Hindi Films Based On True Stories That You Can Watch

Hindi films based on true stories are now one of the most popular genres today but there was a time when only action and romance were the two most profitable aspects of the Bollywood film industry. However, the industry is changing and innovating in content - and a new wave of modernity and content-driven films, are coming to the fore. 

Many new films based on the real-life experiences of ordinary people are in the spotlight. We've put up a list of the best Hindi films based on true stories.

Top Hindi films based on true stories:

1. Gangubai Kathiwadi ( 2022)

Gangubai Kathiawadi is an upcoming Hindi film based on a true story of Gangubai Harjivandas played by Alia Bhatt. She was born in Kathiawadi, Gujrat. She was forced into prostitution at a young age, according to S. Hussain Zaidi's book, "Mafia Queens of Mumbai." She maintained a kotha (brothel) in Mumbai's Kamathipura neighbourhood, and she attracted a number of notorious criminals as clients. Gangubai made a lot of efforts for orphans' well-being and sex-work.

2. 83 ( 2021)

In 1983, Captain Kapil Dev (played by Ranveer Singh) led an unexpected Indian team to the country's first-ever World Cup victory. By returning home as an unusually gifted global champion, "83" encapsulates the journey of this squad that taught a nation to believe and place its hopes in its cricket players.

3. Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl ( 2020)

This film spotlights women in the armed forces and is the story of Gunjan Saxena, a flight lieutenant in the Indian Air Force. As per the film's plot, it's the journey of this flying officer during the Kargil conflict in 1999, when she piloted a Cheetah aircraft into the battle zone and saved many. Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl  is her biopic in which the role is performed by Janhvi Kapoor.

4. Gully Boy ( 2019)

Gully Boy is not a biopic, although it is closely inspired on the real-life stories of Indian rappers Divine and Naezy, according to the film's director Zoya Akhtar. Both Divine and Naezy are part of a new breed of underground teenage rappers that use desi rap to bring attention to a variety of social concerns and topics.

5. Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi ( 2019)

The real-life narrative of the warrior queen Manikarnika (played by Kangana Ranaut) is depicted in the film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. She was the first woman in history to fight against the British, and she was the catalyst for the country's first battle of independence. The 22-year-old queen was adamant in her refusal to hand over Jhansi to the British.

She bravely fought an uphill struggle while dressed as a man and was murdered in action, but her inspirational life story and resistance against the British is an inspiring narrative of bravery, heroism, and women's strength that has inspired generations before her and will continue to inspire future generations.

Suggested Reading: Gehraiyaan Intimate Scenes: Deepika Doesn’t Need Her Husband’s Permission To Do Her Job

6. Uri: The Surgical Strike( 2019)

Uri: The Surgical Strike is a Hindi action film from India with Vicky Kaushal in lead role. The movie captures the Indian Army's surgical strikes against militant launchpads in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir in 2016. (PoK). In retribution for the terrorist strike in Uri that killed 19 Indian soldiers, the covert operation is said to have killed 35-50 militants. The film chronicles the account of the 11 chaotic events that took place during the operation.

7. Kesari ( 2019)

Kesari is a Hindi-language war film from India. As part of the Tirah campaign, 21 Jat Sikhs from the British Indian Army's 36 Sikh Regiment were stationed at Saragarhi. This was an Indian frontier war waged in 1897-1898 by the British in an attempt to pacify the British Empire's unruly western frontier. Havildar Ishar Singh, played by Akshay Kumar, was in charge of these men.

8. Thackeray (2019)

Thackeray is an Indian biographical film that charts the dramatic rise of far-right Shiv Sena party founder Bal Thackeray (played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui)  from controversial cartoonist to prominent Mumbai politician.

9. The Accidental Prime Minister  (2019)

The Accidental Prime Minister is a Hindi film from India. The Accidental Prime Minister is based on the memoir of Indian policy analyst Sanjaya Baru (Akhsaye Khanna), and it examines Manmohan Singh's ( played by Anupam Kher)  first term as Prime Minister of India, as well as the Congress Party's interference in disputing his judgments.

