32 Best Bollywood movies to watch on Netflix
Carolina
Carolina, who originally hails from Argentina is a movie buff through and through. She enjoys nothing more than binge-watching the latest Netflix series and is a big fan of their 'Originals' line. Her favourite movie is Frozen and she's a big fan of The Good Place & The Dragon Prince.
The Hindi film market is giant, to say the least.
The term Bollywood was created as a portmanteau of “Bombay” and “Hollywood” back in 1970 as a reference to the Indian Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai (formerly Bombay).
Nowadays, the term is used broadly, including the whole Indian film industry, which is the world’s biggest.
Although these movies are primarily for a domestic audience, there are Bollywood enthusiasts all around the globe.
Of course, Netflix is not indifferent to this trend, and they have a lot of options in the Bollywood section. So, let me show you what Bollywood movies you can find and what you need to watch them.
Can I watch Bollywood films on Netflix?
Most of the Indian movies available on the platform are Netflix originals that can be found globally, but what happens with the Bollywood movies that Netflix doesn’t produce?
They’re available as well but scattered through different Netflix catalogues. The best ones? On Netflix India.
If you’re not in India, then you’ll need some help to access the service in your country as most of the best films are available there.
With a VPN, you can skip the regional blocking and connect to Netflix India with your regular account.
We’ve been testing a bunch of VPNs, and the most reliable one unblocking Netflix India content is ExpressVPN.
There are others like NordVPN and Surfshark, so you’re free to shop around.
So, in the next section, I’ll show you how you can configure ExpressVPN to enjoy Bollywood on Netflix in any country.
How to watch Bollywood movies on Netflix
Configuring a VPN is an easy task. If you follow these steps, you’ll be enjoying Bollywood movies in a couple of minutes.
Step 1
Go to the ExpressVPN website and click on “Get ExpressVPN” and choose the plan that best fits your budget.
A Great Tip: with the yearly package you save a lot of money.
Step 2
Create your account with your email address, and provide the payment method of your preference.
Step 3
Get the app in the Products section where you can find all the apps available for all type of devices.
If you are on an Android or Apple mobile device, you can download the app right away from your regular App Store.
Step 4
Once you got the app installed on your device, log in with the account credentials you created in step 2 or the activation code they supply.
Step 5
Search for the location we recommend for the movie you want to watch and connect. Now you’ll be able to watch Bollywood movies no matter where in the world you are.
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1. Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020)
Action, Biography, Drama – 112 min.
Available globally
A Netflix original movie about the real story of Gunjan Saxena, one of the first Indian female air-force pilots in combat.
The movie follows Saxena from a child and how she pursues her dream of becoming a pilot while facing prejudice for being a woman.
2. Dangal (2016)
Action, Biography, Drama – 161 min.
Available globally
A Walt Disney Pictures India production, Dangal is loosely based on the Phogat family story. Mahavir Singh Phogat, a former amateur wrestler, trained in the pehlwani style of Indian wrestling, who has to give up his wrestling career due to his father’s pressure.
He vows to achieve his dream through his unborn son, but he ends having four daughters.
When his two older daughters, Geeta and Babita, come home after beating up two boys in reaction to offensive comments, he sees the potential in them and begins to train them.
3. Udaan (2010)
Drama – 134 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN locations: Canada, India, Singapore, Spain, the UK, and the US.
A coming-of-age drama about Rohan, a seventeen-year-old boy expelled from the Bishop Cotton boarding school in Shimla with three of his friends.
Rohan is now forced to go back to his home where his abusive and alcoholic father lives along with his six-year-old stepbrother.
4. Pink (2016)
Drama, Thriller – 136 min.
Available globally
One night, Rajveer and his friends, all rich boys, get drunk at a bar and begin molesting a woman and her roommates.
After this incident, the three women see themselves accused of a crime, and a retired lawyer decides to help them clear their name.
5. Ishqiya (2009)
Comedy, Drama, Romance – 118 min.
Available in Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Israel, Lithuania, Mexico, and Russia – Recommended VPN Locations: Brazil and India
Framed in the black comedy genre, Ishqiya tells the story of two thieves, Khalujaan and Babban, who are uncle and nephew and they’re on the run after stealing from their boss, Mushtaq.
6. Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare (2020)
Drama – 126 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Brazil, India, Spain, and the UK
Set in a new industrial area in New Delhi’s outskirts, two women cousins through their complicated dynamic relationship find their path towards freedom and empowerment.
7. A Wednesday (2008)
Action, Crime, Drama – 104 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Canada, India, Spain, the UK, and the US
A thriller about a sequence of events that take place between 2 pm and 6 pm on a Wednesday narrated by a soon-to-retire police commissioner. A low-budget movie that became a success in the Indian box-office.
8. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011)
Comedy, Drama – 155 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Canada, India, the UK, and the US
Filmed in Spain, India, Egypt and the United Kingdom, the movie follows three childhood friends, Arjun, Kabir, and Imraan, who adventure together on a three-week road trip.
9. Village Rockstars (2017)
Drama – 87 min.
Available only in India
A coming-of-age film which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Dhunu, a girl living in a village with her widowed mother, dreams of having her own rock band
Growing up in hardship, she never gives up her aspirations.
10. Delhi Belly (2011)
Action, Comedy, Crime – 103 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Canada, India, the UK, and the US
An action-comedy about three roommates, a journalist, a photographer, and a cartoonist, who live in a shabby apartment in Delhi. They led lives full of debts, and one day they became the prey of a ruthless gangster.
11. Kahaani (2012)
Mystery, Thriller – 122 min.
Available globally
A mystery thriller about a pregnant woman who flies from London to Kolkata searching for her missing husband who no one seems to have met or known.
12. Bucket List (2018)
Family – 150 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Canada, Brazil, India, the UK, and the US
Madhura is a middle-aged housewife who has recently received a heart transplant.
Tracing back her donor, she finds out it’s a 20-year-old girl called Sai. She decides to pay a visit to Sai’s parents to show gratitude and then, she embarks on completing Sai’s bucket list in her memory.
13. Lootera (2013)
Drama, Romance – 136 min.
Available only in India
Inspired by the short story The Last Leaf by American writer O. Henry, and directed by Vikramaditya Motwane (Udaan), Lootera is a period romantic drama.
The film is set in 1953 and tells the story of a landlord’s daughter who falls in love with an archaeologist who has a secret that could keep them apart.
14. The Lunchbox (2013)
Drama, Family, Romance – 104 min.
Available only in India
An epistolary romance film that follows the relationship that was born by mistake between a young housewife and an older man.
When a famously efficient lunchbox delivery system in Mumbai makes a mistake in one of the deliveries, Ila and Saajan connect through messages in the lunchbox.
15. Highway (2014)
Crime, Drama, Romance – 133 min.
Available globally
A road movie drama about a young woman who is kidnapped and held for ransom right before her wedding. With the pass of the days, she begins to develop a bond with her kidnapper.
16. Queen (2014)
Adventure, Comedy, Drama – 146min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Brazil, Canada, India, Spain, and the UK
Rani is a Delhi girl from a traditional family who is about to get married.
One day before her wedding, her fiancé Vijay tells her he doesn’t want to marry her. Devastated, Rani decides to go on her pre-booked honeymoon trip alone.
17. Haider (2014)
Action, Crime, Drama – 160 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Brazil, Canada, India, Spain, the UK, and the US
A modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet and also an adaptation of Basharat Peer’s memoir Curfewed Night, set in the historical and social context of the insurgency-hit Kashmir conflicts of 1995 and civilian disappearances.
Haider is a young student and poet who returns to Kashmir looking for his missing father and ready to confront his uncle.
18. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019)
Comedy, Drama, Romance – 120 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Brazil, Canada, India, the UK, and the US
A coming of age romantic comedy drama that tells the story of Sweety Chaudhary, a closeted lesbian who tries to come out to her conservative and traditional family.
19. Masaan (2015)
Drama – 109 min.
Available only in India
Following separate stories that eventually converge, Masaan shows an India full of social prejudices and a strict moral code and a punishing caste system. The characters must face personal tragedies while facing a very traditional and conservative society.
