Movies for Thinking about Communal Violence in India
by RRHowell41 | created - 06 Oct 2010 | updated - 12 Jul 2020 | PublicCommunal violence has been a difficulty in India since partition and before. It has been considered in many ways in Indian cinema.
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1. Dev (2004)
172 min | Drama
Joint Commissioner of Police Dev Pratap Singh, a duty-bound, self-righteous officer, and Special Commissioner Tejinder Khosla, the balancing force between the political interests of Chief ... See full summary »
Director: Govind Nihalani | Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Om Puri, Fardeen Khan, Kareena Kapoor
Votes: 1,491
Loosely related to the Gujarati riots.
2. Delhi-6 (2009)
Not Rated | 141 min | Drama
In the ancient walled city of Delhi, an American-born Indian finds himself on an unexpected inner journey as he learns about himself and his roots.
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra | Stars: Waheeda Rehman, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor
Votes: 8,419 | Gross: $0.88M
A fantasy scenario where religious violence does not quite erupt, but in which you see how it could.
3. Khakee (2004)
Not Rated | 174 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A team of police force escorts an alleged terrorist from Chandangarh to Mumbai. However their trip turns into a deadly survival when an ex-cop tries to stop them to reach Mumbai.
Director: Rajkumar Santoshi | Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Votes: 16,616
A Muslim doctor is implicated in the starting of religious violence.
4. Fanaa (2006)
Not Rated | 168 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A sweet blind girl Zooni meets a flirty Rehan. She ignores her friends' warnings. It's her time to discover life. Is she making the right love choice?
Director: Kunal Kohli | Stars: Aamir Khan, Kajol, Rishi Kapoor, Tabu
Votes: 35,082 | Gross: $2.10M
This has to do with Kashmir, and the situation there.
5. Firaaq (2008)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, History, Thriller
Chronicles the devastating impact on vulnerable Muslims in Gujarat after riots.
Director: Nandita Das | Stars: Inaamulhaq, Nassar, Shahana Goswami, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Votes: 2,585
An excellent movie about the aftermath of the Gujarati riots. The main action starts about a month after, with people rebuilding their lives.
6. Amu (2005)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama
Amu is the story of an Indian American woman who returns to India. The film takes a dark turn as Kaju learns that a horrifying genocide that took place twenty years ago turns out to hold the key to her mysterious origins.
Director: Shonali Bose | Stars: Konkona Sen Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, Brinda Karat, Ankur Khanna
Votes: 960 | Gross: $0.01M
A college aged girl comes back to India, having left as a child, searching for her roots, and discovers the history of the Delhi massacres of the Sikhs.
7. Zakhm (1998)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
Amidst religious riots, a son deals with his mother's life-threatening injuries, and her last request.
Director: Mahesh Bhatt | Stars: Ajay Devgn, Pooja Bhatt, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Sonali Bendre
Votes: 3,531
Very powerful movie about people coping with inter-religious violence and past personal secrets.
8. Black & White (I) (2008)
Not Rated | 134 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A spy living in the house in disguise, who has a heart transformation.
Director: Subhash Ghai | Stars: Anil Kapoor, Anurag Sinha, Shefali Shah, Arun Bakshi
Votes: 641
Movie about a Muslim terrorist who comes to Delhi to commit a suicide bombing, and who sees a different picture of life in India than he had expected.
9. Krantiveer (1994)
Not Rated | 147 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Disowned by his parents at a young age, a man ends up in a small village controlled by underworld dons and powerful politicians. Lazy, alcoholic, and unemployed, he gets influenced by a journalist with a positive mission.
Director: Mehul Kumar | Stars: Nana Patekar, Dimple Kapadia, Atul Agnihotri, Mamta Kulkarni
Votes: 2,371
Asks questions about what really fuels religious violence in India.
10. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002)
120 min | Drama
During a bus journey, a devout Hindu Brahmin woman protects a Muslim man when communal rioting breaks out.
Director: Aparna Sen | Stars: Rahul Bose, Konkona Sen Sharma, Bhisham Sahni, Surekha Sikri
Votes: 4,941
A Muslim man and a Hindu woman thrown together as travelling companions in a very difficult situation.
11. Y.M.I. Yeh Mera India (2008)
137 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Lives of several people intertwine during an eventful day in Mumbai.
Director: N. Chandra | Stars: Anupam Kher, Atul Kulkarni, Milind Gunaji, Aakash Pandey
Votes: 944
This movie starts by saying, in effect, India has a lot of problems, but only God could see her through them as well as has been done.
One day in Mumbai.
12. Religion (2007)
105 min | Drama, History
When a priest's wife brings home an orphan boy, her husband is against it. Over time, he develops a connection with him, but is shocked when he finds out the boy's religion.
Director: Bhavna Talwar | Stars: Pankaj Kapur, Supriya Pathak, Pankaj Tripathi, Dayashankar Pandey
Votes: 1,175
A conservative Brahmin struggles with prejudice in himself and in his community.
13. Pinjar (2003)
188 min | Drama
In the days leading up to Partition, a Hindu woman is abducted by a Muslim man. Soon, she finds herself not only forced into marriage, but living in a new country as the borders between India and Pakistan are drawn.
Director: Chandra Prakash Dwivedi | Stars: Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpayee, Sanjay Suri, Sandali Sinha
Votes: 3,001
Issues of women separated during the partition, and issues of repatriation and its problems. Shows only one side of what was definitely a situation that had a mirror image, but still extremely valuable.
14. Garm Hava (1974)
146 min | Drama
In post-partition India, a Muslim businessman and his family struggle for their rights in a country which was once their own.
Director: M.S. Sathyu | Stars: Balraj Sahni, A.K. Hangal, Geeta Kak, Jamal Hashmi
Votes: 829
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