Many biopic movies were made in Bollywood , and most of them went unnoticed due to less media coverage. A biographical film depicts the real-life stories of a real person or a particular actual incident. 

With the changing time, the industry is now acknowledging more lives and their success and achievements and is responsible for portraying their struggle through movies.

Here is a list of few biopic movies from Bollywood. 

Bhag Milkha Bhaag (2013)

It is a sports biopic movie in Bollywood, based on the life of Late Milka Singh, the Flying Sikh. Rakesh Omprakash Mehra directed this film. In India, this was quite the first sports biopic movie in Bollywood. The main lead is Farhan Akhtar, who was in the role of Milkha Singh. 

M.S DHONI, THE UNTOLD STORY (2016)

It is another sports biopic movie in Bollywood. The film is based on the life story of the Indian Cricketer and former Indian Cricket Team Captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Neeraj Pandey directed this movie. Some interesting and unknown facts about the cricketer are shown in the film. It also depicts some stories of his life apart from his cricket career. The crucial roles were played, by Sushant Singh Rajput, like Dhoni, Kiara Advani, Disha Patani, Anupam Kher and Bhumika Chawla. 

NEERJA (2016) 

Neerja is one of the most famous biopic movies in Bollywood. The movie depicts an incident in Neerja Bhanot‘s life. The incident is about when saved 359 passengers out of 379 passengers during the hijacking of the Pan Am flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan.  The movie shows the viewpoint of Neerja and the trauma her family went through during the incident. The film is directed by Ram Madhvani. Sonam Kapoor plays the lead role, and Shabana Azmi plays the role of her mother. 

MARY KOM (2014)

The film is based on the life of the former Indian Olympic Boxer, Mary Kom. Omung Kumar has directed the movie and Priyanka Chopra as the main lead. Mary Kom’s struggle to pursue her career and dreams as a boxer representing India on the international level is depicted in this movie. 

THE DIRTY PICTURE (2011)

This movie is not entirely a biopic, but it does resemble the life of the south Indian actress Silk Smitha, who is famous for erotic roles. The film is directed by Milan Luthria. Vidya Balan played the main lead. The movie depicts some highlights from Silk Smitha’s life along with her struggle to fame and eventually her death. The film also cast Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi and Tushar Kapoor.  

PAAN SINGH TOMAR (2012) 

This movie is unlike other films and has a terrific ending to it. It shows the life of Paan Singh Tomar, who turned into a bandit from an athlete. The movie is directed by Tighmashu Dhulia, Irrfan Khan as the main lead. The film portrays the storyline of gold medallist soldiers from the Indian army at the Indian National games, who later becomes a famous bandit in the Chambal Valley. 

BANDIT QUEEN (1994)

This biopic movie in Bollywood is based on the life events of the famous bandit Phoolan Devi. The film is directed by Shekhar Kapoor. The movie shows the life and evil deeds faced by Phoolan Devi, gang-raped by policemen and other upper-caste men. The film portrays her journey of revenge and how she transformed into the bandit queen. Seema Biswas acted in the leading role. 

DANGAL (2016)

This movie is also a sports biopic depicting the lives of the Phogat sister. Nitesh Tiwari is the director of this movie. The film reveals the real-life story of the Phogat sister and their father, Mahavir Singh Phogat’s urge to train Geeta and Babita, his daughters, to win the gold medal on the world stage. Amir Khan plays the father’s role. 

NETAJI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE: THE FORGOTTEN HERO (2004)

This film is a biography of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Sachin Khedekar plays the role of Netaji. The movie depicts the events during Nazi Germany (1941 – 1943), and the Japanese occupied Asia (1943 – 1945), which led to the formation of Azad Hind Fauj. It is one of the historic biopic movies in Bollywood. 

SARABJIT (2016)

Sarabjit movie is based on the life events of an Indian prisoner in Pakistan who is facing a death sentence and is requesting to be given justice. Randeep Hooda played the role of Sarbajit, and Aishwarya Rai Bachan played his sister’s part, Dalbir Kaur. The film’s main storyline is how Dalbir struggles for 22 years for his brother to seek justice and bring him back. 

SARDAR (1993)

This movie is based on the life of one of our freedom fighters, the Iron man of India, Sardar Vallabhai Patel. The movie was directed by Ketan Mehta, Paresh Rawal as the main lead. The movie portrayed his supremacy, legacy, and efforts during the freedom fight, which was unknown to many of us. 

SHAHID (2013) 

It is a biographical movie based on the life events of Shahid Azmi, a human rights activist and lawyer who was assassinated in 2010 in Mumbai. The main lead was played by Raj Kumar Rao and directed by Hansal Mehta.

