12 Best Hindi Movies

12 Best Hindi movies of all time

The first Hindi movie was not made in Bollywood but had really arrived on India’s shores in 1896. It was during the colonial rule of the country; the Lumiere Brothers introduced the movie in the sub-continent. Bombay or Mumbai is the first Indian city to screen Cinematography.

But, it was Harischandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar, a portrait photographer, who brought a change in the Indian motion picture.’ His short ‘reality’ film screened in 1899 was called ‘The Wrestlers.’ It was nothing but a simple recording of a match held locally.

After the turn of the century, the entertainment of the Indian cinema went through another change. The Father of Indian Cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke, released his path breaking first full length feature film in the Silent Era in 1913. It was based on a legendary character, and was released in 1913.

The intensification of excitement and the technology that the film produced world over initiated first film talkie Alam Ara by Ardeshir Irani gave birth to first talkie. It was released in Bombay in the year of 1931.

The development of the Hindi Cinema had been rapid during the period of 1930 to 1940.

In the meantime, the film industry made a giant step. By 1940, the films were made in various Indian languages.

Indian cinema gained worldwide mass appeal at the turn of twenty first century not only to the audience of India but also across the world. Some of the all time Best Hindi Movies are here:


1.  Mughal-E-Azam (1960 )


Director K. Asif made the film with the famous artists Prithviraj Kapoor, Madhubala Dilip Kumar, and others. It is the film where the director re-tells a well-liked Indian tale, that was filmed beforehand, named Loves of a Mughal Prince (1928) as well as Anarkali in the year 1953. The story based on an incident in Mughal’s Prince Salim’life. The development of Mughal-e-Azam began in 1944, but the production was plagued by delays and financial uncertainty. It was released on 5th August 1960. A blockbuster hit, it maintained its position as the highest grossing Bollywood film for 15 years until the arrival of Sholay.

Hindi Movie Mugal E Azam Cast and Crew

Directed by        K. Asif (Karimuddin Asif)

Produced by      Shapoorji Pallonji

Written by          Aman, Kamal Amrohi, K. Asif, Wajahat Mirza, Ehsan Rizvi

Starring                Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Durga Khote

Music by              Naushad

Cinematography              R. D. Mathur


2.  Do Bigha Zamin (1953)


It was the first movie to win Film Fare Best movie award and it also made its mark by winning at Cannes Film Festival. But the film was a modest commercial success. The Movie’s lead actor Balraj Sahni rehearsed for the role by pulling a rickshaw on the streets of Calcutta.

Cast and Crew Bollywood Movie Do Bigha Zamin

Directed by        Bimal Roy

Produced by      Bimal Roy

Written by          Salil Choudhury (story), Paul Mahendra (dialogue), Hrishikesh Mukherjee (scenario)

Starring                Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Nazir Hussain, Ratan Kumar, Jagdeep, Murad, Nana Palsikar, Meena Kumari

Music by              Salil Choudhury

Cinematography              Kamal Bose


3.  Pyaasa (1957)


Directed , Produced and starred by Guru Dutt, Pyaasa is considered as one of the best romantic Hindi Movies of all time. The film tells the story of Vijay, a struggling poet trying to make his works known in post-independence India, and Gulabo, a prostitute with a heart of gold who eventually helps him get his poems published.

Bollywood Movie Pyaasa Cast and Crew

Directed by        Guru Dutt

Produced by      Guru Dutt

Written by          Abrar Alvi

Starring                Guru Dutt, Mala Sinha, Waheeda Rehman, Johnny Walker, Rehman

Music by              S. D. Burman

Cinematography              V.K. Murthy


4.   Maine Pyar Kiya (1989 )


This is one of the top ten successful films of the Century. At the 35th Filmfare Awards held in 1990, it received seven Filmfare Awards from thirteen nominations, including wins for Best Film, Best Music Director, Best Male Debut, Best Female Debut, Best Music Director, Best Male Playback Singer and Best Lyricist. It launched the career of Bollywood favourite Salman Khan

Cast and Crew Bollywood movie Maine Pyar Kiya

Directed by        Sooraj R. Barjatya

Produced by      Tarachand Barjatya

Written by          Sooraj R. Barjatya

Starring                Salman Khan, Bhagyashree, Patwardhan, Laxmikant Berde, Alok Nath, Reema Lagoo, Mohnish Behl

Music by              Raamlaxman

Cinematography              Aravind Laad


5. Mother India (1957 )


The film was the most expensive Hindi cinema (Bollywood) production and earned the highest revenue for any Hindi film at that time. Mother India became a definitive cultural classic and is regarded as one of the best films in Indian and world cinema. It was India’s first submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958, where it got the nomination. The film was premiered in the Cannes Classics section of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.The film won the Filmfare Best Film Award for 1957, and Nargis and Khan won the Best Actress and Best Director awards respectively.

