By Ravi Bansal
NEW DELHI: Love for the nation the theme and celluloid the prism, Hindi films down the decades have tracked the evolution of India since 1947 and presented the many moods of patriotism – right from “Shaheed” in the heady year after Independence to “Fighter” in 2024.
Moving from the scratchy black and white era to sleek colour, the rich spectrum of narratives has dwelt on themes of sport, war, disillusionment and romance, some rousing, others reflective. The movies are many but some stand out in the long history of India seen through the cinematic lens of various filmmakers.
The history of India seen through cinema also reflected the concerns of the time, going from the human-machine conflict in Dilip Kumar-Vyajanthimala starrer “Naya Daur” (1957) and the agrarian preoccupations of a new India in Manoj ‘Bharat’ Kumar’s “Upkar” (1967) to modern-day counter terrorism in “Uri: The Surgical Strike” and, most recently, Hrithik Roshan’s high-octane actioner “Fighter”.(PTI)
