Popular Indian Cinema
The great showmen and storytellers of mainstream Indian cinema, from the melodramas and social epics of the golden age to the genre-bending Hindi and Tamil films of today.
India makes more films each year than any other country, and its mainstream cinema is a tradition of its own, with songs, melodrama, romance and big emotion as essential ingredients. In the 1950s Guru Dutt, Mehboob Khan and Raj Kapoor made popular films with real social feeling, among them Pyaasa, Mother India and Awaara. Later generations stretched the form: Mani Ratnam in Tamil and Hindi, Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bhardwaj with darker, grittier stories, and Zoya Akhtar with modern urban dramas. Bollywood, the Hindi-language industry in Mumbai, is only one part of a larger family that includes Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam cinemas.
- Where
- India, centred on Mumbai (Bollywood) and the Tamil, Telugu and Bengali industries
- When
- 1940s to the present
- Key figures
- Guru Dutt, Mehboob Khan, Raj Kapoor, Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, Zoya Akhtar
- Landmark films
- Awaara (1951), Mother India (1957), Pyaasa (1957), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
- Legacy
- One of the largest and most widely watched cinemas in the world
What to look for
- Song-and-dance numbers built into the story
- Melodrama, romance and family at the centre
- Big stars and emotionally direct storytelling
Famous Directors
Guru DuttIndia
Mehboob KhanIndia
Raj KapoorIndia
Mani RatnamIndia
Anurag KashyapIndia
Vishal BhardwajIndia
Zoya AkhtarIndiaTop films · 56 films
- Nayakan 1987 · Mani Ratnam · IMDb 8.6
- Thalapathi 1991 · Mani Ratnam · IMDb 8.5
- Mouna Ragam 1986 · Mani Ratnam · IMDb 8.4
- Black Friday 2004 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 8.4
- Pyaasa 1957 · Guru Dutt · IMDb 8.3
- Gangs of Wasseypur 2012 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 8.2
- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara 2011 · Zoya Akhtar · IMDb 8.2
- Roja 1992 · Mani Ratnam · IMDb 8.1
- Bombay 1995 · Mani Ratnam · IMDb 8.1
- Gulaal 2009 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 8.0
- Mukkabaaz 2017 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 8.0
- Maqbool 2003 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 8.0
- Omkara 2006 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 8.0
- Haider 2014 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 8.0
- Shree 420 1955 · Raj Kapoor · IMDb 7.9
- Mera Naam Joker 1970 · Raj Kapoor · IMDb 7.9
- Dev.D 2009 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 7.9
- Ugly 2014 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 7.9
- Gully Boy 2019 · Zoya Akhtar · IMDb 7.9
- Kaagaz Ke Phool 1959 · Guru Dutt · IMDb 7.8
- Mother India 1957 · Mehboob Khan · IMDb 7.8
- Awaara 1951 · Raj Kapoor · IMDb 7.8
- Dil Se.. 1998 · Mani Ratnam · IMDb 7.5
- Makdee 2002 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 7.5
- Najma 1943 · Mehboob Khan · IMDb 7.4
- Anmol Ghadi 1946 · Mehboob Khan · IMDb 7.4
- Kaminey 2009 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 7.4
- Sangam 1964 · Raj Kapoor · IMDb 7.3
- Raman Raghav 2.0 2016 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 7.3
- The Blue Umbrella 2005 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 7.3
- Pallavi Anu Pallavi 1983 · Mani Ratnam · IMDb 7.2
- Mr. & Mrs. '55 1955 · Guru Dutt · IMDb 7.1
- Barsaat 1949 · Raj Kapoor · IMDb 7.1
- Luck by Chance 2009 · Zoya Akhtar · IMDb 7.1
- Dil Dhadakne Do 2015 · Zoya Akhtar · IMDb 7.1
- Jaal 1952 · Guru Dutt · IMDb 7.0
- Aurat 1940 · Mehboob Khan · IMDb 7.0
- Baazi 1951 · Guru Dutt · IMDb 6.9
- Amar 1954 · Mehboob Khan · IMDb 6.9
- Aag 1948 · Raj Kapoor · IMDb 6.9
- Bobby 1973 · Raj Kapoor · IMDb 6.9
- Manmarziyaan 2018 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 6.8
- Roti 1942 · Mehboob Khan · IMDb 6.7
- Andaz 1949 · Mehboob Khan · IMDb 6.7
- Aan 1952 · Mehboob Khan · IMDb 6.7
- Aar Paar 1954 · Guru Dutt · IMDb 6.6
- That Girl in Yellow Boots 2011 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 6.6
- 7 Khoon Maaf 2011 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 6.3
- Khufiya 2023 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 6.1
- Choked 2020 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 5.7
- Rangoon 2017 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 5.6
- Son of India 1962 · Mehboob Khan · IMDb 5.5
- Bombay Velvet 2015 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 5.5
- Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola 2013 · Vishal Bhardwaj · IMDb 5.5
- Dobaaraa 2022 · Anurag Kashyap · IMDb 4.9
- The Archies 2023 · Zoya Akhtar · IMDb 4.2