Best Indian drama movies

Rascal. Joker. Dreamer. Genius... You've never met a college student quite like "Rancho." From the moment he arrives at India's most prestigious university, Rancho's outlandish schemes turn the campus upside down—along with the lives of his two newfound best friends. Together, they make life miserable for "Virus," the school’s uptight and heartless dean. But when Rancho catches the eye of the dean's daughter, Virus sets his sights on flunking out the "3 idiots" once and for all.

A fictional history of two legendary revolutionaries' journey away from home before they began fighting for their country in the 1920s.

Dangal is an extraordinary true story based on the life of Mahavir Singh and his two daughters, Geeta and Babita Phogat. The film traces the inspirational journey of a father who trains his daughters to become world class wrestlers.

A stranger in the city asks questions no one has asked before. Known only by his initials, the man's innocent questions and childlike curiosity take him on a journey of love, laughter and letting go.

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate. Colours, fish, dogs, and kites don't seem important to the adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks, and neatness. Ishaan cannot seem to get anything right in class; he is then sent to boarding school, where his life changes forever.

The young Shivudu is left as a foundling in a small village by his mother. By the time he’s grown up, it has become apparent that he possesses exceptional gifts. He meets the beautiful warrior princess Avanthika and learns that her queen has been held captive for the last 25 years. Shividu sets off to rescue her, discovering his own origins in the process.

Rizwan Khan, a Muslim from the Borivali section of Mumbai, has Asperger's syndrome. He marries a Hindu single mother, Mandira, in San Francisco. After 9/11, Rizwan is detained by authorities at LAX who treat him as a terrorist because of his condition and his race.

A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system (Mumbai's Dabbawallahs) connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. They build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox. Gradually, this fantasy threatens to overwhelm their reality.

When an army commando finds out his true love is engaged against her will, he boards a New Dehli-bound train in a daring quest to derail the arranged marriage. But when a gang of knife-wielding thieves begin to terrorize innocent passengers on his train, the commando takes them on, one by one.

Based on the true story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma, 12th Fail sheds limelight on fearlessly embracing the idea of restarting the academic journey despite the setbacks and challenges and reclaiming one's destiny at a place where millions of students attempt the world's toughest competitive exam: UPSC.

A young mute girl from Pakistan loses herself in India with no way to head back. A devoted man with a magnanimous spirit undertakes the task to get her back to her motherland and unite her with her family.

In 1890s India, an arrogant British commander challenges the harshly taxed residents of Champaner to a high-stakes cricket match.

Three friends who were inseparable in childhood decide to go on a three-week-long bachelor road trip to Spain, in order to re-establish their bond and explore thrilling adventures, before one of them gets married. What will they learn of themselves and each other during the adventure?

In 2001, somewhere in rural India, two young brides get accidentally swapped on a train. In the ensuing chaos, they both encounter a host of colourful characters, resulting in hilarious and unexpected consequences.

Years after his father disowns his adopted brother for marrying a woman of lower social standing, a young man goes on a mission to reunite his family.

Raj is a rich, carefree, happy-go-lucky second generation NRI. Simran is the daughter of Chaudhary Baldev Singh, who in spite of being an NRI is very strict about adherence to Indian values. Simran has left for India to be married to her childhood fiancé. Raj leaves for India with a mission at his hands, to claim his lady love under the noses of her whole family. Thus begins a saga.

Reincarnated 30 years after being killed in a suspicious on-set fire, a small-time actor is determined to punish the person who ignited the blaze.

After a group of friends graduate from Delhi University, they listlessly haunt their old campus, until a British filmmaker casts them in a film she's making about freedom fighters under British rule. Although the group is largely apolitical, the tragic death of a friend owing to local government corruption awakens their patriotism. Inspired by the freedom fighters they represent in the film, the friends collectively decide to avenge the killing.

The hardened son of a powerful industrialist returns home after years abroad and vows to take bloody revenge on those threatening his father's life.

An uptight MBA student falls for the charismatic new neighbor who charms her troubled family – but he has a secret that forces him to push her away.

A lonely 40-ish man, likely to remain a bachelor, has a chance to find the love of his life when he falls for a vivacious young woman.

The heartwarming tale of Barfi, a charming deaf-mute young man from 1970s Darjeeling, and two unalike women who can't help but fall for him.

Following the roguish terrorist attacks at Uri Army Base camp in Kashmir, India takes the fight to the enemy, in its most successful covert operation till date with one and only one objective of avenging their fallen heroes.

A team of rag-tag girls with their own agenda form Team India competing for international fame in field hockey. Their coach, the ex-men's Indian National team captain, returns from a life of shame after being unjustly accused of match fixing in his last match. Can he give the girls the motivation required to win, while dealing with the shadows of his own past?

An army major goes undercover as a college student. His mission is both professional and personal: to protect his general's daughter from a radical militant, and to find his estranged half-brother.

A successful Indian scientist returns home to his village to take his nanny back to America with him, and in the process rediscovers his roots.

Per her mother's last wish, an 8 year old girl sets out to reunite her father with his college best friend who was in love with him.

A gangster sets out to fulfill his father's dream of becoming a doctor.

A depressed wealthy businessman and a spunky carefree young woman embark on an unexpected journey that changes their lives.

A coming-of-age story based on the lives of street rappers in Mumbai.

