Raja Harishchandra (1913) was the first historical movie and also the first Indian movie ever shot.It was a silent movie in black and white lasting only 40 minutes. It was based on the story from Mahabharata and Ramayana about the King (raja) Harishchandra. It was produced and directed by Dadasaheb Phalke. The leading roles were played by Dadasaheb Phalke himself as Raja Harishchandra and P.G. Sane as his wife, Taramati. It was first shown in Mumbai marking the beginning of the Indian Film Industry.
Mughal-e-Azam (1960) means ‘the greatest of the Mughals’. It was an Indian epic film and was directed by K. Asif. It took two million dollars and nine years to complete. It holds the record of being the highest grossing film till 1975 when the movie Sholey stole the show. Mugha-e-Azam is considered amongst the biggest box office hits of Indian movies. It was a hit worldwide. The movie was partially in black and white to begin with. A restored color version of the film in 2004 also continued to place the movie as a tremendous success, and at the box office it ran for 25 weeks consecutively.
3. Asoka
Asoka (2001) is an epic story of an ancient Mauryan king of India, King Asoka. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Danny Denzongpa in leading roles. It is produced by Shah Rukh Khan and is directed by Santosh Sivan. The story is about the king (Asoka) as a youth who was a plunderer and waged a war, the bloodiest ever in history. He later embraced Buddhism.
2. Lagaan
Lagaan (2001), bases its story about a small village of India during the rule of the British Queen Victoria; how they play a game of cricket against the British staking their future on its victory. It is directed by Ashutosh Gowariker with the leading roles played by Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh and Rachel Shelley.It was also nominated for the Oscars in the category of the best non-English language film.
1. Jodha Akbar
Jodha Akbar (2008) is a story from the sixteenth century when Akbar the Great was the emperor of India. It shows how a marriage alliance turns into true love between a Rajput princess (Aishwarya Rai) and the Mughal emperor (Hrithik Roshan). The movie is directed by Ashutosh Gowariker who also directed Lagaan.
20 comments so far. What are your thoughts?
Like your collection of great movies and I think the only one I missed watching is Asoka. Thanks for sharing...
My pleasure Sulekha :D
Abhishek - loved all these movies but missed Ashoka. I love Lagaan the best. what a fun movie - thanks for this post : )
I love all of them.....I just love movies....my pleasure Kriti:D
watched all d movies. your collections are excellent. my favorite is Mughal-E-Azam.
I haven't seen any of these, but #1 and #3 look inviting to me:)
Thanks for sharing!
http://allergiesandceliac.blogspot.com/
After a long time..yes these are the best, and who better to judge than you Abhi...as you are, and will be the best!!!I have seen them all, keep on posting, you will make me watch movies all over again...
hmm nice set....agree wid all excpt ashoka...tat was ot very close to history...i mean basic ref of orissa n dhauligiri n river daya was nevr depictd....so didnt believe it much...
@Mary Yes they are.......watch them mary......and Thanks for stopping by :D
@Alpana Thanks for such a nice comment.Watch films as they reflect the society :D
@Vaisakhi I agree....but it was a nice movie.......and culture of odisha is so huge it can't fit a 2 hr movie. :D
hehe yup agreed on tat one culture of orissa is too vast to fit in a movie...but somehow basic essence also vanished....n imagine ashoka never got a crown in tat movie wasnt it weird...
@Vaisakhi Yes if they would have explored even a little bit of Oriya culture in the movie it would have been an absolute masterpiece.Obviously it doesn't makes sense why they ignored such an important part of history.May be lack of time and absence of proper guidance.But still as a movie it was good.
Classic selection - informative and enjoyable.
Only thing for me is too many apps, widgets on this site makes it very slow too load and distracts from content.
Do you think,'Jodha-Akbar' and 'Ashoka' is worth even a one time watch,that these two at-least had done a Justice to the so called 'History' ? What about 'Black Friday','Parzania'.And I believe,Lagaan is a pure fiction.
@Kalpana Glad you found the article informative and enjoyable.Thanks for stopping by and leaving your opinion.I am trying my best to make this site load fast.This is an entertainment blog with loads of graphics.Trying my best to speed it up a bit. :)
@Vishanth It's a matter of self taste.Your's might be different from others...Not a big deal.This article is based on the history theme,but not necessarily the exact history.Film making is based on one rule,entertainment.To make a story entertaining film makers alter the story a bit.Otherwise every other Akbar,Asoka or Bhagat Singh film will look the exact same.I hope you got your answer.
Jodha Akbar and Asoka to me are must watch movies,not only because of the history, but also because of the artistic touch.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your views. :)
Yes indeed,I perfectly understood its your perception of choice.And yes,Film making have to be entertaining too,but it is not only rule,that a film has to be.There are many,things a movie is entangled.For a mere eye-candy,one can watch movies like 'Jodha-Akbar' and 'Ashoka',to satisfy his appetite for a pop-corn and a coke,but one can never bring back anything once he leave the movie-hall.About 'Jodha-Akbar',what I give thumps up for this movie is the Cinematography,Production Designing and Music,beyond that this flick scores low in every aspect.'Ashoka' I believe is one of the biggest 'duh' and mocked a legendary subject with all its unethical approach.
@Vishanth I agree that Asoka could have been a far better movie,but it's a vast subject which can't fit a single movie.What I am talking about is film making as art.There's something to learn in every film.My blog is based on that concept and not like any other film blog where all they talk is hit or flop film.Thanks again for your honest views. :)
Seen all the movies except Raja Harishchandra