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The Indian Eye
EYE ON BOLLYWOOD AUGUST 21, 2026 42

Bollywood and the Freedom Struggle:

How Cinema Has Remembered India’s

Fight for Independence

Over eight decades, Bollywood’s freedom-struggle films have therefore moved from coded resistance to

patriotic celebration, from heroic biographies to political reinterpretation and psychological examination

OUR BUREAU further back, portraying the sepoy
whose revolt became part of the larg-
Mumbai
er uprising of 1857.
or generations of Indians, the Perhaps the most interesting
story of the freedom struggle transformation came with Rang De
Fhas not been confined to his- Basanti (2006). Rather than simply
tory books. It has lived on the screen recreating the past, the film connect-
— in patriotic songs, revolutionary ed the revolutionary generation with
heroes, village rebellions and stories disillusioned contemporary Indian
of ordinary people confronting colo- youth. Bhagat Singh, Chandrashek-
nial power. Bollywood’s portrayal of har Azad and their comrades be-
India’s independence movement has came mirrors through which young
evolved considerably over the decades, Indians questioned corruption, po-
reflecting not only changing cinemat- litical apathy and their own respon-
ic styles but also the country’s chang- sibilities as citizens. History was no
ing understanding of its own past. longer presented as something fin-
Even before independence, Hin- ished; it became a language for dis-
di cinema found ways to challenge Sardar Udham (2021) offered a sombre portrayal of Udham Singh and his response to the cussing the present.
colonial authority. The most strik- Recent cinema has continued
ing example was Kismet, released in Jallianwala Bagh massacre (File photo) this process of revisiting forgotten
1943, when the British Raj was still or less prominently remembered fig-
in existence. The film featured the a freedom-struggle film in the con- treating history only as a collection ures. Sardar Udham (2021) offered
unforgettable patriotic song “Door ventional sense, captured the nation- of heroic episodes, filmmakers be- a sombre portrayal of Udham Singh
Hato A Duniya Walon, Hindustan al mood through its celebration of gan experimenting with fictional nar- and his response to the Jallianwala
Hamara Hai.” Though carefully the soldier and farmer — reflected ratives and alternative perspectives. Bagh massacre. Unlike the more
framed to evade colonial censorship, in the slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan.” Lagaan (2001) was ostensibly a story celebratory nationalism of earlier
its message was unmistakable. The The message was that independence about cricket, but beneath its sport- films, it dwelt on trauma, grief and
song became a popular expression of was not simply an event in 1947 but a ing drama lay a familiar colonial con- the psychological consequences of
defiance and demonstrated the polit- continuing national project. flict. Villagers challenge an oppres- colonial violence.
ical power of popular cinema. By the 1980s, filmmakers began sive British tax system by accepting Over eight decades, Bollywood’s
After 1947, cinema initially be- attempting larger and more complex an extraordinary cricket match. The freedom-struggle films have there-
came a vehicle for remembering sac- historical narratives. Kranti (1981), film transformed resistance into en- fore moved from coded resistance
rifice and constructing a new nation- starring Dilip Kumar, presented the tertainment while making the larg- to patriotic celebration, from heroic
al identity. Shaheed (1948), made resistance to British rule as a sweep- er point that colonialism operated biographies to political reinterpreta-
soon after independence, turned ing historical action drama. Around through economic as well as politi- tion and psychological examination.
the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh into the same period, Richard Atten- cal domination. The British have often remained the
a cinematic story for a country still borough’s Gandhi (1982), though The same period witnessed a re- principal antagonist, but the mean-
coming to terms with freedom. The not a Bollywood film, starring Ben vival of serious biographical cinema. ing of freedom has changed with
1965 Shaheed, starring Manoj Ku- Kingsley, brought the Indian inde- The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), each generation.
mar, went further. His portrayal of pendence movement to a global au- directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, ex- That may be Bollywood’s great-
Bhagat Singh became one of the de- dience. The film presented Mahatma plored Bhagat Singh not merely as est contribution to the memory of
fining images of patriotic cinema and Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence a martyr but as an intellectual and independence. It has not merely re-
helped establish the revolutionary as and his confrontation with British revolutionary shaped by socialist produced history. It has repeatedly
a cultural icon for generations. imperialism on an epic scale. It also ideas. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: reinterpreted it — asking new gen-
The cinema of the 1960s and demonstrated how the Indian free- The Forgotten Hero (2004), directed erations what freedom meant, who
1970s increasingly linked the free- dom struggle had become a subject by Shyam Benegal, examined Bose’s fought for it, whose sacrifices were
dom struggle with the responsibil- of international cinema. political journey and the formation remembered and, perhaps most im-
ities of independent India. Manoj The 1990s and early 2000s of the Indian National Army. Man- portantly, what Indians have done
Kumar’s Upkar (1967), although not brought another shift. Instead of gal Pandey: The Rising (2005) went with the freedom they inherited.

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