10 great Indian action films

Following the massive global popularity of RRR in 2022, there has been increased appreciation for Indian action cinema in the Western hemisphere. Some of it feels genuine, some of it a bit fetishised and attracted by its exotic novelty. But it has certainly opened the doors a bit for more exhibitors to be open to screening Indian action movies, which have been a major genre in Indian cinema for more than half a century. The interest has boosted the popularity of directors including Lokesh Kanagaraj and Mari Selvaraj, and it created a surprising anticipation among non-South Asians for Shah Rukh Khan’s 2023 films Jawan and Pathaan.

To select 10 great films from the back pages of Indian action cinema is to wonder what qualifies as an action film, as opposed to a crime movie, thriller or a western. Are films like Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Parinda (1989), Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya (1998) or Mahesh Manjrekar’s Vaastav (1999) action-heavy enough? Is Sholay (1975) too inspired by Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone to be considered anything beyond a western? One interesting case is the choice between Mani Ratnam’s two films Nayakan (1987) and Thalapathi (1991). Both essentially work with the same mechanics: the scenario of a central hero taking on an oppressive system through violent means. But the former is almost always referred to as a ‘crime drama’ while the latter is seen as an ‘action film’. 

The following list aims to cover a variety of regions and languages, with one film per director and with every decade since the 1970s represented at least once. A list of recommendations adding to these 10 would include Mashaal (1984), Raakh (1989), Khiladi (1992), Khal Nayak (1993), Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Kadhalan (1994), Krantiveer (1994), Baasha (1995), Ghatak: Lethal (1996), Yugpurush (1998), Vaastav: The Reality (1999), Aaranya Kaandam (2010), Singham (2011), Agneepath (2012), Angamaly Diaries (2017), Rangasthalam (2018), Karnan (2021) and Sarpatta Parambarai (2021).

Director: Vijay Anand

Director Vijay Anand and his superstar actor brother Dev Anand are both legends of Indian cinema in their own right. Their collaborations together, from noir thrillers Kala Bazaar (1960) and Jewel Thief (1967) to romantic dramas Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963) and Guide (1965), form a stacked deck of classics. 

Johny Mera Naam is no different. It stars Dev as twin brothers on opposite sides of the law and separate social classes, who duke it out physically, mentally and emotionally in a story that doubles as a commentary on how people of different classes are often pitted against each other in an unfair system. It’s a film of indelible influence on subsequent Hindi cinema, with a classic premise that would be repeated multiple times in other Indian action films throughout the years, including Deewaar (1975), Trishul (1978), Shakti (1982), Ram Lakhan (1989) and Parinda (1989). It’s also the perfect stepping stone between 1950s Bombay noir and the 1970s ‘angry young man’ action thrillers of Amitabh Bachchan.

Director: Ramesh Sippy

Among the canonical films in Indian cinema history, Sholay finds screenwriting powerhouse duo Salim-Javed and director Ramesh Sippy concocting an addictive pastiche of their filmmaking heroes, including Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Misumi, Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah. Riffing on the plot of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954), the results gave birth to the ‘Dacoit western’.

The cast brings together a powerhouse star trio of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra Deol and Sanjeev Kumar, though arguably stealing the spotlight is Amjad Khan, an unknown actor at the time, whose surly delivery and mocking demeanour recall Lee Van Cleef in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Let’s not forget R.D. Burman’s music, which, along with Sippy’s eye for grandeur, turns India’s mountainous northern regions into a veritable rough and rugged ‘Wild West’ that rivals in scope the canvasses of John Ford and David Lean.

Director: Yash Chopra

Amitabh Bachchan is the poster-child for the Indian action movie. His 70s repertoire, littered with action classics including Zanjeer (1973), Deewaar (1975), Trishul (1978), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) and Don (1978), set the standard for what Indian action would be thereafter. This run of films all had a similar theme – labour workers against the corruption of a system – and Yash Chopra’s 1979 masterpiece Kaala Patthar is the ultimate synthesis of such politics with action and drama. 

Loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s 1900 novel Lord Jim, it stars Bachchan as a disgraced ship captain, Vijay Singh, whose crew died in a shipwreck. Now the only work he can find is as a hard labourer in a coal mine. The mine’s owner has consistently skimped on safety precautions and proper equipment for his workers, leading to deaths and injuries and giving the former captain a chance to rise up and redeem himself.

Director: Subhash Ghai

In Indian cinema history, often the best way to hype up a new talent to the movie-going public has been to introduce them in a masala action film. One of the greatest examples of this was Subhash Ghai’s introduction of Jackie Shroff in Hero. Shroff stars as Jackie, a former criminal now leading a normal life after falling in love with a local police commissioner’s daughter, Radha. However, there are still forces out to get him, including his old gang leader who wants revenge.

Although the hero’s journey is formulaic, Hero has enough fistfights, blood and suspense to keep the adrenaline high, and Shroff has charisma to spare. In action terms, Ghai would only match this again in 1993’s Khal Nayak, which turns the tables and makes the villain the movie’s ‘hero’.