Bollywood Movie Mother India Cast and Crew

Directed by        Mehboob Khan

Produced by      Mehboob Khan

Written by          Mehboob Khan,Wajahat Mirza. S. Ali Raza

Starring                Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar

Music by              Naushad

Cinematography              Faredoon A. Irani


6 .  Sholay (1975 )


The shooting of the film was extended for a span of two and a half years. The location was Ramanagara village of Karnataka. Sholay was shown in the Minerva Theatre of Bombay for five and a half years and it is one of the highest grossed Bollywood movie. Sholay was the first Indian film to have a stereophonic soundtrack with a 70 mm widescreen format.

Cast and Crew Sholay

Directed by        Ramesh Sippy

Produced by      G. P. Sippy

Screenplay by   Salim-Javed

Starring                Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan

Music by              R. D. Burman

Cinematography              Dwarka Divecha


7. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)


It is one of the best Hindi movies ever made. Watching the movie is like enjoying a poem of unlimited beauty. It is an immensely likable movie. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge set the record at its time for the most Filmfare awards won by a single film with ten.

Cast and Crew Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

Directed by        Aditya Chopra

Produced by      Yash Chopra

Written by          Aditya Chopra , Javed Siddiqui

Starring                Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Amrish Puri,Farida Jalal,Anupam Kher

Music by              Jatin Lalit

Cinematography              Manmohan Singh


8. Guide (1965)


The film was a box office hit was also first film to win all four of the major awards (Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress) at the Filmfare Awards.

Cast and Crew Bollywood Movie Guide

Directed by        Vijay Anand

Produced by      Dev Anand

Based on             The Guide by R. K. Narayan

Narrated by        Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman, Leela Chitnis

Music by              S. D. Burman

Cinematography              Fali Mistry


9.  Lagaan (2001)


The film is set in the Victorian period of India’s colonial British Raj. The story revolves around a small village whose inhabitants, oppressed by high taxes, find themselves in an extraordinary situation as an arrogant officer challenges them to a game of cricket as a wager to avoid the taxes. The narrative spins around this situation as the villagers face the arduous task of learning the alien game and playing for a result that will change their village’s destiny.( Courtesy: Wikipedia)

Cast and Crew Lagaan

Directed by        Ashutosh Gowariker

Produced by      Aamir Khan, Mansoor Khan

Written by          K.P. Saxena, Ashutosh Gowariker

Screenplay by   Ashutosh Gowarikar, Abbas Tyrewala, Sanjay Daima

Story by               Ashutosh Gowariker

Starring                Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne

Narrated by        Amitabh Bachchan

Music by              A. R. Rahman

Cinematography              Anil Mehta


10 . Anand (1971)


Considered as one of the best Hindi Movies ever produced, this is Rajesh Khanna’s Best movie too. It won numerous awards and enjoys cult status.

Cast and Crew Bollywood Movie Ananad

Directed by        Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Produced by      Hrishikesh Mukherjee, N.C. Sippy

Written by          Bimal Dutta, Gulzar, D.N. Mukherjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Biren Tripathy

Starring                Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan

Music by              Salil Choudhury

Cinematography              Jaywant Pathare


11 . Swades (2004)


May not be of everyone’s taste, but Swades wide spread critical acclaim and a cult following from audiences around the world.

Cast and Crew Swades

Directed by        Ashutosh Gowariker

Produced by      Ashutosh Gowariker, Ronnie Screwvala

Written by          K. P. Saxena

Screenplay by   Ashutosh Gowariker, Sameer Sharma, Lalit Marathe, Amin Hajee, Charlotte Whitby-Coles, Yashodeep Nigudkar, Ayan Mukherjee

Story by               Ashutosh Gowariker, M. G. Sathya

Starring                Shah Rukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi, Kishori Balal

Music by              A. R. Rahman

Cinematography              Mahesh Aney


12. Three Idiots (2009)


Three idiots is a inspiring film that broke many box office records. The Film won six Filmfare Awards including best film and best director, ten Star Screen Awards, sixteen IIFA awards and three National Film Awards. In January 2014, it was nominated in the Best Outstanding Foreign Language Film category for 37th Japanese Academy Awards.

Three Idiots Cast and Crew

Directed by        Rajkumar Hirani

Produced by      Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Written by          Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani

Screenplay by   Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra , Based on Five Point Someone – What not to do at IIT! by Chetan Bhagat

Starring                Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Omi Vaidya

Narrated by        R. Madhavan

Music by              Shantanu Moitra

Cinematography              C. K. Muraleedharan

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