20. Time Out (2015)
Drama, Family, Music – 98 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: India (NordVPN), the US (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), and the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)
The love and friendship shared between two brothers will be put on a test when one of them comes out of the closet as gay.
21. Kapoor and Sons (2016)
Comedy, Drama, Family – 132 min.
Available Globally
A family drama about two brothers who visit their dysfunctional family to find out that their parents are on the verge of divorce, and the family is in a financial collapse.
22. Dear Zindagi (2016)
Drama, Romance – 151 min.
Available Globally
Kaira is a promising cinematographer searching for a perfect life. One day, she meets Jug, an unconventional thinker who makes her see life through other eyes.
23. Andhadhun (2018)
Crime, Drama, Music – 139 min.
Available in Selected Countries – Recommended VPN Locations: India (NordVPN), Canada (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), Singapore (NordVPN, Surfshark), the US (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark). the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)
A blind pianist’s life changes when he lands on the murder scene of former movie celebrity by accident.
24. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
Comedy, Drama, Musical – 177 min.
Available Globally
When Anjali was in college, she was in love with her best friend Rahul, but he was in love with Tina.
Years later, Tina passed away, and her eight-year-old daughter attempts to reunite her father with Anjali.
25. Dil Dhadakne Do (2015)
Comedy, Drama, Romance – 170 min.
Available in Selected Countries – Recommended VPN Locations: India (NordVPN), Canada (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), Singapore (NordVPN, Surfshark), the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), the US (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)
During the celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary on a cruise, a couple faces all their family issues.
26. Ginny Weds Sunny (2020)
Comedy, Romance – 125 min.
Available in Selected Countries – Recommended VPN Locations: India (NordVPN), the US (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark). the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)
Ginny meets Sunny for an arranged marriage, but she turns him down. What she doesn’t expect is Sunny is going to team up with her mother to win her love.
27. Photograph (2019)
Drama, Romance – 110 min.
Available only in the UK – Recommended VPN: ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark.
A struggling street photographer convinces a stranger to pose as his fiance to convince his grandmother he’s going to get married.
28. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)
Drama, Musical, Romance – 160 min.
Available only in India – Recommended VPN: NordVPN
Naina, an introverted girl, falls for Kabir, a young man she meets during a trekking trip.
When she’s about to confess her feelings for him, he leaves India to pursue his career. Some years later, they meet again, but Kabir still yearns for an adventurous life instead of a relationship.
29. John Day (2013)
Drama – 138 min.
Available in Selected Countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Canada (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), India (NordVPN), Singapore (NordVPN, Surfshark) the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), the US (NordVPN, Surfshark)
A bank manager and his wife, who are mourning their daughter’s recent death, see themselves trapped in a bank heist tied to corruption and fraud.
30. Judwaa (1997)
Action, Comedy, Drama – 138 min.
Available in selected countries – Recommended VPN Locations: Canada (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), India (NordVPN), Singapore (NordVPN, Surfshark), the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), the US (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)
A pair of identical twins separated at birth meet in adulthood and join forces to face a common enemy.
31. House Arrest (2019)
Comedy – 104 min. – Available Globally
A Netflix original comedy about Karan, a man who has self-imposed house arrestment and the rest of the world not leaving him alone.
32. Mission Kashmir (2000)
Action, Drama, Thriller – 154 min.
Available only in India – Recommended VPN: NordVPN
The movie follows the tragic story of a young boy, Altaaf Khan, who lost his entire family after being accidentally killed by police officers.
He is adopted by the officer responsible for this accident, and later when Altaaf finds out the truth, he seeks revenge by becoming a terrorist.
Summary
Bollywood movies have been gaining popularity in the past years, and Netflix is no different to this trend.
Although several Indian movies are Netflix originals, a lot more are only available on certain country’s Netflix catalogues.
But, thankfully, we have VPNs to solve this issue. Since not all VPNs services unblock all Netflix catalogues, we researched and conducted several tests to offer you a complete guide respecting this.
Our main choice is ExpressVPN as they work with many countries, but it’s also worth checking out NordVPN, and Surfshark if you want to shop around.
Now, the final choice is in your hands. All you need to do is pick a VPN, sign up and enjoy unlocking loads of Bollywood content on Netflix in your country.