Cinema at its core is a medium to entertain and even educate you. We have always flocked to the theatres on a Friday to catch the latest releases and since a couple of years also caught new releases on streaming. You laugh, cry, and forget your problems when you immerse yourself in these worlds. Movies also have the power to change your worldview and make you a better person. For many, it has also been a medium to learn about new languages. While it is difficult to pick all of these life-changing Bollywood movies, we have a list of movies you should watch once in a lifetime.

Mughal-E-Azam

No conversation about movies is complete without the mention of Mughal-E-Azam. A pathbreaking movie that was considered the most expensive movie of its time, is also a movie that can be watched today. Each scene, dialogue, and song have been masterfully crafted under the guidance of K. Asif.
Streaming on: Disney+ Hotstar

Masoom

This was Shekhar Kapur‘s directorial debut addressing a sensitive subject like infidelity and showing everyone’s point of view. Apart from that the songs are so wonderful that we sing them even today.
Streaming on: Disney+ Hotstar

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is a bewilderingly clever dark comedy with an implausible plot but it is still relevant as a take on builder-administrative mafia. The movie has some of the most memorable dialogues and an iconic take on Mahabharata.
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video

Lagaan

One of the first movies to put Bollywood on the world map and was also voted among the top five films for the Oscars. Not only that, it also made us believe that Aamir Khan always delivered exceptional movies and the trend continues to today.
Streaming on: Netflix

Rang De Basanti

Another Aamir Khan movie that looked at the corruption in the government and showed the power of the youth if they want to bring about a change. Not to mention A. R. Rahman‘s soulful music that can be played on loop.
Streaming on: Netflix

Kahaani

Bollywood hasn’t had a lot of thrillers and most of the ones were not known for the shock value until Kahaani came along. Vidya Balan‘s exceptional acting abilities made us believe in her search for her husband and we saw Kolkata in a whole new avatar until we saw the twist that is still talked about during movie discussions.
Streaming on: Netflix

The Lunchbox

Compared to the other movies, this is a relatively smaller movie but its importance is not diminished. This is one of the first movies that proved you don’t need massive sets and songs to make an amazing movie. Sometimes a slice-of-life movie does the trick.
Streaming on: Netflix

English Vinglish

Another small movie directed by Gauri Shinde that has touched everyone’s hearts. Sridevi as Shashi who tries to learn English in order to earn the respect of her family is a character we find in a lot of Indian households.
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video

3 Idiots

Our education system is flawed and no movie highlights that better than 3 Idiots where you learn how to follow your own dreams instead of listening to others. We cannot forget the great lessons this movie has taught us.
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video

The Hera Pheri series

The movie recently has attained a cult status because of the memes and on re-watch the movie is still as funny as the first time. Baburao’s character is iconic to say the least and we can’t wait to binge-watch these series again.
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video

The Gangs of Wasseypur series

There is already a lot said about this series. Anurag Kashyap‘s brilliance shines in these movies and inspire a lot of makers trying to adopt a similar concept have failed to create the same impact as these movies.
Streaming on: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video

After you catch up with these movies to watch once in a lifetime, we have more movie recommendations for you. Click on the link below to find out.