10 Best Bollywood movies on politics : Main Azad Hoon

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

10 Best Bollywood movies on politics

Bollywood movies on politics

Political drama and satire has always been a great topic for making feature films. It is interesting to note that many of them are based on the ills of politics, corruption and scams. Here are some of the best of the lot made on politicians and politics in India.

Aandhi

Highly controversial and probably the best known movie on politics, `Aandhi` was rumoured to be based on Indira Gandhi`s life. It boasts of some spectacular performances by Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen. The movie was even banned during the Emergency period in 1975. 2 years later it was cleared and aired on National Television. Originally the role of the lead protagonist, Aarti Devi, was offered to Vyjayanthimala and she refused it as she got `cold feet` because of the semblance to Indira Gandhi. This movie also has some of Gulzar and RD Burman`s best compositions. The movie received 7 Filmfare Awards including Best Film, Best Actor and Best Actress.

Directed by: Gulzar

Actors: Sanjeev Kumar, Suchitra Sen

Hu Tu Tu

Gulzar`s take on modern Indian politics, this movie was his last as a director. `Hu Tu Tu` showed the angst of the youth and their frustration with corruption. The violent repurcussion that extreme exploitation can cause was a strong theme in the film starring Tabu and Sunil Shetty.

Directed by: Gulzar

Actors: Tabu, Nana Patekar, Sunil Shetty, Suhasini Mulay, Shivaji Satham, Mohan Agashe, Kulbhushan Kharbanda

Yuva

Made both in Hindi and Tamil, `Yuva` was a great boys-to-men story with a unique story telling style. It showed the need for revolutionising Indian politics and the involvement of youth. It was a story of positive impact of student politics and how the influence can trigger a much needed change in the system.

Directed by: Mani Ratnam

Actors: Ajay Devgn, Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena Kapoor, Esha Deol, Sonu Sood

Nayak

Anil Kapoor stars in this commercial take on changing the system. Even though it had some far fetched ideas as to how to remove corruption from politics, it was a feel good movie and got a great reception from the audience. Amrish Puri was his villainous best as the corrupt Chief Minister of the state who Anil Kapoor, a zealous journalist throws off using radical thinking and a straight way of handling things.

Directed by: S. Shankar

Actors: Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Amrish Puri, Paresh Rawal

Satta

`Satta` is the portrait of the nexus between the underworld, businessmen, corrupt policemen and politicians. Starring Raveena Tandon, the movie also showed the bigotry of the Indian mindset and how women were used according to the whims of the men who are looking for their share of power.
Directed by: Madhur Bhandarkar
Actors: Raveena Tandon, Atul Kulkarni, Govind Namdeo

Gulaal

One of Anuraag Kashyap`s best, `Gulaal` was delayed by over 3 years due to various reasons. It had some fantastic performances and established Kashyap as one of the finest film makers of the decade. It was a story of the struggle for power, it showed a gritty underbelly of student politics and secessionist politics in the state of Rajasthan. The film featured Kay Kay Menon in one of his most powerful roles.

Directed By: Anurag Kashyap
Actors: Raj Singh Chaudhary, Kay Kay Menon, Deepak Dobriyal, Mahi Gill, Jesse Randhawa, Aditya Srivastava, Piyush Mishra, Abhimanyu Singh

Mere Apne

The story about a old widow, played by Meena Kumari who becomes `Nani Ma` of a poor neighbourhood. The place is also ridden with gang wars led by rivals Shyam and Chheno (Vinod Khanna and Shatrughna Sinha). The youth are utilised by local politicians to their own end. The movie was very well appreciated for it`s great portrayal of the political scenario of the era at the ground level. Educated unemployment was rife at the time and the feature film had the tone and nerve of the youth just right.

Directed by: Gulzar

Actors: Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Meena Kumari

Rajneeti

This 2010 political drama was inspired from `Mahabharata` and `The Godfather` with movie characters drawing from these stories. Critically the movie was well received, and earned about 143 crores at the Box Office. It had portrayed the murkiness and the tricks of politicians and the struggle very well.

Directed By: Prakash Jha

Actors: Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Arjun Rampal, Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpayee, Naseeruddin Shah

Kissa Kursi ka

Starring Shabana Azmi, Utpal Dutt and Raj Babbar, this movie was a satirical take on Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi. It was surrounded by controversy and the prints were confiscated during the emergency, and was banned in the country.

Directed by: Amrit Nahata

Actors: Shabana Azmi, Raj Babbar, Utpal Dutt, Rehana Sultan, Manohar Singh

Main Azad Hoon

One of Amitabh Bachchan`s lesser known movies, `Main Azaad Hoon` is a story of a layman who needs money and agrees to impersonate a non-existent person who said he`d be committing suicide as a protest to corrption , and a political movement begins. The movie was based on a 1941 American Drama – `Meet John Doe`. The movie catches the nerve of the ills of the society and the plight of the common man in the face of rising looting in the name of leadership.

Directed by: Tinnu Anand
Actors: Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Anupam Kher

Compiled by: Aparna Mudi