Everyone knows the Oscar award or Academy award is the most prestigious award in the field of cinema. In a profession where tens of thousands of movies in various languages are made every year, it is incredible that our films have only gotten three Oscar nominations. The only three Indian movies to ever be nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category (formerly known as Best International Feature Film) are Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay! (1988), and Lagaan (2001). All of these movies were nominated for Oscars.
However, that does not reflect the quality of these films. Let’s look at some of the top Bollywood movies nominated for oscar.
Top 10 Hindi Movies Nominated for Oscar
Lagaan (2001)
In 2001, Ashutosh Gowariker wrote and directed the sports drama movie Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (also known as Agricultural tax). Aamir Khan, who also produces the film, stars alongside British actors Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne, debutante Gracy Singh, and debutante Gracy Singh. To escape paying the taxes they owe, an arrogant British Indian Army captain challenges the villagers of a Central Indian village to a game of cricket. The story takes place in 1893, toward the end of the British Raj’s colonial rule over India.
Cricket and patriotism are a winning mix among Indians! In this historical drama, Aamir Khan plays Bhuvan, a guy who uses a cricket match between Indians and Britishers to protest India’s harsh taxation policies during the British Raj.
Mother India (1957)
Mother India, a 1957 Indian epic drama film directed by Mehboob Khan, stars Nargis, Raaj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, and Sunil Dutt. It is a remake of Khan’s first movie, Aurat (1940), and it depicts the story of Radha (Nargis), a downtrodden villager who struggles against a cunning moneylender while attempting to raise her sons and survive without her husband.
A widowed mother raises her two children in post-independence India despite all the societal obstacles in her path. She battles through being impoverished and harassed by a vicious moneylender with mental fortitude alone. It was the first of only three films submitted as Oscar submissions to receive a nomination. One of the most entertaining Indian movies nominated for Oscar.
The white tiger (2021)
Ramin Bahrani is the author and director of the 2021 drama film titled The White Tiger. Adarsh Gourav, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Rajkummar Rao are the movie’s leading actors. Mukul Deora and Ramin Bahrani produced the movie, and Chopra Jonas, Prem Akkaraju, and Ava DuVernay served as executive producers. Balram, who is from an impoverished Indian town, utilizes his brains and guile to escape poverty in this 2008 novel by Aravind Adiga adaption.
After publishing his novel, Adiga intended to make a movie. The rights were sold to producer Mukul Deora, but the film wasn’t created for a while.
Barfi (2012)
Anurag Basu and Siddharth Roy Kapur’s 2012 Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama film Barfi! It was produced by UTV Motion Pictures and directed by Anurag Basu. With Saurabh Shukla, Ashish Vidyarthi, Haradhan Bandopadhyay, and Jisshu Sengupta playing supporting roles, the movie stars Ileana D’Cruz, Ranbir Kapoor, and Priyanka Chopra in the pivotal roles.
Watch this film if you want to comprehend love in its purest, most innocent form. A boy with autism and a deaf and mute man falls in love. The movie is a poem that breaks your heart every time you watch it, but you keep coming back to it because it’s the only source of hope you have in the cruel, cruel world.
Newton (2017)
Rajkumar Rao plays a government employee who is dispatched for electoral duty to a politically charged Naxalite region. He makes an effort to execute a fair voting process despite many challenges. The film is humorous, satirical, and critically significant for the present. The 90th Academy Awards received a nomination request for the film.
Salaam Bombay (1988)
The film portrays the struggles and hardships faced by youngsters living in Mumbai’s slums in a way that will touch your heart. It is one of the most moving films of the 1980s and one of just three Indian films ever to receive an Oscar nomination. A classic, this film.
Rang De Basanti (2006)
When they participate in the production of a movie about the Indian liberation movement, a group of young friends who are the nation’s future are given a fresh feeling of patriotism. This fervor empowers them to revolt against the harsh forces of the modern world. This film is a masterwork.
Manthan (1976)
The White Revolution in India was the subject of this excellent film, the first Indian film jointly made by thousands of dairy farmers. The film received praise for its themes of rural emancipation and, most importantly, for its outstanding performances.
Devdas (2002)
Another outstanding movie nominated for an Oscar is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s version of the classic story Devdas. Sharukh portrays Dev with an exquisitely painful level of total sincerity. Let’s concentrate on the scene where, after, his girlfriend is married. He carries Paro’s palanquin on his shoulder as the song “Humesha Tumko Chahan” plays in the background. Goosebumps!
Tare Zameen Par (2007)
Aamir Khan produced and directed Taare Zameen Par in 2007, an Indian drama film in the Hindi language with the English title Like Stars on Earth. Along with Darsheel Safary, Tanay Chheda, Sachet Engineer, Vipin Sharma, and Tisca Chopra appears in the movie. The movie focuses on Ishaan (Safary), an 8-year-old dyslexic boy, and his life and imagination.
A teacher recognizes that his pupil has dyslexia and offers assistance when no one else will accept him. It is a beautiful yet painful story. One of the best movies ever produced in India is this moving one.
Conclusion
So, these were some of the top 10 Oscar nominated Bollywood movies. We wish that more Indian movies would receive proper international acclaim. In the interim, you might take in these outstanding films, which are unquestionably among the best in Indian cinema.
Read More
20 Must watch Hollywood movies on Amazon prime in different genres
10 best Hindi Movies on Netflix You Must Watch
10 Best Hindi Movies on Amazon Prime You Must Watch