Director: Rajkumar Santoshi

The films of Sunny Deol, one of the biggest 90s action stars and son of screen icon Dharmendra Deol, often tackle India and Pakistan’s geopolitical rivalry, with the emphasis on India’s valour. But in Ghayal, Deol addresses corruption and bitter politics at home, taking cues not only from the 50s noir films of Dev Anand – the seedy bars, the alcoholics, the mysterious silhouettes – but also from the Hollywood action films of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Sylvester Stallone. 

Deol stars as an amateur boxer named Ajay who looks to avenge his brother’s (Raj Babbar) torture and death at the hands of a crooked drug lord (Amrish Puri) and the corrupt ring of cops and thugs who protect him. Unlike Bachchan’s 70s classics, which, despite their anger, always make room to see the good in cops and businessmen, Ghayal is a movie that has had enough of the “chalta hai” (“It will do” / ”It’s fine”) attitude and is out for blood. It’s a high-octane film bursting with the rage of a young muscular upstart. 

Director: Mani Ratnam

Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathi is a companion piece to his landmark 1987 crime film Nayakan. But this time, instead of The Godfather (1972), the source inspiration comes from the friendship of Karna and Duryodhana in the Mahabharata. Rajinikanth plays Surya, a rebellious young man who – sick of seeing the less fortunate in society being preyed upon – takes to violent means of retaliation. 

Rajni brings a wilder, more unpredictable energy than the brick-like assuredness of Kamal Haasan in Nayakan. He also shares the stage with Malayalam actor Mammootty who plays the more pragmatic Devaraj, a local gang leader who is fighting two of his own battles, against a district tax collector and a rival gang leader named Kalivardhan. Together, their disparate approaches to fighting criminals shape the way their community thinks about justice. Thalapathi raised the bar for Rajinikanth in an action repertoire that has earned him the nickname ‘Thalaivar’ (‘Leader’) and made him India’s biggest superstar this side of Shah Rukh Khan.

Director: Sanjay Gupta

Quentin Tarantino was a famous fan of this 2002 heist movie, which he considered his favourite ‘ripoff’ of Reservoir Dogs (1992) – though Tarantino’s film itself borrowed its plot from Ringo Lam’s City of Fire (1987). In Sanjay Gupta’s iteration, six criminals find themselves joining forces to rob a bank after being racially profiled by the LAPD for a crime they didn’t commit. 

To play the ensemble, Gupta assembled a crackerjack cast, including Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar and – in a major comeback – faded 1980s Bollywood star Kumar Gaurav. He films the story with an early-2000s visual palette filled with high-saturation teal, green and yellow. Together with the throbbing electronic soundtrack, it brings Kaante an ultra-modern style that was new in Hindi cinema.

Director: S. Shankar

Watching S. Shankar’s vigilante action film Indian (1996) in the 90s and seeing Kamal Haasan turn into an iguana and start climbing a skyscraper, you knew that whoever made this movie was thinking beyond anything that Indian cinema was doing at the time. The director upped the ante over a decade later with Enthiran, a film with some of the most imaginative action sequences ever put on film. 

The camera in Enthiran is constantly swerving around, its major fight sequences taking some notes from The Matrix franchise, especially for the highway chase in which Shankar’s fast-cutting montages give ample angles to every flip, crash and explosion. We also get to see Rajinikanth cloned a thousand times over and form various figures – like a giant sphere or a massive basilisk – to kill his enemies. There’s barely a second of runtime here where you won’t be either amazed or amused. 

Director: S.S. Rajamouli

Thanks to the gargantuan successes of his two-part Baahubali epic (2015/2017) and RRR, S.S. Rajamouli has become the ‘biggest’ filmmaker in India today. But his ambitious approach to filmmaking was already well apparent in 2012’s Eega, an action film told from the perspective of Nani, a young fireworks expert who – after being killed by a love rival – becomes reincarnated as a housefly to take revenge.

For this insect’s eye-view, Rajamouli establishes his own visual language, making the camera imitate the protagonist’s erratic flight. His film becomes a rollercoaster of chase sequences and slapstick comedy, while its treatment of the romance between Nani and Bindu, a miniature sculpture artist, twists and turns the traditional ways romance is portrayed through male characters in Indian cinema. Eega is a premiere example of the ‘masala film’ and their ability to swirl together a number of different genres to thrilling effect.

Director: Lijo Jose Pellissery

In this writer’s view, Lijo Jose Pellisserry is the most exciting working filmmaker in India right now. His directing of action is unmatched, his versatility with the camera, the linearity and polarisation of his shots, and his composition of commotion is unlike anything Indian cinema has seen before. From the penultimate gangland fight sequence in Angamaly Diaries to the teacart tracking shot and bull-chasing scenes in Jallikattu, Pellisserry is constantly reinventing himself. Even his highly-touted funeral drama film Ee.Ma.Yau (2018) brings a level of intensity in camera and editing style that makes the film’s central funeral preparations feel like a Mexican standoff. 

Jallikattu’s premise, based on S. Hareesh’s short story ‘Maoist’, is simple: a buffalo escapes and begins to run loose in a village, and everyone around tries to capture it. Yet its execution is much more complex, its runtime-length chase bringing some of the decline-into-madness of Apocalypse Now (1979) or the final shootout of The Wild Bunch (1969) to the villages of Kerala.

Art of Action plays in cinemas across the UK and online on BFI Player from October to December 2024.