Some Hindi (Bollywood) movies are like a goldmine of motivation and inspiration, especially for students. The Hindi film industry has produced numerous movies that not only entertain but also leave a lasting impact on students’ minds, encouraging them to be better versions of themselves. These must-watch Bollywood movies for students cover a wide range of genres and are designed to inspire, motivate, and educate students about life’s important lessons. Whether it’s overcoming obstacles, following their dreams, or standing up for their beliefs, these movies have something for every student to relate to and learn from.
From the heartwarming story of “12th Fail” to the determination shown in “Super 30,” these movies offer valuable lessons and encouragement for students. So, if you’re looking for a dose of motivation and a fresh perspective, these best Hindi movies are a must-watch for students who want inspiration and valuable life lessons.
List of Inspirational Hindi Movies Every Students Should Watch
12th Fail
Release date: 27 October 2023
Director: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Starring: Vikrant Massey, Medha Shankar, Anant V Joshi, Anshumaan Pushkar
Storyline: The film is based on the real-life story of IPS Officer Manoj Kumar Sharma and IRS Officer Shraddha Joshi.
Rough Book
Release date: June 24, 2016
Director: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan
Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Amaan Khan, Joy Sengupta, Jayati Bhatia, Vinay Jain, Deepika Amin, Kinjal Rajpriya
Storyline: Rough Book is a hard look at the education system in India. The story revolves around the division among students based on their grades. It avoids melodrama. A teacher and her students rebel against the system.
Secret Superstar
Release date: 19 October 2017
Director: Advait Chandan
Starring: Zaira Wasim, Amir Khan, Meher Vij, Raj Arjun
Storyline: A talented teenage singer-songwriter living amid domestic abuse becomes a YouTube sensation after a video in which she hides her identity goes viral.
Chhichhore
Release date: 6 September 2019
Director: Nitesh Tiwari
Starring: Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Naveen Polishetty, Tushar Pandey, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Prateik Babbar, Shishir Sharma, Mohammad Samad
Storyline: A tragic incident forces Anirudh, a middle-aged man, to take a trip down memory lane and reminisce his college days along with his friends, who were labelled as losers.
Ghoomer
Release date: 18 August 2023
Director: R. Balki
Starring: Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher, Angad Bedi
Storyline: Anina, a young batting prodigy, loses her right hand in an accident. An unsympathetic, failed cricketer gives her new hope, and trains her with unconventional techniques, to turn her fate around. Ghoomer is a new style of bowling they invented.
3 Idiots
Release date: 25 December 2009
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Starring: Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani, Omi Vaidya
Storyline: Two friends are searching for their long-lost companion. They revisit their college days and recall the memories of their friend who inspired them to think differently, even as the rest of the world called them “idiots”.
Lakshya
Release date: 18 June 2004
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta
Storyline: An aimless, jobless, irresponsible grown man joins the army and matures into a battlefield hero.
Panga
Release date: 24 January 2020
Director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kangana Ranaut, Jassi Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Richa Chadda, Neena Gupta
Storyline: It is inspired by the life of a National-level Kabbadi player from India. It follows her triumphs, struggle, and overcoming of stereotypes. It shows how important family love and support are for success.
English Vinglish
Release date: 5 October 2012
Genre: Family, Comedy, Drama
Director: Gauri Shinde
Starring: Sridevi, Adil Hussain, Mehdi Nebbou, Priya Anand
Storyline: A quiet, sweet-tempered housewife endures small slights from her well-educated husband and daughter every day because of her inability to speak and understand English.
Kacchey Limbu
Release date: 19 May 2023
Director: Shubham Yogi
Starring: Radhika Madan, Rajat Barmecha, Ayush Mehra
Storyline: A wilful young girl who is in the race of fulfilling dreams imposed on her by everyone and being at the receiving end each time.
Dangal
Release date: 23 December 2016
Director: Nitesh Tiwari
Starring: Aamir Khan, Sakshi Tanwar, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Zaira Wasim, Sanya Malhotra, Aparshakti Khurana
Storyline: Former wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and his two wrestler daughters struggle towards glory at the Commonwealth Games in the face of societal oppression.
Super 30
Release date: 12 July 2019
Director: Vikas Bahl
Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Mrunal Thakur, Nandish Sandhu, Virendra Saxena, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastava, Amit Sadh
Storyline: Based on the life of Patna-based mathematician Anand Kumar who runs the famed Super 30 program for IIT aspirants in Patna.
