10 Best Biopics On Historical Personalities In Bollywood

Bollywood has had a long-standing obsession with famous personality’s biopic, given the long list of great men and women that were born in this country; the Indian film industry's obsession with recreating their lives is understandable. There is always a mystery to unravel whenever one thinks of making a biopic on any historical personality.

Some of the best and most acclaimed famous Indian personality’s biopics based on their popularity and performance are:

#1. Sardar (1993)

The Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhai Patel was India’s first Deputy Prime Minister and one of the greatest freedom fighter. Paresh Rawal with his raw and unparallel acting skills probably was the perfect choice to essay this role in Ketan Mehta’s Sardar that garnered rare reviews. It is undoubtedly one of the best biopics of all time.

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#2. Gandhi, My Father (2007)

There have been other movies on Mahatma Gandhi but what makes this one different is that it is the story told from the point of view of Gandhi’s eldest son, Harilal Gandhi. The extraordinary relationship that the two shared only shows that Gandhi may be nation’s father but his son was deprived of any father figure. It is a brilliant biopic of a historical figure directed by Feroz Abbas Khan.

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#3. Jodha Akbar (2008)

This is one of the best Bollywood biopics despite the fact that some artistic liberty was taken by the director to re-imagine a story. Ashutosh Gowariker tells the love tale of the legendary Mughal Emperor and his Queen, the Rajput princess Jodha Bai who was married to him as part of a political alliance.

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#4. Zubeidaa (2001)

Karisma Kapoor plays the role of Zubeida, an ill-fated actress who falls in love with the Prince of Jodhpur, Hanwant Singh who was previously married. The real life couple had died in a plane crash and the writer of the movie Khalid Mohammed was the son of Zubeida Begum who never got a chance to know his mother.

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#5. Gandhi (1982)

He has been the ever favorite subject of every director where famous Indian personality’s biopics are concerned. Mahatma Gandhi is a larger than life figure and this British-Indian biographical that has an impressive IMDb scooped out the most talented names to be a part of this movie. This International Project was shot in India in English language and also dubbed in Hindi, for Indian audiences. Veteran actors like Amrish Puri, Rohini Hattangadi, Saeed Jafri and Om Puri were a few among the Indian actors who were a part of this movie. This movie surely deserved an honorary mention in our list.

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#6. The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002)

This historic movie was based on the life of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh who was portrayed by Ajay Devgan. The young revolutionary is nothing short of a legend for Indians and his life, his resistance against the British and his sacrifice was beautifully shown by Rajkumar Santoshi.

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#7. Bandit Queen(1995)

Perhaps one of the boldest and controversial biopic to have ever been made in India, Bandit Queen is the real life story of dacoit Phoolan Devi played by the talented Seema Biswas and directed by Shekhar Kapur.

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#8. Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005)

This directorial venture of Ketan Mehta had Amir Khan essaying the role of Mangal Pandey, a sepoy working for East Indian Company who revolts against the British and start the flame of the great revolution. The movie had many other notable names such as Rani Mukherjee, Kirron Kher, Om Puri and Toby Stephens.

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#9. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2005)

He is one of the most prominent figures in the freedom movement whose death has always remained a mystery. This award winning movie by Shyam Bengal tells the tale of Netaji and his struggles and journey in recruiting an army to fight against British.

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#10. Guru (2007)

The real life story of business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani who is the founder of Reliance Industries which was directed by Mani Ratnam is one of the finest Indian biographical movies of all time.

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These are some our favorite biopics on historical personalities, Are there any that you like that we may have missed? We would love to hear from you. Kindly use the comment box to share your thoughts and opinions with us.

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