BackTen Bollywood films based on true stories
Akshay Kumar's Airlift is based on the massive evacuation of Indians from Kuwait during the Saddam Hussain invasion of 1990. A list of films based on real-life stories, heroes and incidents
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Akshay Kumar-starrer Airlift released last week is based on the massive evacuation of Indians from Kuwait during the Saddam Hussain invasion of 1990. While fantasy and fiction is the stuff of Hindi cinema, there has never been a dearth of films based on real-life stories, heroes and incidents. Here’s looking at 10 of them:
1. Talvar (2015): Meghna Gulzar directed the thriller based on the Aarushi Talwar murder case that took place in Noida in 2008. Lauded for its writing and performances by lead actors Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma and Neeraj Kabi, the film is a favourite at the awards circuit this year and has also earned ₹ 30 crore in box office collections.
2. Madras Café (2013): The political espionage thriller was set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, during the time of the Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s subsequent assassination. The Shoojit Sarkar-directed film won wide acclaim and made box office collections of ₹ 42 crore.
3. Shahid (2013): The biographical film directed by Hansal Mehta was based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi who was assassinated in 2010 in Mumbai. The film, a ₹ 3 crore-earner at the box office, won National Awards for Mehta and lead actor Rajkumar Rao.
4. Special 26 (2013): The heist caper was inspired by a 1987 case where a gang posing as Central Bureau of Investigation officers raided the Mumbai branch of a famed jewellery brand. The Neeraj Pandey-directed film featured Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpayi and Anupam Kher in lead roles and garnered box office collections of ₹ 66 crore.
5. Paan Singh Tomar (2012): The Irrfan Khan-starrer was based on the life of a real-life athlete by the same name who went from being an Indian Army soldier to a gold medallist at the National Games to a notorious bandit. Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, the film won national awards for best actor (Khan) and feature film, besides making ₹ 12 crore in box office collections.
6. No One Killed Jessica (2011): The drama starring Rani Mukerji and Vidya Balan was based on the controversial Jessica Lal murder case and closely followed the public outrage and media coverage that led to the killer’s sentence. The Rajkumar Gupta-directed film was a clear winner with generous praise and box office collections of ₹ 24 crore pouring in.
7. Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010): Abhishek Bachchan played the lead role in this period drama set during the Chiittagong uprising against British rule in India in 1930. Also featuring Deepika Padukone, the Ashutosh Gowariker-directed film performed disappointingly at the box office with collections of less than ₹ 5 crore despite positive reviews.
8. Firaaq (2009): Actor Nandita Das made her directorial debut with this anthology film set in Gujarat tracing the aftermath of the 2002 riots. Starring Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Deepti Naval, Shahana Goswami and others, the film conquered the international festival circuit and managed collections of about ₹ 39 lakh in India.
9.Bawandar (2000): Filmmaker Jag Mundhra directed Nandita Das in this film based on the public humiliation and legal injustices suffered by Bhanwari Devi, a gang-rape victim from Rajasthan. After touring the international film circuit, the movie settled for collections of over a crore in India.
10. Bandit Queen (1994): The Shekhar Kapur film was based on the life of bandit and later member of Parliament Phoolan Devi who took to crime after several years of poverty, abuse and injustice. Actor Seema Biswas, then a debutante, played the title role and the movie won multiple awards besides making ₹ 9 crore at the box office.
(All figures have been sourced from movie website Bollywood Hungama).
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