1. Taare Zameen Par
This film is fantastic for kids who grew up “naughty” or misunderstood, getting hostel threats at every complaint from teachers. It feels like someone hugging you or lending their shoulder to you. It is also an eye-opening view of our flawed and ableist education system. Ishaan’s tearful scenes from the song “Maa” is still something we are recovering from emotionally.
2. Ghajini
Sanjay Singhania’s businessman suffers short-term memory loss with a memory span of just fifteen minutes and lives in despair. He lied to her love about his identity and proposed to her. Only for Kalpana to get murdered in front of his eyes, without ever knowing the truth about him. It is a heartbreaking love story, revenge, and disability, made to perfection by Aamir Khan.
3. Anand
This film is an emotional roller coaster about a dying man who looks at life with an amazingly positive attitude and enjoys his time, knowing that his disease is incurable and that he will die soon. His last wish is to live to the fullest. The film’s climax, Anand’s death, and all the characters seeing him for the last time are one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever.
4. Kai Po Che
Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che is a film about three friends who experience love, loss, earthquakes, riots, success, and failure. Set in 2001 in the tumultuous state of Gujarat, the movie is a commentary on communalism and how the personal is political.
5. Veer-Zaara
This movie is based on cross-border forbidden love. A Muslim girl from Lahore falls in love with a Hindu Indian pilot, played by Priety Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan. He sacrifices his freedom to protect her dignity and life. Unfortunately, he gets framed and stays in a Pakistani jail for a very long time as qaidi number 786, all for love. It is a story about selflessness and sacrifice.
6. Kal Ho Naa Ho
Not one person does not cry while watching Shah Rukh Khan throughout this movie, especially in the climax. A film that subtly celebrates heartbreak and instills the belief that living one moment at a time and enjoying to the fullest, Kal Ho Naa Ho will make you cry and brighten your day simultaneously.
7. The Sky Is Pink
This movie is somber; it starts with death. The story explores what it’s like taking care of and then losing your child. What does your life become after a loss like that? Can love survive grief? Aditi and Niren are parents to 18-year-old Aisha; they go through so much to take care of her, despite knowing she has a terminal illness.
8. Lakshya
The story about growing up and war is essential in every person’s life. Karan’s conversation with his father, fixing his problems, and talking is beautiful. It reminds me how many soldiers do not get to make that call. Karan is in the war zone, and his father is comfortably seated on a sofa, watching TV, creating the perfect juxtaposition.
9. Sadma
Somu becomes the caretaker of Nehalata. She regresses to childhood due to retrograde amnesia after suffering a head injury in a car accident. He becomes the center of her universe till she is cured in the climax, forgetting about him entirely. He chases her to the railway station, falling and severely injuring himself. Covered in mud, he calls to her and mimics a dancing monkey she likes, but she does not remember him. He continues his attempts until the train departs, driving him to insanity.
10. Dil Bechara
Dil Bechara is the adaptation of the novel The Fault in Our Stars. Kizie and Manny, two young cancer patients, blossom as they fall in love with each other and life. It is a sad, romantic movie that makes you cry, yet it has a lot of heart. The story’s underlying theme is celebrating life despite death’s inevitability. Although it has a fun tone, end and sorrow loom over everything, from the natural and on-screen tragedy.
