The Best Hindi Movies on Netflix

What are the best Hindi movies on Netflix? The 17 titles below star the likes of Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Ayushmann Khurrana, Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Naseeruddin Shah, Vidya Balan, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Bhumi Pednekar, Manisha Koirala, Kiara Advani, Kalki Koechlin, Pankaj Tripathi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sayani Gupta, Rajeev Khandelwal, Abhay Deol, Rasika Dugal, Rajkummar Rao, and Shahid Kapoor. And they come from directors in Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, Mani Ratnam, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Abhishek Chaubey, Ashutosh Gowariker, Neeraj Pandey, Nandita Das, Shonali Bose, Nicholas Kharkongor, Shanker Raman, Navdeep Singh, and Ramin Bahrani. A “⭐” marks an editors’ choice.

You might find more Hindi movies in our list of best movies and other lists below. If you’re looking for even more movies on Netflix, we’ve recommendations for some select other genres as well that you should check out.

The Best Movies on Netflix

The Best Animated Movies on Netflix

The Best Crime Movies on Netflix

The Best Drama Movies on Netflix

The Best Period Movies on Netflix

The Best Romantic Movies on Netflix

1. Aamir (2008)

   Adapted from the 2006 Filipino film Cavite, a young Muslim non-resident Indian doctor (Rajeev Khandelwal) returning from the UK is forced to comply with terrorists’ demands to carry out a bombing in Mumbai after they threaten his family. Feature debut for Khandelwal and writer-director Raj Kumar Gupta. Noted for its realism and Alphonse Roy’s cinematography.
2. Andhadhun (2018)

   Inspired by the French short film L’Accordeur, this black comedy thriller is the story of a piano player (Ayushmann Khurrana) who pretends to be visually impaired and is caught in a web of twists and lies after he walks into a murder scene. Tabu and Radhika Apte star alongside. It relies a little too much on a series of coincidences, which might break the film, depending on how you view the endgame twist.

3. Axone (2020)⭐

   Through the lens of the titular aromatic fermented product — pronounced aa-khoo-nee, it translates as “strong smell” — writer-director Nicholas Kharkongor explores the stereotypes held by, the racism of, and the insular nature of Indians towards their counterparts from the Northeast in a light-hearted fashion. Sayani Gupta and Vinay Pathak star.

4. The Blue Umbrella (2005)

   Based on Ruskin Bond’s 1980 eponymous novella, the story of a young girl in rural Himachal Pradesh whose blue umbrella becomes the object of fascination for the entire village, driving a shopkeeper (Pankaj Kapur) to desperation. A National Award winner directed by Vishal Bhardwaj.

5. Gurgaon (2017)

   Set in the titular city, this neo-noir thriller explores gender inequality and the dark underbelly of the suburban wastelands through a story of a real estate tycoon’s (Pankaj Tripathi) undisciplined son who kidnaps his own sister to pay off a gambling loss. Its grittiness didn’t particularly suit audiences, but critics were more appreciative.

6. Guru (2007)

   Mani Ratnam wrote and directed this rags-to-riches story of a ruthless and ambitious businessman (Abhishek Bachchan) who doesn’t let anything stand in his way as he turns into India’s biggest tycoon. Loosely inspired by the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. Bachchan was praised for his performance. Aishwarya Rai co-stars, but in a much smaller role.
7. Ishqiya (2010)

   Naseeruddin Shah, Vidya Balan, and Arshad Warsi star in this rural Uttar Pradesh-set black comedy that follows two goons (Shah and Warsi) who decide to seek refuge with a local gangster after botching up a job, but encounter his widow (Balan) instead, who seduces them for her own machinations. Abhishek Chaubey (Udta Punjab) writes and directs.

8. Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

   Definitely overlong at three and a half hours, this 16th-century epic is the story of the eponymous Mughal emperor (Hrithik Roshan) and the Rajput princess (Aishwarya Rai), whose political marriage turns into true love, as he realises she’s every bit his equal. Simply told yet effective, its message is increasingly important in an increasingly intolerant India. Ashutosh Gowariker directs.

9. Kaminey (2009)

   Oft described as Vishal Bhardwaj’s Pulp Fiction, Shahid Kapoor plays estranged twins — one with a lisp and the other who stutters — with an opposite work ethic, whose lives impossibly converge as they are dragged into Mumbai’s underworld nexus of mobsters and politicians. Priyanka Chopra co-stars. Much praised for its style, smarts, and complex characters.
10. Lagaan (2001)

    Set in a small drought-wrecked Indian town during the height of the British Raj, a village farmer (Aamir Khan) stakes everyone’s future on a game of cricket with the well-equipped colonisers, in exchange for a tax reprieve for three years. From director Ashutosh Gowariker, it was nominated at the Oscars for best international picture.

11. Lust Stories (2018)

    Four directors — Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar — helm four different parts of this anthology drama that focuses on the romantic lives of four women, delving into love, power, status, and naturally, lust. Noted for its authenticity and portraying real women on screen. A Netflix Original.

    
12. Manorama Six Feet Under (2007)

    Abhay Deol leads the cast of this neo-noir thriller that openly acknowledges its Chinatown inspiration, as it follows a public works engineer and amateur detective (Deol) who is paid by a minister’s wife to collect evidence of her husband’s affair, unaware that he’s being used as a pawn in a larger conspiracy. Praised by critics, though audiences failed to appreciate it.

13. Manto (2018)⭐

    The life of Pakistani author Saadat Hasan Manto (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) — one of the finest Urdu writers of the 20th century — before and after the Partition of British India, whose acclaimed life in then-Bombay is uprooted and finds his work being challenged in Lahore. Directed by Nandita Das.

14. Margarita with a Straw (2014)

    Kalki Koechlin plays a cerebral palsy-afflicted teenager in this coming-of-age drama from Shonali Bose, who falls in love with a blind girl of Pakistani-Bangladeshi descent after she moves to New York for her undergraduate degree. Koechlin’s work and Bose’s sensitive handling of the movement disorder were highlighted.
15. Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008)

    Dibakar Banerjee’s second directorial venture is about the charismatic eponymous thief (Abhay Deol), who after being arrested, recounts his life that began in a poor, suburban West Delhi household and how he became a media sensation with a spree of burglaries.

16. A Wednesday! (2008)

    Neeraj Pandey’s film is set between 2pm and 6pm on a Wednesday, naturally, when a common man (Naseeruddin Shah) threatens to detonate five bombs in Mumbai unless four terrorists accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings case are released.

17. The White Tiger (2021)

    Adarsh Gourav is a tour-de-force opposite Priyanka Chopra and Rajkummar Rao (who’s stuck with an accent he can’t handle) in Ramin Bahrani’s adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s award-winning book, about a poor villager (Gourav) who uses every mean at his disposal to escape his destiny. Praised for its exploration of caste and class, though it could have done with a modern-day update of its 2000s story. More in English than Hindi. A Netflix original.