10 best patriotic Bollywood movies to watch on Independence Day

While there is no dearth of patriotic movies in Bollywood, we choose the 10 best one that will definitely give you the thrills this Independence Day. Border – India fought tooth and nail to defeat a listless Pakistan way back in 1971 that led to the formation of Bangladesh. The story of this epic Indo-Pak war provided enough fodder to J.P Dutta to create one of the finest war movies of Indian cinema, Border featuring an ensemble cast led by the redoubtable Sunny Deol. What made the movie more memorable was its melody especially the soulful Sandese Aate Hain made immortal by Sonu Nigam. Lagaan – When Aamir Khan’s Popatwadi XI defeated Her Majesty’s might cricket team, all of India jumped up in collective joy at the prospect of having trounced the goras in reel life once again. The movie marvelously combined India’s favourite sport, cricket with the patriotic fervor of the country. Rang De Basanti – The movie touched a raw nerve when it showcased the transformation of carefree young individuals into passion and revenge seeking human beings when corruption claims the life of their close friend. Chak De India – No film in recent history except Chak De India can claim the unique distinction of having explored religious bigotry, the legacy of the partition of India, ethnic and regional prejudice, and sexism in contemporary India. All these problems were dealt on one common platform- the hockey field. When Kabir Khan(SRK) galvanized a talented bunch of arrogant, egoistic to keep aside their differences and play as a single unified force, India won. Swades – Considered as one of SRK’s best performances till date, the movie displays the patriotism of an Indian scientist who moved by the plight of his villagers altruistically resigns from NASA and decides to put his brain and skills to the good use of his own countrymen. Gadar – Released alongside Lagaan, Gadar rode like a raging bull at the box-office. Sunny Deol’s patriotic machoism combined with ample Pakistani bashing saw the spirit of patriotism rising sky-high. Mangal Pandey – The movie was a box-office disaster but if you ever wanted to learn more about the life of India’s first revolutionary, Mangal Pandey you should definitely watch this Aamir Khan starrer. The Legend of Bhagat Singh – Many have attempted to depict the life of India’s cult revolutionary Bhagat Singh but no one could match Raj Kumar Santoshi’s product, The Legend Of Bhagat Singh’. Ajay Devgn’s intense eyes minutes before being hanged in the movie will leave you with a heavy lump in your throat. Kranti – One of those rare films that showcased the fight for independence spanning the period between 1825 to 1875. The movie had Manoj Kumar aka Bharat Kumar as the lead star and the rest as they say is history. Roja – A gem of a movie directed by Mani Ratnam, this movie showed the valiant and triumphant fight of a government employee(Arvind Swamy) with a dreaded Kashmiri militant( Pankaj Kapur). The scene in the movie where Arvind Swamy rushes to douse a torched Indian tricolor with his bare body proved to be the most gripping moment. Among the many awards that the film won, the most coveted one was the award for the best film on National Integration.