There are several films in the history of Indian cinema where a political incident or the life of any politician inspired the filmmakers. We all know that politics has been an inspiration to a lot of filmmakers in Bollywood. Making a biopic on the life of a politician can be a tough job as politics has always been a controversial subject but still, Bollywood filmmakers have taken the risk of showing the life of politicians on screen. So let's have a look at the list of most controversial Bollywood films based on the life of politicians.
Sardar is a 1993 Indian biographical drama film on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of India's greatest freedom fighters, directed by Ketan Mehta. In the film, Paresh Rawal portrayal the role of Sardar Patel and the film focuses more on the life of Vallabhbhai Patel and how he fights for India's independence.
Kissaa Kursee Kaa was a political satire film directed by Amrit Nahata, who was a member of the Indian parliament and produced by Badri Prasad Joshi. The film was a satire on the politics of Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi and was banned by the Indian Government during the Emergency period and all prints were confiscated.
Gandhi, My Father was a biographical drama film by Feroz Abbas Khan and was produced by Anil Kapoor. The film explores the troubled relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his son Harilal Gandhi. Well, Gandhi My Father paints the picture of Gandhi's intricate, complex and strained relationship with his son Harilal Gandhi.
Thackeray is a biopic film that follows the life of Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of the Indian political party Shiv Sena. The film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Balasaheb Thackeray and Amrita Rao as his wife. The film was directed by Abhijit Panse and will be released in both Hindi as well as the Marathi language. Thackeray runs into the controversy over scenes related to Babri Masjid and south Indians.
The Accidental Prime Minister directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte and written by Mayank Tewari, the film was based on the 2014 memoir of the same name by Sanjaya Baru. The film stars Anupam Kher as Dr. Manmohan Singh, the 13th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014. Upon the release of the film trailer, the Congress party's Maharashtra youth wing in a letter to the producers of the films raised objections to the incorrect presentation of the facts and demanded a special screening of the film.
Indu Sarkar was a political thriller film, co-written, co-produced and directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The film plot was set in the emergency period, India. The film stars Kirti Kulhari, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Anupam Kher. The film was heavily criticized over director Bhandarkar's attempt to portray former Prime Minister of India Mrs.Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi in a bad light.
The Tashkent Files was a conspiracy thriller film about the death of former Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. Written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri, the film stars Shweta Basu Prasad, Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakraborty in lead roles. Well, the film was widely deemed to be politically motivated in light of the concurrent 2019 general elections.
PM Narendra Modi was a biographical drama film directed by Omung Kumar, The film's plot was loosely based on the life of Narendra Modi, the 14th Prime Minister of India. The film stars Vivek Oberoi as Narendra Modi, Manoj Joshi as Amit Shah, Boman Irani as Ratan Tata. Well, the film received generally negative reviews from critics, who termed it a hagiography and panned Oberoi's performance.
Thalaivi is a multilingual biographical film about the life of J. Jayalalithaa, the late politician and film actress who served six terms as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, with Kangana Ranaut playing the role of Jayalalithaa. The film is directed by A. L. Vijay, although Jayalalithaa's niece, Deepa Jayakumar, in November 2019, registered a complaint against the film's makers, for announcing the film on her aunt without her prior permission.