Republic Day 2022: Raazi to Lagaan - What to binge watch on this special day!

As Republic Day 2022, is round the corner, check out our list of best patriotic movies that grapple with themes like colonialism, communalism, casteism, nationalism, sexism, and development. They will thoroughly enthrall you but at the same time leave you with ideas to mull over.

 

Lagaan is a fictitious movie based during the British Raj. This Ashutosh Gowarikar directorial gives voice and agency to the 'subaltern' and shows how a farmer named Bhuvan accepts the challenge of Captain Andrew Russell and beat his team in the game of cricket, despite having no training.

This Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra's directorial follows the lives of regular college students in India who experience a patriotic awakening after their friend's fiance who is an airforce pilot, dies in an air crash and is later wrongly blamed for negligence. They are simultaneously also participating in a skit about Bhagat Singh and his companions - and from not understanding the concept of giving up one's life for the sake of the nation to exactly following the same path.

Starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal, this Meghna Gulzar starrer does not dehumanize people belonging to the 'enemy nation' and underscores the great sacrifices that people have to make to fight for the concept of nationhood.

This 2007 Shah Rukh Khan starrer film deals with ideas of patriotism, communalism and sexism. Kabir Khan (played by SRK), is wrongfully blamed for betraying his country and match-fixing with Pakistan. He however begins coaching the Indian women's national hockey team - who are giving third-grade treatment in comparison to their male counterparts and them victorious.

Directed by Abhinav Sinha and starring Ayushmann Khurrana, 'Article 15' is a story about an upright city-bred police officer who is posted in rural India and witnesses shocking caste discrimination in the society that is prevalent despite years of attaining Independence.