Expresso Independence Day 2024 Special: 10 Films Celebrating India’s Journey Over 7 Decades

India is built on a blend of opposites, where the old and the new, tradition and modernity, constantly interact and find balance. We sing both "Saare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara" with pride and "Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Woh Kahaan Hain" with criticism. Our culture embraces both optimism and deep scepticism. This mix of contradictions is what keeps the spirit of India alive.

When India was being formed from the fragmented princely states, it began to face two powerful forces that shaped its story. On one side, there was a group that embraced the new Constitution’s liberal, secular, and democratic values. On the other, some wanted to maintain the existing social order based on caste, creed, and gender. Today, the group supporting progressive values is shrinking, while the majority pushing divisive views is growing stronger.

After Independence, cinema started with a sense of hope, but by the late '50s, the sense of disappointment was becoming evident. Nehruvian socialism was clearly failing, and the gap between the rich and poor wasn’t closing. Wealth was growing only in urban areas. When Satyajit Ray portrayed Indian villages in his films, like Pather Panchali, he was criticized for showing the country in a "bad light," even though the film's incredible beauty challenges those false accusations of "glorifying poverty."

The popular cinemas of India matched the new-old country, reflecting the staggering cornucopia of colour and noise, wary and scornful of Western understatement, uneasy with realism. Its most seductive, strongest antidote became, and still is escapism.

Hindi cinema is hued to the colourful ’60s, where the idea of modernity was seen to be vested in the individual, in the shape of the noble hero, invincible, all-purpose. Shammi Kapoor went yahoo, and we were up for it. But frothy rom-com couldn’t hide for too long the rampaging corruption and waves of unrest that were rocking the country, which led to the Emergency in the mid-’70s.

The 1980s were a time of confusion in Indian cinema. Home entertainment through VCRs and colour TVs became popular, and the quality of films in theatres began to decline, often featuring rougher, more coarse stories. Rural life, once a staple of Indian cinema, faded into the background as urban anxieties took over.

Despite these challenges, the film industry persevered and found new life with the arrival of three young actors who would go on to become iconic figures. Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, and Shah Rukh Khan emerged during this period, with Aamir and Salman making their mark first, followed by Shah Rukh in the early 1990s. These three Khans have not only sustained their careers but have become enduring symbols of Bollywood, captivating audiences with their dancing, charm, and romance on screen. Their longevity in the industry is a testament to their ability to evolve with the times while still appealing to a broad audience.

As a celebration of her platinum jubilee, here are movie map of India that has drawn through 75 films. If you were to see these movies, reflecting as many themes and genres. Some films draw an unerring bead on intractable societal problems. Some show us just what was considered the acme of entertainment at the time they came out. Some are unabashed mainstream blockbusters. Some are strictly arthouse. And they all tell stories.

Most of these films are in Hindi because that’s the cinema we know best: Here's the list

1. Junglee (1961, Hindi) Shammi Kapoor’s tubby, brash hero yahooed, and swept his heroines off their feet, to give us that unique brand of Hindi rom-com, a mix of family-drama-gawky-romance-class-conflict-easy-resolution-and-a-very-happily-ever-after

2. Uski Roti (1969, Hindi) Experiments with form were Mani Kaul’s forte, and his kind of stylised story-telling was brand new for Indian cinema

3. Samskara (1970, Kannada) This morality tale, directed by Pattabhirama Reddy and scripted by Girish Karnad, was an open challenge to Brahmin orthodoxy and created a huge furore

4. Deewaar (1975, Hindi) Yash Chopra, Salim-Javed, and Amitabh Bachchan changed the face of the Hindi film. The Angry Young Man, born in Zanjeer, came of age in this infinitely better crime drama and made its hero unstoppable

5. Damul (1985, Hindi) The stark desperation of the lives of bonded labour was brought to light by Prakash Jha, whose most successful films have coasted on strong social themes

6. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995, Hindi) Aditya Chopra’s first film deep-sixed all ideas of rebellious young love, using NRI nostalgia as a hook, and gave Shah Rukh Khan his most successful film, which he is still having to live up to

7. Lagaan (2001, Hindi) A bunch of rag-tag villagers beat the English in a game of cricket in Ashutosh Gowariker’s sprawling epic which changed the way Hindi movies were made; the village made a brief comeback in the movies, and Aamir Khan hit it out of the park

8. Black Friday (2007, Hindi) Anurag Kashyap’s powerful recreation of the events that led up to the Bombay blasts in 1993, banned initially and then released, remains one of the most daring docu-dramas of Hindi cinema

9. Visaranai (2016, Tamil) Who do you blame when the whole system is bent? Vetri Maaran creates a chilling drama about the abuse of power, when vested in the hands of the upholders of law and order, complicit in creating disharmony on the orders of dishonest politicians and dodgy lawyers

10. The Great Indian Kitchen (2021, Malayalam) What’s so great about an Indian kitchen where a woman is expected to find her life’s purpose while the men lounge and expect to be served? Terrific, trenchant film, whose director Jeo Baby questions patriarchy and gender expectations, and looks at the very real possibility of smashing it.