Bollywood movies are always incomplete without action. So this topic is based on top 10 all time action based bollywood movies. Action is one of the favorite genres among the people and they always admired the action sequences in the films. This particular genre is not new to Bollywood. Initially, at the beginning of the Hindi cinema, most of the films were based on family dramas and love stories. The actor who brought in this genre was angry young man Amitabh Bachchan, who, without any doubt called as the father of action films.
Amitabh was the actor, who, in 1970s, broke the jinks and came as in action avatar in Zanjeer (1973), which is also called as the film which gave new life to this young man and after this Prakash Mehra’s film, the fortunes of Amitabh had suddenly transformed and he became superstar with his back to back hits. In Zanjeer, he played the character of a tough police inspector Vijay and the film known for its fantastic action scenes between Amitabh and Pran. After this film, Big B had done several action movies such as Kaalia (1981), Kaala Pathar (1979), Sholay (1975), Deewar (1975), Amar Akhbar Anthony (1977) and many more.
Other than Amitabh, Dharmendra was another actor, popular as macho man due to his image of action hero but Big B was solely managed to live this image for so long. In late 1980’s, when Big B started to see a slighter downfall, three young guys Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff, who were recently launched by different filmmakers had immerged as new action Heroes. All of these three had made their Bollywood debut with action films like Betaab (1981), Rocky (1981) and Hero (1983) around the same time and was appreciated by the audience. Specially Sunny Deol made his image as hard core action hero with some successful films such as Ghayal (1990), Ghatak (1996) and Damini (1993), which made him favourite action hero.
Later in the years, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Govinda had also tried this genre and gave some spectacular action films which were liked by the masses. The three biggest superstars of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan have also done some action flicks which are very popular among the fans. Aamir is currently on top with his superhit blockbuster film Ghajini (2008) in which he had played the character of a short term loss memory patient Sanjay Singhania. People loved this unbelievable character played by Aamir and his six packs abs physique were the like of the youth. Salman also showcased his action avatar in Dabangg (2010), that was also became blockbuster at the box office.
Action based Bollywood movies list
1- Sholay (1975)
Directed by Ramesh Sippy, Sholay (1975) is an action-adventure film and called as the most epic film of the Indian cinema. Featuring ensemble starcast including Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan, Sholay is the story of a small village called Ramgarh where people lived under the threat of a dacoit Gabbar Singh, who came there to get the extortion and if anybody refused to obey him, he used to kill them. A retired policeman Thakur Baldev Singh takes the charge and decides to catch Gabbar. He takes the help of two thieves Veeru and Jai and offered them a reward of 50000 if they succeed in snatching Gabbar dead or alive. After that, Veeru and Jai go to Ramgarh where they met Basanti (Hema Malini) and Radha (Jaya Bachchan). Both fell in love with her respectively. At the end, Veeru and Jai caught Gabbar but unfortunately Jai was died during the encounter with Gabbar.
Initially, Sholay was get cold response from the audience because this was totally different film what they used to see at that time but slowly and steady, Sholay picked up the pace and made a special place in audience heart. Each and every character of Sholay including the horse Dhanno became popular among the people. Specially, people fond of the spectacular dialogues of the film Sholay such as Tera Kya Hoga Kaalia and Kitne Aadmi The. Sholay became blockbuster and at that time one of highest grossing films of Bollywood for so many years. In a survey, Sholay is among one of the best Bollywood films which we have to watch before die. It was declared the Film of the Millennium by BBC India in 1999. Sholay was the longest running films in the history of Indian cinema for over five years before DDJL (1995) broke its record in 2001. So Sholay is on no. 1 position on the list of our top 10 all time action based Bollywood movies.
2- Don (1978)
Don is the second film in this list of action based Bollywood movies of all time. This Amitabh Bachchan starrer film was one of finest action films of Bollywood. Directed by Chandra Barot, Don is based on a man popularly called as Don, who does smuggling and all the illegal works, He is very sharp minded and proficient in all way. His enemies also respect him by his way of working. Police were searching him for the past few years but he never caught by them. After so much wait, D’Silva, commissioner of Mumbai Police succeed but unfortunately, Don died in an encounter but only D’Silva knew this truth. Suddenly, he found a man, who looks like Don, so, D’Silva convinced him to portray Don to get into the illegal business of Don. This is the short gist of this classic action movie which also stars Zeenat Aman and Pran.
