While Bollywood movies are often seen as entertaining and larger than life fiction, there are few that have been created to inspire and retell events from history to humanity. As ‘Satluj’ hits the internet amid ongoing controversy, here’s a list of the best Bollywood movies inspired by real events in history.
‘Satluj’ by Honey Trehan (2026)
The film which has taken the internet by storm due to the controversy surrounding it tells the true story of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. The film highlights his investigation of illegal immigration and its political connections that took place in the 1990s in Punjab during the insurgency era. The movie featured Diljit Dosanjh in the lead role and was recently released on ZEE5. However, the film has now been pulled from the platform.
‘Parzania’ by Rahul Dholakia (2007)
‘Parzania’ is based on the real life of the Gujrat riots that took place in 2002. Shooting in Ahemdabad and Hyderabad, the film is based on Rupa Mody, a Parsi woman, whose son, Azhar Mody (Parzaan Pithawala) went missing during the riots, especially after the Gulbarg Society massacre. The film is based on the family’s journey to find their son to accept the political turmoil and violence that was happening all around. The video is available on JioHotstar.
‘Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh’ by Karan Singh Tyagi (2025)
‘Kesari Chapter 2’ starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role retells the historical events related to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It mainly covers the life of the Indian leader Sir C. Sankaran Nair, former member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council. However, after the attack ended in 1919, he resigned, and went on trial in London against the main prosecutor of the murder, Michael O’Dwyer. The video is available on JioHotstar.
‘Sardar Udham’ by Shoojit Sircar (2021)
Shoojit Sircar’s film was a fantasy about Indian revolutionary Udham Singh. The film follows his story that took place almost twenty years to take revenge on Michael O’Dwyer, the man who helped the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that took place on April 13, 1919. The film passes between two times, set in the 1940s in London, where Udham Singh is running for the plan to kill the killer, Michael O’D is running to kill the killer. in British India. Vicky Kaushal directs the editing session. The video is available to stream on Prime Video.
“Shahid” by Hansal Mehta (2012)
Directed by Rajkumar Rao, ‘Shahid’ is based on the real life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi. He was once a common citizen; however, when he sees the brutality that other people face after being lied to, he continues to be a lawyer to fight for those who were falsely accused of being terrorists. He helped countless people get justice until his assassination in 2010. The video is available on Prime Video.