10. PM Narendra Modi (2019)

PM Narendra Modi is a biographical drama film in Hindi. The film portrays Modi's (played by Vivek Oberai)  efforts and tribulations, chronicling his path from an average guy to the leader of a nation and a visionary politician. With intriguing undertones of crucial real-life events in the life of India's foremost leader, the film depicts his transition.

11. Super 30 ( 2019)

Super 30 is a Hindi-language biographical drama film released in India in 2019. It is based on the life of mathematics teacher and educator Anand Kumar (Hrithik Roshan) and his educational programme of the same name. In reality, Super 30 is an Indian educational programme founded by the Ramanujan School of Mathematics in Patna, India. Anand Kumar, a science lecturer, and Abhayanand, the previous D.G.P. of Bihar, founded it.

12. Raazi ( 2018)

picture credit: Vogue

Raazi is a Hindi-language spy thriller film from India. Raazi follows the storey of Sehmat played by Alia Bhatt is an Indian spy who is married to a Pakistani officer and is played by Alia Bhatt. According to reports, the critically acclaimed spy thriller is based on a true storey. The film is based on Harinder Sikka's novel "Calling Sehmat," which was published in 2008.

13. Sanju ( 2018)

Sanju is a biographical comedy drama film in Hindi that was released in India.
It is based on the life of Sanjay Dutt (Ranbir Kapoor), who came from a family of film legends and went on to achieve dizzying heights and darkest depths, including adoration from adoring fans, never-ending battles with various addictions, brushes with the underworld, prison terms, the loss of loved ones, and the haunting speculation that he might or might not be a terrorist.

14. Pad Man ( 2018)

Pad Man is a Hindi-language drama film from India. The film is based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham (Akshay Kumar), a Tamil Nadu-based social activist who invented a low-cost sanitary napkin machine that transformed menstrual hygiene in rural India.

15. Manto ( 2018)

Manto is an Indian biographical drama film based on the life of author and dramatist Saadat Hasan Manto. It just covers the most important years of Manto's life. It takes place in the late 1940s, shortly before India's division, and relates the tale of the author's life in Mumbai, then Bombay, and finally Lahore, Pakistan, where he eventually settled.

16. Gold (2018)

Gold: The Dream That United Our Nation is a historical sports drama film in Hindi from India. It stars Akshay Kumar as Tapan Das, the man who won India's first gold medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics, and is based on the voyage of India's first national hockey team to the 1948 Summer Olympics.

17. Kedarnath (2018)

Kedarnath is a Hindi-language love drama film set in India. While the true narrative of Kedarnath is not based on any two people, the natural tragedy that serves as the backdrop is extremely real. According to the National Institute of Disaster Management's India Disaster Report 2013, the flash floods in question blasted over Uttarakhand in June 2013, killing 169 people and leaving 4021 people missing (and believed dead).

18. Parmaanu ( 2018)

Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran is a historical drama film in Hindi from India. In 1995, Ashwat Raina ( played by Joshn Abraham), a Research and Analysis Wing IAS official, advises that the government conduct a retaliatory nuclear test in retaliation to China's recent nuclear missile tests. However, he is mocked, and PMO secretary Suresh Yadav advises him to make his plan's file short.

19. Raees ( 2017)

Raees is a Hindi-language action film from India. The film is said to be based on Abdul Latif Abdul Wahab Shaikh (played by Shah Rukh Khan), who was one of Gujarat's most feared figures in the 1980s. He was also said to be friendly with Dawood Ibrahim, the Underworld King. He was based in Ahmadabad and had a lot of political clout.

20. Haseena Parker ( 2017)

Haseena Parkar is a biographical crime film from India. The film is said to be based on the life of Dawood Ibrahim's younger sister, Haseena Parkar which is played by Shraddha Kapoor. After her husband, Ibrahim Parkar, was killed in a shooting in 1991, Haseena became entangled in the underworld.