The continuous churn of the Netflix library can seem like its very own will-they-won’t-they romantic setup; sometimes you find what you’re looking for, and sometimes you’re left searching without any luck. Bollywood—the hub of Indian film production in Mumbai and the largest film industry in the world—is known for its own romantic inclinations, but the industry offers so much more. While it can be daunting to find the perfect film, streaming platforms offer a wide variety of films to suit your appetite. Whether you are looking for classic film song-and-dance numbers, political and action thrillers, historical deep dives, or films with progressive messaging, the best Bollywood movies on Netflix boast a lineup of can’t-miss films. Partnerships with Bollywood royalty (like megastar Shah Rukh Khan’s production company Red Chillies Entertainment, and flashy directors like Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtara and Farah Khan) promises that Netflix and Bollywood are truly a match made in heaven.
Here are the best Bollywood movies on Netflix:
15. Om Shanti OmYear: 2007
Director: Farah Khan
Om Shanti Om is a quintessential “Bollywood” film, a masala popcorn flick with wild eccentricities. The 2007 film stars Shah Rukh Khan as Om, an aspiring actor who dies while trying to save the actress he loves (Deepika Padukone) after her film-producer-husband (Arjun Rampal) intentionally sets a fire to kill her. Reincarnated—yes, you read that correctly—as a successful actor identical to Om, he must ultimately avenge the original Om’s death. It’s a contemporary callback to earlier Indian cinema and will surely keep you entertained from start to finish.
14. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (How I Felt When I Saw That Girl)Year: 2019
Director: Shelly Chopra Dhar
Sweety (Sonam Kapoor) is plagued by her family’s constant marriage inquiries when she meets Sahil (Rajkummar Rao), a flailing playwright who is instantly smitten with her. After months of his persistence, she finally tells him that she’s in love with a woman. Unfazed, Sahil recalibrates and commits himself to helping her tell her family in the only way he knows how: an elaborate musical play. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga was released to much fanfare as the first mainstream lesbian Bollywood love story, and is a surefire tearjerker about owning your identity and familial acceptance.
13. Main Hoon Na (I Am Here)Year: 2004
Director: Farah Khan
Situated in contemporary India-Pakistan tensions, Major Ram Prasad Sharma (Shah Rukh Khan) is assigned to “Project Milaap,” a top-secret mission that would release captured civilians from both countries in an effort to drive peace in the region. As part of this assignment, Sharma must go undercover at a school to protect his boss’s daughter, who has become a target of Project Milaap’s foe. On his father’s deathbed, Sharma finds out he has a half-brother —of course, another student at the same school—which further colors the mission for him. Though he makes some hilarious missteps, Sharma ultimately wins the two over until they find out the secrets he’s hiding. Main Hoon Na is a politically inclined action comedy, and a heartwarming look at love and family under the threat of warfare.
12. Pad ManYear: 2018
Director: R. Balki
Based on the true story of a social entrepreneur who created a low cost sanitary pad machine for rural Indian women, Pad Man tackles India’s backwards approach to menstruation. Lakshmikant “Lakshmi” Chauhan (Akshay Kumar) is ostracized from his village for his diligent focus on creating a pad for his wife (Radhika Apte) after discovering that she was using a dirty rag every month. But failure and his new status as an outcast doesn’t deter Lakshmi from his goal; armed by the knowledge that pads could help prevent diseases and illnesses, he continues to work on his prototype until he perfects it and is recognized by an entrepreneur competition, which leads him to wide fame and success. A story of resilience and effort to change the status quo that will inspire you to challenge other stigmas in society.
11. Ajeeb DaastaansYear: 2021
Director: Shashank Khaitan, Raj Mehta, Neeraj Ghaywan, Kayoze Irani
Although there’s now a wariness about watching Netflix India anthology films because they prove to be a mixed bag, there are a few reasons to check Ajeeb Daastaans out. The first one being the chapter starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Aditi Rao Hydari called Geeli Puchi. Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, a filmmaker who comes from a Dalit (formerly untouchable) background and has spoken about the lack of Dalit representation in Indian cinema, it tells the story of an evolving friendship between two women. Their complicated relationship addresses issues of caste, class and sexuality with an assured hand. Sharma is brilliant as always and Hydari gets to add some nuance to the pretty paramour roles she’s known for. Ankahi is an interesting take on the well-worn narrative of a fraying marriage, using deafness as a plot and craft device. The result is touching in parts—however, the lack of dialogue also means there’s occasional overwrought acting.–Aparita Bhandari
10. A Wednesday (2008)Year: 2008
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Retiring police officer Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher) describes the most difficult case of his career, which unfolded over the course of a Wednesday afternoon. The case, a bomb threat spread across the city of Mumbai, was never filed and the details are only known to those who witnessed it, and continues to haunt Rathod to this day. A Wednesday is an expertly plotted action thriller that draws well-deserved comparisons to Die Hard and keeps you guessing until the end.
9. Dil Se (From the Heart)Year: 1998
Director: Mani Ratnam
One of the roles that shot Shah Rukh Khan into stardom, Dil Se… is a politically fraught romance following a radio journalist who is on assignment in Assam, a state in Northeastern India, to cover the insurgency in the area. While there, he becomes enamored by a mysterious woman who is hiding a secret agenda. Dil Se… is a seminal Bollywood flick and features the famous Chaiyya Chaiyya song, whose music video will have you clamoring for the roof of the closest Amtrak.
