Border, Uri, Shershaah: Indian war movies you must watch in light of Operation Sindoor

With the news of the same undoubtedly having left your chest swelling with pride, here are some of the finest war movies to have come out of Bollywood in the past decades, which definitely warrant a watch today.

Haqeeqat

Chetan Anand’s 1964 war drama Haqeeqat, features Dharmendra as Captain Bahadur Singh, and follows his platoon fighting the Sino-Indian war of 1962, Presumed dead in Ladakh, tribals come to their rescue. The classic also features Priya Rajvansh, Vijay Anand and Sanjay Khan.

Lalkar

Ramanand Sagar’s Lalkar (1972) with Dharmendra and Rajendra Kumar in the lead, follows the story of brothers deployed by the Indian Civil Services to fight in World War II. When one is presumed dead, the other is sent on a covert mission. Mala Sinha stars as the mutual love interest.

Border

JP Dutta’s 1997 blockbuster Border, is easily a cult classic when it comes to the war genre in Indian cinema. Starring Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff and Akshaye Khanna, the film follows the ordeals of a band of 120 Indian soldiers in the Longewala region, defending their post all night until they receive assistance from the Indian Air Force the next morning.

LOC Kargil

Also a JP Dutta classic, LOC Kargil (2003) follows soldiers of the Indian Army as they try to locate their patrol officers after learning that Pakistani troops are crossing the Line of Control — a battle ensues. The film stars Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Suniel Shetty and Rani Mukerji among others.

Lakshya

Directed by Farhan Akhtar, the Hrithik Roshan-led Lakshya (2004) makes for a very poignant tale of an aimless young boy, whose life stands transformed after he joins the Indian Army on a whim, learning of how hard a soldier’s life really is. He abandons the impulsive pursuit, but soon finds himself walking down the same path again in a redemptive arc. The film also stars Preity Zinta.

Shaurya

Samar Khan’s Shaurya (2008), features Rahul Bose, Kay Kay Menon and Deepak Dobriyal in the lead, following Captain Javed Khan who is accused of killing his commanding officer, Major Rathod — conspicuous silence envelops the plot. Shaurya also stars MinisSha Lamba and Amrita Rao and is interestingly, narrated by Shah Rukh Khan.

Uri: The Surgical Strike

An absolute sensation right as it released back in 2019, and with very good reason, Aditya Dhar’s Uri: The Surgical Strike, cinematises the very real story of India’s retaliation to the 2016 Uri attack. It was the film that catapulted Vicky Kaushal into the coveted A-listers category, and features him as Major Vihaan Singh Shergill, who leads the covert surgical strike on Pakistani territory.

Shershaah

Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani’s roman empire so far when it comes to their filmographies, Vishnuvardhan’s Shershaah (2021) in inspired from the real life of Vikram Batra, who forfeits a life with his love Dimple, as his duties lead him to climb the military ranks, ending in him significantly contributing to India’s victory in the Kargil War. This one’s a complete tearjerker.

Sam Bahadur

The second Vicky Kaushal-starrer on the list, Meghna Gulzar’s Sam Bahadur (2023) features the actor as Sam Manekshaw, India’s first Field Marshal, and follows his life of service in the Indian Army, spanning over 4 decades and 5 wars.

Which of these will you bit hitting play on first?