30 Bollywood films to watch

The financial success of the movies allowed the Kapoor family to create RK Studios. Movie was also a trailblazer for Indian film music.

India's first reincarnation thriller. Becomes a common theme later on. Also Kamal Amrohi's first film, he goes on to become a legend, renowned for his attention to detail. Film has beautiful visuals. This film also made Madhubala a star.

Mother India is considered the most Indian movie ever with independence themes. This was released in a time where most of India's population lived in villages. Demonstrated the hard life of villagers in rural communities. Naushad also introduced Western classical music to Hindi Cinema. First Indian film to be nominated for the Oscars.

A reincarnation thriller. The audiences loved Bimal Roy because of the realism his movies created about social issues. Also the protagonists of the film were both very strong. Created multi-dimensional female characters in a time where it was uncommon. Considered India's first feminist filmmaker.

Everything about this movie was grand. Sets that took 2 years to build, scenes with 8000 extras... Asif stopped at nothing to make this masterpiece. Never before was such attention paid to period costumes. Took 500 days to shoot and most expensive film made for a long time. This film is so iconic for its performances, music, dialogue, visuals, efforts... a remake or adaptation with the same characters in history was never attempted after.

Dev Anand became familiar with the novel and decided to adapt it into a movie. It was released in English and Hindi cinema. There were protests by the Indian audience who didn't want to see a woman unfaithful to her husband on screen. First film to sweep top 4 Filmfare awards.

First film to have a full star-studded cast since Mother India and re-popularized the 'lost and found' theme to Bollywood, over 10 years after partition. Also marked a turning point in Raj Kumaar's careeri into more mature roles.

One of the only bollywood movies to feature no song and dance, a rarity for this age. Considered a unique experiment by Yash Chopra, this film broke the mould of other films. This film broke stereotypes and were able to cast famous actors as the leads. There is nothing romantic about this film.

The Kapoor family took a huge risk to make this film by mortgaging all their assets and it flopped in India. Partly because there was an India-Pakistan conflict at the time. First film to have 2 intervals, and is one of the longest Indian films at over 4 hours. The film is about a clown trying to make people life while experiencing his sorrows, eventually became a cult classic. Partly filmed in Russia, and was released there and did well at the Russian box office.

Anand inspired audiences with its message of humanism. This film starred the 2 greatest actors of the decade: Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bacchan. It was considered the beginning of middle cinema: the compromise between mainstream cinema and parallel art cinema. They wanted to entertain people but also make them think.