8. Dear Zindagi (Dear Life)Year: 2016
Director: Gauri Shinde
Some topics are taboo in Indian culture, and mental illness tends to be one of those subjects that is not spoken about often. Dear Zindagi is an elegant portrayal of depression in 21st century India, and is a rare mainstream Bollywood film to openly talk about mental illness and the way it affects the inflicted. Explored via a series of therapy visits, Kaira (Alia Bhatt) explains her discontent with life to her therapist Jug (Shah Rukh Khan) who ultimately helps her see life through a new lens. Dear Zindagi is an important entry into the self-love canon, and will have you reconsidering your own life choices at movie’s end.
7. Jodhaa AkbarYear: 2008
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Bollywood loves forbidden unions, be it religious, cultural, class or otherwise. An epic period drama based on a regal (and controversial) Hindu-Muslim union, Akbar (Hrithik Roshan), a Mughal king, is betrothed to Jodhaa (Aishwarya Rai), a Rajput princess, as an alliance between the two regions. But as their marriage becomes real, so does their love—despite external forces trying to break them apart. Jodhaa Akbar features opulent visuals, rich costume design and an original soundtrack borrowing its sound from Qawwali spiritual style. It’s a portrait of a loving relationship in a trying, war-stricken time, and paints a picture of 16th century India that can scratch any historical itch.
6. Rang De Basanti (Color it Saffron (Yellow))Year: 2006
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
A foreign filmmaker casts a group of friends in her film about India’s freedom fighters, but soon finds life mirroring art. What starts as an easygoing encounter (and film) suddenly turns more serious; after one of the friends is killed at the hands of the corrupt Indian government, the group trades in their passivity for the revolution. Rang de Basanti is about having love for your country even when it directly opposes your values, and in today’s political climate it will ignite the fire within you to stand up and do something.
5. Lust StoriesYear: 2018
Directors: Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Karan Johar
An anthology film from four of India’s most prominent directors, Lust Stories explores the themes of sex and attraction in its many forms, and places them in modern-day India where these types of conversations don’t normally occur so openly. Each director’s short film focuses on a stigma—whether it’s a possessive relationship between a teacher and student, a forbidden tryst between members of two different social classes, an adulterous marriage, or an exploration of sexual satisfaction—and dives deep into the various perspectives at play. The format makes Lust Stories easily digestible, and the films themselves are excellent slices of progression within the industry and culture at large.
4. DarlingsYear: 2022
Director: Jasmeet K. Reen
With this film, Alia Bhatt added her name to the growing list of women producers in Bollywood. In this new role, Bhatt says she hopes to be able bring new stories and voices to the screen, especially on streaming platforms. From the moment she read the script for Darlings, she knew this was a perfect project for Netflix. Bhatt is a part of an ensemble cast who have shone in different projects in the last few years. She plays Badrunissa, a sweet young lower middle class woman, married to Hamza (Vijay Varma), a ticket collector on Mumbai’s transit system. Hamza is a decent husband but has a propensity for violence after a drink. Badru’s mother Shamsunissa (Shefali Shah) keeps urging her daughter to leave Hamza, and sometimes enlists the help of Zulfi (Roshan Mathew) in trying to talk some sense into her. But things take an unpredictable turn after an accident. Darlings manages to deliver a dark comedy for the most part. It’s a treat to watch actors such as Varma (who was an amazing discovery in Gully Boy) and Shah (who does an admirable job as deputy commissioner of police Vartika Chaturvedi in the Delhi Crime series) squabble in their domestic situations. The scenes where Badru and Shamsu go to the police station to report a crime are also a riot because of the delivery by Vijay Maurya (also a writer on this film) as Inspector Tawde. It’s clear the cast and crew had fun making the film. However, Darlings does play it a little too safe and too cute for its own good at times.–Aparita Bhandari
3. QueenYear: 2013
Director: Vikas Bahl
Sometimes, the worst day of your life can turn into the greatest opportunity. Rani (Kangana Ranaut) is blindsided when her fiance ditches her the day before their wedding, citing her conservatism as an incompatibility in their relationship. Shocked, Rani decides to set out on their European honeymoon by herself. While galavanting in Paris and Amsterdam, Rani meets people from all walks of life, and learns who she is and what she wants. Queen is a powerful piece of feminist art that stands for women’s independence and self-sufficiency, and proves that a little push into the unknown can wind up being the greatest boon.
2. Lagaan (Taxation)Year: 2001
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
You may have heard of Lagaan, one of the most easy entryways into Bollywood. The film famously received India’s third-ever Academy Award nomination in 2001 and is rooted in a rich entanglement of a high-stakes sports game and a forbidden romance. An epic sports drama based in colonial India, Lagaan is the story of a group of Indian villagers who challenge their British colonizers to a game of cricket in exchange for the removal of their increasing burden of taxes. We get recruiting and training montages, drama amongst teammates, an intercultural flirtation, and a bangin’ soundtrack from the legend A.R. Rahman. It has everything and has been rightfully hailed as one of India’s most entertaining and thoughtful productions that seems to only get better with age.
1. Taare Zameen Par (Like Stars on Earth)Year: 2007
Director: Aamir Khan
A reliable tearjerker, Taare Zameen Par shows us the power of love and acceptance through the relationship of an eight-year-old child with dyslexia and his compassionate teacher, the only adult who is able to pin down his disability. Traditional Indian educational systems are notoriously unsympathetic to mental and learning disabilities; that this film tackled the subject caused a groundswell of positive conversation during its release in 2007. It’s one of the most beautiful films of this century, and is unconventional as far as Bollywood goes—there’s noted realism to the story and virtually no song-and-dance numbers—but taps into the heart of cinema: love conquers all, and love can save us, too.
