Indian Biopics Must-Watch — True Stories from Sport, Politics and History

The Indian biopic is a genre of its own. Where Hollywood biopics tend to lean on single-decade arcs or narrow character studies, Indian biopics are often sprawling — birth to death, poverty to stardom, rebellion to martyrdom. The modern wave started with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Bhaag Milkha Bhaag in 2013, a Farhan Akhtar-starring Milkha Singh story that pulled twelve crore in its opening weekend and permanently revived the sports biopic. Neeraj Pandey's M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, with Sushant Singh Rajput as the cricket captain, remains one of the most tenderly made Indian biopics — and one of the most tragic in hindsight. Tigmanshu Dhulia's Paan Singh Tomar, with Irrfan Khan as the steeplechase champion turned dacoit, is arguably the best-written Indian biopic of the century. Hansal Mehta's Shahid (Rajkumar Rao as human-rights lawyer Shahid Azmi) and the same director's Aligarh are both urgent, underrated. Rajkumar Hirani's Sanju is a biopic of Sanjay Dutt with Ranbir Kapoor giving a star-making performance. Ram Madhvani's Neerja captures the 1986 Pan Am flight hijacking with Sonam Kapoor as the flight attendant who saved hundreds of lives. Nitesh Tiwari's Dangal is a family biopic disguised as a sports film. Shoojit Sircar's Sardar Udham with Vicky Kaushal, and Ketan Mehta's Manjhi: The Mountain Man with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, anchor the historical-biopic end. Meghna Gulzar's Raazi, based on Harinder Sikka's Calling Sehmat, is part biopic, part spy thriller, all triumph. Milan Luthria's Azhar closes the list as a controversial but watchable cricket drama. Every film is streamable free in HD on CineFlixo.