Upkar (1967)

Director: Manoj Kumar
Cast: Manoj Kumar, Asha Parekh, Prem Chopra, Pran, Aruna Irani
Just about the time of Shaheed, the late Lal Bahadur Shastri asked Manoj Kumar to make a film on contemporary times, when the issue of Indo-Pak war was hot and the slogan 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' was making waves throughout the country. Manoj Kumar captured the idea and produced the unforgettable film Upkaar. It showed that the rapid growth of the cities that affected the living conditions of rural India as more and more people were migrating to cities in the hope of a better life.

Ankur (1974)

Director: Shyam Benegal

Cast: Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag, Sadhu Meher, Priya Tendulkar
Based on real life incident in the Hyderabad area, Ankur focused on power and privilege. Shyam Benegal's directorial debut was a engrossing tale of rural life and it exposed the feudal system that was brutal. But before anything it is primarily a study of human rather than social relationships, and it is this facet of the story, which gives it wider significance.

Nishant(1975)

Director: Shyam Benegal
Cast: Girish Karnad, Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag, Amrish Puri, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah
A poor schoolmaster and his young wife come to a village dominated by a villainous family of zamindars, consisting of four brothers. They abduct and rape the schoolmaster's wife. The distraught schoolmaster with the help of an old priest finally succeeds in mobilising the villagers and slaughters the oppressors.

Manthan (1976)

Director: Shyam Benagal
Cast: Girish Karnad, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Anant Nag
Manthan was produced by 5,00,000 farmers of Gujarat who were the members of the National Dairy Development Board. The film tells the story of the early years of the organization when corrupt local politicians and middlemen exploited the farmers. When the new officer of the organization arrives, the villagers overcome the corrupt politicians and middlemen and create local co-operatives.

Damul (1985)

Director: Prakash Jha
Cast: Manohar Singh, Annu K., Sarla, Deepti Naval, Shyamlee
The film shows the collision between the upper class power-hungry politicians and the suppressed class. How a local politician in a remote Bihar village, manipulates the untouchable community, the Harijans, into setting up their own candidate in the coming elections against Madho, the village chief with whom he is involved in a power struggle is the film all about.

Mirch Masala (1985)

Director: Ketan Mehta
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil, Mohan Gokhale, Om Puri, Dina Pathak, Suhasini Mulay
A very engaging story that successfully portrayed the psyche of an oppressed people. Set in colonial India the film talked about the when tax collectors known as Subedars would travel from village to village with their bands of soldiers and demand payment of land taxes. From their positions of considerable power, how they used to terrorise the villagers and confiscate women along with money and property is the film all about.

Virasat (1997)

Director: Priyadarshan
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Tabu, Amrish Puri, Milind Gunaji, Pooja Batra, Govind Namdeo
The film dealt with the timeless and rotten values still decaying the rural India. It shows the existence of archetypes of Indian rural in this era.

Lagaan (2001)

Director: Ashutosh Gowarikar
Cast: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne
Lagaan was set in pre-independence era where Britishers extort taxes known as lagaan from the Rajas who used to rule the different territories of India. In return, the British, tried to maintain peace and harmony in the country by suing their powerful military. But it wasn't the Rajas who suffered; the actual sufferers were poor peasants who were burdened with tax that made them even more impoverished. How a young man rebels against the Brits who treated the Indians as second-class citizens in their own country, and defeated them in their own game is the film all about.

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