netflix
The movie stars John Abraham, Diana Penty and Boman Irani in the leads and tells the story of India’s one of the most successful nuclear testing missions, that was held in complete secrecy. The movie retells the story of how scientists, engineers from the Indian Army, researchers from DRDO, Bhabha Atomic Research Center came together in Pokhran to carry out the test runs for Nuclear bombs in 1998. Unlike Pakistan, India didn’t have territory that could allow secrecy and if anything is done in the open China, U.S. and Pakistan will be first to know. With the U.S. using spy satellites and China already ahead with their nuclear explosion tests, India had to do something. The team that was brought forward created one of the most brilliant plans to test out the explosion. It is this very plan that is now retold in “Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran”. Also, this is an ode to APJ Abdul Kalam, who was the main man back then during the actual tests.
Raazi (2018): Amazon Prime Video
Raazi is regarded as one of the most successful movies with a female protagonist. Based on Harinder Sikka’s book titled “Calling Sehmat”, Raazi stars Alia Bhatt in the lead, with Vicky Kaushal, Jaideep Ahlawat, in the lead. This movie tells the real life account of a RAW agent who upon her father’s request was married off to a Pakistani army personnel and whose family was highly involved in the Pakistan armed forces. Sehmat was sent there as an agent, who used to relay back messages to India, about any major news that was being discussed. She is regarded as one of the crucial players in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. Her intel helped the Indian Navy to attack PNS Ghazi with INS Rajput, which again is the story of 2017 movie “The Ghazi Attack”.
Tashkent Files (2019): ZEE5
Based on one of the biggest political mysteries and conspiracy of Independent India, “The Tashkent Files”, tells the mystery behind the sudden and mysterious death of India’s second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The movie sees powerful acting from actress Shweta Basu Prasad, actor Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakraborty. The movie also had a massive supporting cast that included Pankaj Tripathi, Mandira Bedi, Pallavi Joshi and others. The movie was based around a team that was put together to decide whether the former Prime Minister just died or something else happened to him. The movie sees well-planned out details, and various real life accounts to prove that something was off about the death of the Prime Minister, and that it could mean the Government might have known more back then, than it let on.
All of these are not the conventional go-to Independence day movies, but these are definitely movies that will make you understand India, have pride in India but will also make you equally question several things about India and make you interested a lot more in Indian history both political and apolitical.