The Best Hindi Movies of All Time

Hindi Movies have a long and illustrious history, which is not surprising considering Bollywood (located in Mumbai, the movie capital of the world) puts out more films than Hollywood each year!  In terms of sales, too, Bollywood outranks the US movie capital.  The classic Hindi movie is a spectacle of music, song, and dance which covers the important things in life like love, family, friends, and sometimes revenge.  Most films cannot be placed in just one genre, including as they do romance, comedy, and drama.  Films may be wacky, funny, and mushy, but they are always interesting and many have caused audience's tears to flow.  This, plus the grand escape from reality that occurs on the screen, is what most Bollywood movies have in common.  What follows is a guide to some of the best-known and most well loved films to come out of India.  If you haven't had the chance to be exposed to this, welcome to a new and wonderful world of movies.   

1. Sholay
Considered by many to be THE best Hindi Movie of all time, Sholay's 1975 release has not diluted its popularity. Brothers Amitabh Bachchan, one of THE superstars of Bollywood, and Dharmendra star in this Western action-epic set in India. The story is, in part, based (loosely) on The Seven Samurai and has simliar themes of friendship and courage. The film was so popular it played for five consecutive years in to packed houses in Indian movie theaters!

2. Anand
This film about a terminally ill man who wishes to make the most of his remaining time on earth stars Rajesh Khanna as said terminal cancer patient. Amitabh Bachchan co-stars as the friend who helps him through the process of dying, and living while dying. An emotional film full of both joy and sadness, it has earned a place in the hearts of Hindi Movie fans worldwide for what it has to say about living and life.

3. Veer-Zaara
A more recent release (2004), Veer-Zaara tells the story of an Indian man, Veer Pratap Singh, who falls for a Pakistani woman, Zaara Hayaat Khan. Zaara is engaged to be married to a bad man, but tries to break out of the engagement. Veer tries to rescue her, but ends up in a Pakistani jail…for twenty-two years! He never speaks during this time, and an when an Indian lawyer comes to investigate why, the story of Veer and Zaara's love unfolds. It then becomes the lawyer's mission to reunite the two lovers…if that is even possible.

4. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Also a newer release from 1998, Kuch Kuch Hota Tai tells the story a love triangle between friends. It is a friendly one, though, as the story starts off with the friendship between Anjali and Rahul (played by Kajol and Sharukh Khan) who initially have a platonic relationship full of wholesome fun and play. When they get older and Anjali realizes she is falling for Rahul, he ends up telling her he is in love with another girl, Tina. Devastated but hiding her love for Rahul, Anjali makes up some excuse and leaves while Rahul and Tina get married and soon have a new baby in their lives, who they name Anjali (yes, it's a little weird). Unfortunately, Tina dies from birth complications and Rahul is left to raise little Anjali by himself. He lets her read one letter from her mother each year, and on the eigth year, his daughter finds out from the letter than Rahul and Anjali were in love at one point. Her deceased mother has also admonished the daughter to make it her mission to reunite the two former loves...

5. Diliwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
This comedy-family-musical-romance came out in 1995, and it also features Sharukh Khan as Raj and Kajol as Simran in the romantic leads. The two meet while on a trip in Europe. They travel together, and after a time realize they have fallen in love. Unfortunately for them, when they make it back to India Raj and Simran find they are caught in the middle of the clash between traditional Indian values and romantic love as Simran is to be wed in an arranged marriage.

6. Dil To Pagal Hai
Another one from the mid-90s which also features the super popular Sharukh Khan. Khan again plays a character named Rahul, and this time he is directing a play which features his best friend, Nisha. Unbeknownst to him, Nisha is deeply in love with him. Things become more complex when Pooja (Madhuri Dixit) shows up to fill in for the missing lead in the play. Besides the same male lead, this one also centers around a love triangle, one in which the main female Pooja is also already engaged to be married.

7. Golmaal
This 2006 Bollywood release offers up big doses of comedy The story revolves around a group of four students who somehow end up staying with an elderly blind couple, pretending to be the couple's young grandson, only one of the friends is the "body" while another is the "voice". Throw in bandits trying to rob the couple and a sexy girl from next door and you have the main ingredients of this funny romance.

8. Kal Ho Naa Ho
A movie that came out in 2003 which focuses on the themes of friendship and living for today, it arouses intense emotions from viewers through its commentary and scenes of life in times of happiness and in times of sorrow. Shahrukh Khan, considered the most successful Indian actor (perhaps ever), stars in this one as well.

9. Lagaan
In contrast to the other movies on this list, Lagaan has an element of nationalism as it is about a group of villagers who refuse to pay a tax increase (lagaan means land tax) to British colonialists. Instead, they challenge them to a game of cricket and have three months to prepare. In the meantime, eager players get wind of the game and show up from all over India.

10. Lamhe
The last movie on this list was a box office failure when it was released in 1991, but it was not because it was lacking in quality. Rather, it was the subject matter, which was considered scandalous in India, that made it a flop. Anil Kapoor (the host of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' in the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire') gives the performance as Viren, a man who falls in love with a woman only to watch her marry another man, give birth to a daughter, then die in an accident along with her husband. The daughter Pooja survives, and grows up to look just like her mother (both roles are played by Sridevi). Viren falls in love with the daughter, and thus the controversy surrounding the film back in the day. It was, however, a hit in the UK.

From the old Hindi movies, the first of which came out in 1913, to the new Hindi movies being watched online, a great gamut of human emotion has been put into the medium of film. There are an estimated 110,000 searches for the terms "watch hindi movies online" and even more for "hindi movies 2009". Perhaps the day will come when these wonderful works of art will grace the mainstream movie screens of countries like the United States.