Upstarts
Release date: 18 October 2019
Director: Udai Singh Pawar
Starring: Priyanshu Painyuli, Chandrachoor Rai, Shadab Kamal, Sheetal Thakur
Storyline: Hoping to do good while making millions, three graduates create a startup. But as business begins to flourish, their own bond starts to fray.
Swades
Release date: 17 December 2004
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi, Kishori Ballal
Storyline: A successful Indian scientist returns to an Indian village to take his nanny to America with him and in the process rediscovers his roots.
M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story
Release date: 30 September 2016
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Starring: Sushant Singh Rajput, Disha Patani, Kiara Advani, Anupam Kher, Bhumika Chawla
Storyline: The untold story of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s journey from ticket collector to trophy collector – the world-cup-winning captain of the Indian Cricket Team.
Ajab Singh Ki Gajab Kahani
Release date: 21 April 2017
Director: Rishi Prakash Mishra
Starring: Ajay Kumar Singh, Yashpal Sharma, Govind Namdev, Rajesh Jais, Madhu Roy
Storyline: The film is a biopic of a disabled Indian Revenue Service officer Ajay Singh.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Release date: 12 July 2013
Genre: Biography, Sports, Drama
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Starring: Farhan Akhtar, Divya Dutta, Meesha Shafi
Storyline: The truth behind the ascension of Milkha Singh, who was scarred by of the India-Pakistan partition.
Manjhi: The Mountain Man
Release date: 21 August 2015
Genre: Biographical, Drama
Director: Ketan Mehta
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Urmila Mahanta, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Gaurav Dwivedi
Storyline: Using only a hammer and a chisel, a man spends twenty-two years carving a road through a treacherous mountain.
Udaan
Release date: 16 July 2010
Director: Vikramaditya Motwane
Starring: Rajat Barmecha, Ronit Roy, Aayan Boradia, Ram Kapoor, Manjot Singh
Storyline: Expelled from his school, a 16-year old boy returns home to his abusive and oppressive father.
Iqbal
Release date: 26 August 2005
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Shreyas Talpade, Girish Karnad, Yatin Karyekar, Prateeksha Lonkar, Shweta Basu Prasad
Storyline: Iqbal, the deaf and mute son of a farmer, has a passion for the game of cricket and seeks the tutelage of a washed-up, alcoholic ex-player.
Mary Kom
Release date: 5 September 2014
Director: Omung Kumar
Starring: Priyanka Chopra, Darshan Kumaar, Sunil Thapa
Storyline: A chronicle of the life of Indian boxer Mary Kom, who went through several hardships before audaciously accomplishing her ultimate dream.
Black
Release date: 4 February 2005
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji
Storyline: The cathartic tale of a young woman who can’t see, hear, or speak, and the teacher who brings a ray of light into her dark world.
OMG: Oh My God!
Release date: 28 September 2012
Director: Umesh Shukla
Starring: Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty
Storyline: A shopkeeper takes God to court when his shop is destroyed by an earthquake.
Mera Naam Joker
Release date: 18 December 1970
Director: Raj Kapoor
Starring: Raj Kapoor, Simi Garewal, Rishi Kapoor, Kseniya Ryabinkina, Padmini, Manoj Kumar, Dharmendra, Dara Singh, Rajendra Kumar
Storyline: Raju is a joker, a clown. It is what he is and what he always shall be. As his life story unfolds in three chapters, from his school days to the circus to the streets, he must always make people laugh and be happy, no matter how unhappy he is within. Along the way, Raju loves and loses, but must always keep a smile on his face because, in the words of his circus manager, “The show must go on.” Over six years in the making, “Mera Naam Joker” is Raj Kapoor’s semi-autobiographical story of the life, love, and philosophy of an entertainer.
Stanley ka Dabba
Release date: 13 May 2011
Director: Amole Gupte
Starring: Divya Dutta, Partho Gupte, Divya Jagdale, Raj Zutshi, Amole Gupte
Storyline: A school teacher, who forces children to share their food with him, forbids one from entering the school until he brings his own Tiffin/Lunch-box.
Neerja
Release date: 19 February 2016
Director: Ram Madhvani
Starring: Sonam Kapoor, Shekhar Ravjiani, Yogendra Tiku, Shabana Azmi, Kavi Shastri
Storyline: The story of courageous Neerja Bhanot, who sacrificed her life while protecting the lives of 359 passengers on Pan Am Flight 73 in 1986 when it was hijacked by a terrorist organization.
