11 Hindi Films That Changed the Game of Bollywood Forever

The Hindi films that changed the game of Bollywood include Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), Bandit Queen (1994), Bombay (1995), Satya (1998), My Brother Nikhil (2005), Rang De Basanti (2006), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Ship of Theseus (2013), The Lunchbox (2013), Masaan (2015) and Aligarh (2016). Each one broke a rule on story, style or subject.

None of these films followed the usual formula of songs, stars and safe endings. Some were box office hits, some were festival favourites, and a few were barely seen in theatres at first. Together, they shaped the kind of cinema that later found a large audience on OTT.

Quick facts: Hindi films that changed Bollywood

1. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Anurag Kashyap shot this coal-belt revenge saga as one 319-minute film and released it in two parts. Part 1 hit Indian theatres on 22 June 2012 after the full film played at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The cast reads like a who’s who of today’s OTT stars: Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Richa Chadha, Pankaj Tripathi, Huma Qureshi and Jaideep Ahlawat.

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Its mix of violence, dark humour and small-town dialogue changed how Hindi gangster films sounded. It won four Filmfare Awards, including Best Film (Critics).

2. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983)

Kundan Shah’s debut, produced by NFDC, follows two Mumbai photographers who accidentally capture a murder linked to a corrupt builder. The plot drew partly from Antonioni’s Blow-Up. Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur and Satish Shah lead the cast.

Its comedy hides a sharp attack on the nexus of builders, officials and the press. A restored print was re-released in theatres in November 2012, and critics still call it relevant.

3. Ship of Theseus (2013)

Anand Gandhi’s film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012 and reached Indian theatres on 19 July 2013, presented by Kiran Rao. It tells three stories about organ transplants: a blind photographer, a Jain monk who refuses medicines tested on animals, and a stockbroker who learns his kidney may have been stolen.

It won Best Feature Film at the 61st National Film Awards. Some viewers find it talky, but it proved that a philosophy-driven Indian film could find a paying audience.

4. Bandit Queen (1994)

Shekhar Kapur’s film, based on Mala Sen’s book about Phoolan Devi, premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 1994. Seema Biswas plays Phoolan. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

It was also deeply controversial. Phoolan Devi disputed its accuracy, and writer Arundhati Roy criticised it for restaging the rape of a living woman without her permission.

5. Bombay (1995)

Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film was released with a Hindi dub on the same day, 10 March 1995. Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala play a Hindu man and a Muslim woman who marry and live through the Bombay riots. A. R. Rahman composed the music.

The film was banned in Singapore and Malaysia, and homemade bombs were thrown at Ratnam’s house. Yet the Hindi version was among the top ten Hindi earners of the year and won the National Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.

6. Masaan (2015)

Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut, written by Varun Grover, is set in Varanasi and follows Richa Chadha and Vicky Kaushal in stories of loss, shame and caste. It played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2015 and won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Prix de l’Avenir.

Ghaywan also won the National Award for Best Debut Film of a Director. Vicky Kaushal’s breakdown scene is still one of the film’s best-known moments, and the role launched his career.

7. My Brother Nikhil (2005)

Onir’s film is based on the life of Dominic d’Souza and is set in Goa between 1986 and 1994. Sanjay Suri plays a champion swimmer whose life collapses after an HIV diagnosis, with Juhi Chawla as his sister and Purab Kohli as his partner.

At a time when few Hindi films took gay characters seriously, this film handled HIV stigma and a same-sex relationship with quiet respect.

8. The Lunchbox (2013)

Ritesh Batra’s debut stars Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur as two lonely people who exchange letters through a mistakenly delivered dabba. It won the Viewers’ Choice Award in Critics’ Week at Cannes 2013 and earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Film Not in the English Language.

Sony Pictures Classics released it in the US, a rare feat for a small Hindi film at the time.

9. Satya (1998)

Ram Gopal Varma’s film, written by Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla, follows an outsider pulled into the Mumbai underworld. J. D. Chakravarthy, Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpayee lead the cast, and Bajpayee’s Bhiku Mhatre won him a National Award.

Satya is often credited with founding the modern Bollywood gangster genre and the style called “Mumbai noir”. It led to Company (2002), D (2005) and Satya 2 (2013).

10. Aligarh (2016)

Hansal Mehta’s film is based on the 2010 case of Professor Ramchandra Siras of Aligarh Muslim University, who was filmed secretly in a sting operation and suspended. Manoj Bajpayee plays Siras, and Rajkummar Rao plays journalist Deepak Sebastian.

It premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2015 and released in India in 2016. Its quiet, respectful handling of a gay man’s right to privacy set a new standard for LGBTQ+ stories in Hindi films.

11. Rang De Basanti (2006)

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s film stars Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan and Alice Patten. Six young friends relive India’s freedom struggle and begin to question the injustice around them.

It was India’s official Oscar entry, earned a BAFTA nomination and won the National Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. A. R. Rahman’s soundtrack and its youth-led protest theme made it a cultural moment.

For more, read our Bollywood stories, browse film reviews or see more movie lists.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Wikipedia: Satya, Wikipedia: Gangs of Wasseypur, Wikipedia: Masaan, Wikipedia: The Lunchbox.