Top Indian Historical Dramas — The Greatest Period Epics

Indian cinema has a singular relationship with history. Because the subcontinent's past is so dramatic — Mughal courts, Maratha uprisings, independence-era martyrs, princely states — every era provides ready-made cinema. The modern historical drama is dominated by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who has effectively invented a sub-genre of operatic Rajput-Mughal period film. Bajirao Mastani, his 2015 epic about the Maratha Peshwa and his Muslim second wife, is a visual benchmark. Padmaavat in 2018 — controversial, protested, then eventually the biggest Hindi period film of its year — completes that trilogy with Ranveer Singh giving one of the most intense villain performances in Indian cinema. Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa Akbar from 2008 is the lush Mughal romance that got the ball rolling. The independence-era cinema has its own canon: Shoojit Sircar's Sardar Udham (2021) is arguably the best of them — a Vicky Kaushal-led drama about the revolutionary who avenged the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti bridged college drama and Bhagat Singh biopic in a way nothing else has since. Anurag Singh's Kesari dramatised the Battle of Saragarhi. Om Raut's Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior turned the Maratha general's raid on Kondhana fort into mass entertainment. Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi and Akshay Kumar's Samrat Prithviraj round out the Rajput slate. Ashutosh Gowariker's Panipat returned to Maratha history for one more round. Every film is streamable free in HD on Bowood.TV. If you want scale, Bajirao Mastani; if you want the best writing, Sardar Udham; if you want the biggest spectacle, Padmaavat.