Pad Man
Release date: 9 February 2018
Director: R. Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Apte, Yogendra Tiku
Storyline: Upon realizing the extent to which women are affected by their menses, a man sets out to create a sanitary pad machine and to provide inexpensive sanitary pads to the women of rural India.
Taare Zameen Par
Release date: 21 December 2007
Director: Aamir Khan
Starring: Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma, Tanay Chheda
Storyline: An eight-year-old boy is thought to be a lazy trouble-maker, until the new art teacher has the patience and compassion to discover the real problem behind his struggles in school.
Brothers
Release date: 14 August 2015
Director: Karan Malhotra
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez
Storyline: After living many years together, two brothers discover that they are not blood-related so square off in a mixed martial arts tournament to determine whose blood is stronger.
Gold
Release date: 15 August 2018
Director: Reema Kagti
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh, Vineet K. Singh, Sunny Kaushal, Nikita Dutta
Storyline: The journey of a man who was instrumental in making India win its first Olympic gold medal as a free nation.
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
Release date: 22 May 1992
Director: Mansoor Khan
Starring: Aamir Khan, Ayesha Jhulka, Deepak Tijori, Mamik Singh, Pooja Bedi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Storyline: A rich brat and a poor chap try to woo a girl, with their rivalry culminating in the most prestigious college event – the marathon cycle race.
Laal Singh Chaddha
Release date: 11 August 2022
Director: Advait Chandan
Starring: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Naga Chaitanya, Mona Singh, Manav Vij
Storyline: The story of Laal Singh Chaddha, a simple man whose extraordinary journey will fill you with love, warmth, and happiness.
Dear Zindagi
Release date: 25 November 2016
Director: Gauri Shinde
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan, Kunal Kapoor, Angad Bedi
Storyline: Kaira is a budding cinematographer in search of a perfect life. Her encounter with Jug, an unconventional thinker, helps her gain a new perspective on life. She discovers that happiness is all about finding comfort in life’s imperfections.
Gully Boy
Release date: 14 February 2019
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Storyline: A coming-of-age story based on the lives of street rappers in Mumbai.
Rang De Basanti
Release date: 26 January 2006
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Starring: Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Atul Kulkarni, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Alice Patten, Soha Ali Khan, Waheeda Rahman, Kirron Kher, Om Puri
Storyline: The story of six young Indians who assist an English woman to film a documentary on the freedom fighters from their past, and the events that lead them to relive the long-forgotten saga of freedom.
Hichki
Release date: 23 March 2018
Director: Siddharth P. Malhotra
Starring: Rani Mukerji
Storyline: Suffering from Tourette Syndrome, Naina gets assigned a class of defiant students and must ensure that her students realise their potential.
Ferrari Ki Sawaari
Release date: 15 June 2012
Director: Rajesh Mapuskar
Starring: Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Ritvik Sahore, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal, Seema Bhargava Pahwa
Storyline: How the pursuit of an Indian cricket legend’s Ferrari makes a young boy’s dreams of playing cricket at Lords a reality.
The Sky is Pink
Release date: 11 October 2019
Director: Shonali Bose
Starring: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Suresh Saraf
Storyline: Based on the love story of a couple spanning 25 years and told through the lens of their spunky teenage daughter Aisha Chaudhary, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.
Nayak – The Real Hero
Release date: 7 September 2001
Director: S. Shankar
Starring: Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Amrish Puri, Paresh Rawal
Storyline: A man accepts a challenge by the chief minister of Maharashtra to run the state for one day, and makes such a success of it that soon he is embroiled in political intrigue.
Wake Up Sid
Release date: 2 October 2009
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Konkana Sen Sharma
Storyline: The story of a lazy Mumbai college student who does absolutely nothing, with a turn of events will Sid realizes his potential in this world and become a success in the fast-paced life of Mumbai.
Hawaa Hawaai
Release date: 9 May 2014
Director: Amole Gupte
Starring: Partho Gupte, Saqib Saleem, Pragya Yadav
Storyline: The plot centers around Arjun Harishchand Waghmare and his dream to skate. The film chronicles his coach Aniket Bhargava and Arjun’s journey towards being a champion skater.
Lagaan
Release date: 15 June 2001
Genre: Sports, Drama
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Starring: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne
Storyline: The people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers.
Gour Hari Dastaan
Release date: 14 August 2015
Director: Anant Mahadevan
Starring: Vinay Pathak, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ranvir Shorey, Tannishtha Chatterjee
Storyline: The film tells the dramatic tale of two generations locked in a see-saw battle- one extolling values, the other groping in the dark.
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