In the year 2898 AD, around 6000 years after Kurukshetra war, Ashwatthama gears up for his final battle of redemption at the sign of hope in a dystopian world and Bhairava, a wisecracking and self-interested bounty hunter, tired of the perilous life becomes the hurdle in the process.

A shopkeeper takes God to court when his shop is destroyed by an earthquake.

Pushpa Raj is a coolie who rises in the world of red sandalwood smuggling. Along the way, he doesn’t shy from making an enemy or two.

The ageing wrestler Sultan Ali Khan decides to try his luck on the mat again; to do this, he wants to represent his country at the Olympic Games, but first has to overcome personal issues.

Rajputana, India, 13th century. The tyrannical usurper Alauddin Khilji, sultan of Delhi, becomes obsessed with Queen Padmavati, wife of King Ratan Singh of Mewar, and goes to great lengths to satisfy his greed for her.

A pregnant woman from a primitive tribal community, searches desperately for her husband, who is missing from police custody. So as to find her husband and seek justice for them, as their voice, a High Court advocate rises in support. Will their battle for justice succeed?

An unconventional thinker helps a budding cinematographer gain a new perspective on life.

Rani, a 24-year-old homely girl, decides to go on her honeymoon alone when her fiancé calls off the wedding. Traveling around Europe, she finds joy, makes friends, and gains new-found independence.

Peshwa Bajirao married to Kashibai, falls in love with Mastani, a warrior princess in distress. They struggle to make their love triumph amid opposition from his conservative family.

Prakash Rathod, a retired police commissioner recounts the most memorable case of his career wherein he was informed about a bomb scare in Mumbai by an ordinary commoner.

Three inseparable childhood friends are just out of college. Nothing comes between them - until they each fall in love, and their wildly different approaches to relationships creates tension.

Based on the life story of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and his journey to being the world cup winning captain of the Indian cricket team.

Sanju explores some of the most crucial chapters from movie star Sanjay Dutt’s dramatic and controversial real life. It gives a lowdown on his tryst with drugs and his trials and tribulations in the Arms Acts case and the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

A depiction of the life of an impoverished early twentieth century rural Bengali family.

Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh, a pilot in the Indian Air Force, rescues the stranded Zaara, a woman from Pakistan, following a bus accident, and their lives are forever bound.

A dynamic young entrepreneur finds herself locked in a hotel room with the corpse of her dead lover. She hires a prestigious lawyer to defend her and they work together to figure out what actually happened.

Following a group of friends from university as they progress into middle-age life and go their own separate ways.

In the early 1980s India, a group of con artists rob businessmen and politicians by conducting fake raids, posing as officers of the CBI or Income Tax Department . They plan to execute their biggest con as a final job while a relentless cop is on their trail.

A sexual assault victim, unjustly tried for the attempted murder of her attacker, is defended by a retired lawyer who challenges India's rape culture.

7 years after the case related to Vijay Salgaonkar and his family was closed, a series of unexpected events bring truth to light that threatens to change everything for the Salgaonkars. Can Vijay save his family this time?

A cash-strapped bank cashier embarks on a risky investment scheme and soon gets drawn into the murky world of money laundering.

A young IPS officer’s new posting in rural India has him confronting caste disparities and uncomfortable truths in the face of a gruesome crime. When three girls go missing in the fictional village of Lalgaon, two of them are found dead and there is no trace of the third one. Where is she and who is responsible for this heinous act?

Jai and Ali return, this time on the trail of an international thief who steals priceless artifacts and has chosen Mumbai as his next target.

Duped and sold to a brothel, a young woman fearlessly reclaims her power, using underworld connections to preside over the world she was once a pawn in.

Mita and Raj Batra, an affluent couple from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, are grappling with getting their daughter admission into an English medium school. But there is one big problem. Their zubaan is Hindi, and the elitist snobs won’t let the Hindi speaking hoi-polloi fit in.

An Indian spy is married to a Pakistani military officer during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

In the United States for the first time, an Indian housewife with a limited command of English turns Manhattan into her personal language school.

DCP DeSilva sees a way to bring to justice the feared head of a criminal empire by recruiting a man named Vijay, who looks exactly like the crime boss. The ruse works too well, and soon Vijay finds his life in danger when DeSilva, the only one who knows his true identity, dies.

When Iraq invades Kuwait in August, 1990, a callous Indian businessman becomes the spokesperson for more than 170,000 stranded countrymen.

A taxi driver is caught between a dysfunctional relationship between a woman and her father as he drives them to Kolkata.

The true story of the "Flying Sikh" world champion runner and Olympian Milkha Singh who overcame the massacre of his family, civil war during the India-Pakistan partition, and homelessness to become one of India's most iconic athletes.

A 25-year-old man tries to suppress his embarrassment when his mother announces that she is pregnant.

A cop, investigating the mysterious death of a filmstar, meets a sex-worker, while he faces some personal problems psychologically. The mystery connects these people in a way, that ultimately changes their lives.

Four friends from a sleepy little village in Punjab share a common dream: to go to England. Their problem is that they have neither the visa nor the ticket. A soldier alights from a train one day, and their lives change. He gives them a soldier's promise: He will take them to the land of their dreams. What follows is a hilarious and heartwarming tale of a perilous journey through the desert and the sea, but most crucially through the hinterlands of their mind.

Upon realizing the extent to which women are affected by their menses, a man sets out to create a sanitary pad machine and to provide inexpensive sanitary pads to the women of rural India.

Manjummel Boys, based on a real story, is about a bunch of friends who set out on a trip to Kodaikanal and the events that occur there.