iconic movies of Independent India
Film scholar Rachel Dwyer lists 70 movies that made us laugh, cry, think, dance and debate. Go ahead and hit the rewind button for these screen classics.
(Read how she curated the list)
How many of these movies have you seen? Click, share and flaunt.
Illustration by Malay Karmakar
Note from Rachel Dwyer, film scholar and historian, SOAS University of London
It is always fun to compile lists but on the understanding that they can be altered. This is my list today, my favourite Indian films. Perhaps tomorrow I might change it as there are films I can’t bear to have left out but there was no space. How does one choose from among Satyajit Ray’s films? How have I left Devi out? I barely know films from the North-East but perhaps by compiling this list I have reminded myself. I haven’t chosen a single Bhojpuri or Odiya film. I’ve seen more Tamil and Malayalam films than Telugu and Kannada films. I like songs, romance and fun but I also like the emotionally nuanced films. I could easily have chosen seventy films from the 1950s alone…
