Five Patriotic Movies You Cannot Miss

 

Patriotic films have always had mass appeal in India particularly those highlighting tales of sacrifice and martyrdom for the country. 

The earlier films were not technically brilliant with war scenes shown awkwardly. But as time went by these became slicker with better technology. 

Today war films are playground for technical brilliance but the story gets lost in the bargain.

Here are five films with a nationalistic flavour:

Lalkar (1972)

Cast: Dharmendra, Rajendra Kumar, Mala Sinha, Nazir Hussain
Director: Ramanand Sagar

Two sons of an Army colonel fall in love the same girl which gives rise to complications. India is in a state of war with Japan and the brothers – Major Ram (Dharmendra) of the Indian Army and Wing Commander Rajan (Kumar) are sent on a mission.

Their love interest is a doctor named Usha (Sinha) who shows a preference for Rajan. But Rajan’s mission is compromised and this brings Ram into the picture.

But Rajan resurfaces and Ram is sent on a mission of no return. Love triumphs.

Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973)

Cast: Raaj Kumar, Parikshat Sahni, Priya Rajvansh, Chetan Anand, Vijay Anand, Amjad Khan
Director: Chetan Anand

The film is based on Operation Cactus Lily during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war and focuses on the role of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the hostilities. The IAF is sent on a mission to destroy a Pakistani radar.

The radar has been blocking the radios of the IAF and must be removed. A lookalike of a Pakistan pilot’s fiancee Tahira (Rajvansh) is planted in Pakistan and she acts as singer on the radio station where the jammer is kept.

But she is discovered and told to leave but the IAF attacks starts bombing.

Haqeeqat (1964)

Cast: Dharmendra, Balraj Sahni, Priya Rajvansh, Sanjay Khan, Vijay Anand, Jayant
Director: Chetan Anand

This is a tale of bravery and sacrifice at the height of the Sino-Indian war of 1962. It recounts the story of a platoon of Indian soldiers who are stranded at a post in Ladakh, surrounded by Chinese soldiers.

Captain Bahadur Singh (Dharmendra) and his lady love Angmo (Rajvansh) are killed while holding the fort against the Chinese to give a chance for their comrades to escape.

However, the platoon is outnumbered and fate deals a cruel blow. The film has wonderful songs.

Upkar (1967)

Cast: Manoj Kumar, Asha Parekh, Pran, Prem Chopra, Madan Puri
Director: Manoj Kumar

A villager, appropriately named Bharat (Manoj Kumar), works hard to educate his brother Puran (Chopra) abroad. But Puran returns as an evil person and demands his share of the property.

Disillusioned, Bharat joins the army and goes to fight at the border. Puran, on the other hand, gets involved in crime. Bharat returns feeling worse. Then Puran reforms and vows to work as hard as his brother.

This film, along with Shaheed, gave substance to Manoj Kumar’s image as Mr Bharat. It also marked Pran’s first venture into good man roles.

Border (1997)

Cast: Suniel Shetty, Sunny Deol, Akshaye Khanna, Rakhee, Jackie Shroff, Tabu, Sudesh Berry, Pooja Bhatt
Director: J P Dutta

The happenings at the Battle of Longewala during the Indo-Pakistan war has been brought to the screen by J P Dutta in a film which became a massive hit. It is a multi-starrer which highlights the bravery of soldiers at the border.

Major Kuldip Singh (Deol) is assigned the task of leading a company to take on the Pakistanis. He and his other team members heroically fight the enemy as establish control.

The Indian Army and Air Force helped in the making of the film by offering rifles, machine guns and tanks.

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#Originally curated by Babu Kalyanpur in 2018 for Pune365