RANG RASIYA (2008)

In the list of biopic movies in Bollywood, this film is a historic biopic movie in Bollywood. This film is based on the real-life event of the Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma. Ketan Mehta directed the movie. Randeep Hooda played the lead role, and Nandana Sen plays the role of Sugandha, his beloved. 

ALIGARH (2016)

This movie, directed by Hansal Mehta, received a lot of controversies. Manor Bachpai acted in the role of Prof. Ramchandra Siras, who suffered on the morals of homosexuality. Raj Kumar Rao also made a guest appearance. 

SHAKUNTALA DEVI : THE HUMAN COMPUTER (2020)

It is an Anu Menon’s film, where Vidya Balan played the lead role of Shakuntala. She was renowned for her knowledge and speed in mathematics; the film is based on her life events. 

GUNJAN SAXENA : THE KARGIL GIRL (2020) 

The movie is based on the first female pilot, Gunjan Saxena, who was sent to a war zone. Jhanvi Kapoor played the lead role. The film is about her life struggle about being the fighting pilot and how she performed during the Kargil War. Sharan Sharma directed the movie. 

83 (2021) 

The film is based on the world cup win of the Indian cricket team in 1983. The film is directed by Kabir Khan. The film portrays how the Indian cricket team succeeded to win the World Cup. 

SAINA (2021)

The movie is about the life events of India’s no one ace shutter, Sania Nehwal, directed by Amole Gupte. The film also shows her desperate work to become the best player and gives a tribute to those who supported her in her life journey. Parineeti Chopra performed the lead role. Other cast members are Paresh Rawal, Manav Kaul, etc. 

MAJHI: THE MOUNTAIN MAN (2015)

This movie isn’t based on any famous figure but on an ordinary villager Dashrath Majhi, popularly called the Mountain Man, who slowly gained fame. Ketan Mehta directed the film. The film portrayed the event where he caved a path by cutting the mountain with the help of only two tools, a hammer and a chisel. Nawazzudin Siddiqui played the lead role, and Radhika Apte played the role of his wife. 

BUDHIA SINGH: BORN TO RUN (2016)

It is a sports biopic movie in Bollywood; Soumendra Padhi directed it. The film is about India’s youngest marathon runner, Budhia Singh. He ran 48 marathons by the age of 5. Manoj Bajpayee played Budhia’s coach, and Mayur Patole played the lead role. 

URI: THE SURGICAL STRIKE (2019)

One of the war films in Bollywood, directed by Aditya Dhar, acted as the main lead by Vicky Kaushal. The movie is based on real-life events that were strategized by the Indian army against the terrorist organization in Pakistan. The main character, Vihaan Singh Shergill, was played by Vicky Kaushal. 

KESARI (2019)

This movie is based on the Battle of Saragarhi, directed by Anurag Singh and the main lead of Halivdar Ishar Singh, is played by Akshay Kumar. The story tells us about how few Sikhs manages to fight against their enemies without much help. It is a real life-based story. 

THE ACCIDENTAL PRIME MINISTER (2019)

This movie portrays how Manmohan Singh, breaking through all odds, became the Prime Minister of India. His struggle and hard work are portrayed in this movie. Vijay Gutte directed the movie, and Anupam Kher plays the main role of Mr Manmohan Singh. 

RAAZI (2018)

This movie is among the best 20 biography movies in Bollywood. Raazi movie is based on the real-life events of a Kashmiri girl who was trained at a young age and sent to Pakistan to act as a spy. The movie shows her struggle in Pakistan and how she managed to transfer news to India. Meghna Gulzar directed the movie, and Alia Bhaat played the main lead. It was a super hit film. 

SANJU(2018)

Raju Hirani directed this film is based on the real-life events of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt. The film portrays how he got addicted to drugs, his jail journey and how he overcame all of it in the end. Ranbir Kapoor played the lead role.

PADMAN (2018)

This movie is based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who invented inexpensive sanitary napkins for his village women. The film portrays his struggle, how he overcame society’s pressure and did something for the women’s well-being. The film is directed by R.Balki, and Akshay Kumar plays the main role. 

GOLD(2018)

This movie is a sports biopic movie in Bollywood. The movie is based on the first Olympic Gold-winning journey of India as a free nation in 1948. The film is directed by Reema Kagti, and Akshay Kumar plays the main lead. The film beautifully shows India’s struggle into the Olympics and how the nation managed to achieve its first gold medal. 

Let us know in comment section below which one you have watched and which one you are yet to watch, also let us know your favorite biopic.