Don became a big hit at the box office and Amitabh got Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his role of Don. Earlier, the character of Don was offered to Shashi Kapoor but he refused the offer due to his busy schedule and finally it went to Amitabh Bachchan, who made it classic. Later after many years, filmmaker Farhan Akhtar made its remake of the same name in 2006 and Shah Rukh Khan played Big B’s role. Although, Don was a big super hit at the overseas market but failed to attract the Indian audience due to its comparison with Big B’ Don. Farhan also directed its second installment Don 2 (2012) which was also a big grosser at the box office.
3- Ghayal (1990)
Ghayal is a 1990 action-drama film starring Sunny Deol in the main lead. The film was produced by Sunny’s father and actor Dharmendra and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. Ghayal is the story of a young amateur boxer Ajay Mehra (Sunny), who lives happily with his brother Ashok (Raj Babbar) and sister-in-law Indu (Moushumi Chatterjee). Ashok is a businessman but facing some troubles but he hides it from his family. One day, Ajay, who is in Bangalore for training got a message that his brother is in Bangalore but he could get to him. Later in the evening, Ajay got a call of his brother, who is in severe state and want to tell him before the line got cut. Later, it is known that Ashok had been kidnapped by a powerful businessman Balwant Singh (Amrish Puri). Ajay tried his best to find out his brother but failed because of the corrupt system. After these all, Balwant Rai kills Ashok as he got some evidences against him. When Ajay got to know that his brother has been killed, he decided to kill Balwant Rai and at the end he fulfilled his promise by shooting Balwant in a party. Ghayal has always been remembered for its action sequences and the anger showed by Sunny. The film became big hit at the box office and Sunny got National Award for Best Actor for his role of Ajay Mehra.
4- Ghulam (1998)
Ghulam is a 1998 action-crime-drama featuring Aamir Khan in the main lead. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, the film was inspired by Elia Kazan’s novel On the Waterfront (1954). The film revolves around Mumbai’s mafia headed by Raunak Singh (Sharat Saxena). Siddhu (Aamir) is a Mumbai Tapori, is a boxing champion. His brother Jai (Rajit Kapur) is the account manager of Ronnie. Siddhu is depends on his brother for his finances and enjoy his life with hanging out with friends. One day, he met with a girl Alisha (Rani Mukherjee) and falls in love with her. Ronnie’s illegal business was growing and on a given day Siddhu is the eye witness when Ronnie killed a man. He then decides to protest Ronnie but his brother Jai told him not to mess with Ronnie as he is very dangerous person but Siddhu refused to do so. At the end, Siddhu challenges Ronnie to have a fight with him and won the battle of truth. Ghulam was a superhit film known for its action. The last seen of fight between Aamir and Sharat Saxena was treat to watch and this fighting scene was really appreciated by the people.
5- International Khiladi (1999)
Directed by Umesh Mehra, International Khiladi (1999) is a popular action-packed fillm starring Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna in the main leads. It was the sixth installment of famous Khiladi series. Akshay loves Payal (Twinkle Khanna) but his uncle opposes this relationship. One day, Payal’s brother Ravi is killed and the blame was onto Devraj. After that, Devraj have to proof that he is innocent and not a murderer. At the end, he came out of this false claim and married to Payal. Although, International Khiladi was not a big hit but always remembers for its fantastic high end action sequences by Akshay and his fights with foreign martial arts professionals.
6- Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001)
Gadar: Ek Prem Katha is an action movie featuring Sunny Deol, Amisha Patel and Amrish Puri in the main leads. The was set in the time of Indian partition and it’s a story a Sikh Tara Singh (Sunny) who goes to Pakistan to bring back his wife Sakina (Amisha). The film shows the riots between Sikhs and Hindus being attacked by Muslims in Pakistan when they tried to migrate into India. Directed by Anil Sharma, Gadar is one of highest grossing Bollywood films of all time and had sold more tickets at theatres in India than any film in history apart from Sholay (1975). The film was banned in Pakistan due to its anti Pak nature and Sunny became villain in Pakistan for his act against Pakistan. The film was known for its unique action sequences. One of the scenes, when Sunny extracts hand pump to attack the Pakistani has become so popular among the audience. Gadar is in the list of one of the biggest blockbusters in Hindi Cinema. It is also the most watched Hindi film.
7- Dhoom 2 (2006)
Dhoom 2 is the second installment of popular action-thriller franchise of Dhoom (2004), produced by Aditya Chopra. Hrithik Roshan replaced John Abrham to play the main antagonist in the film from the previous part. Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra reprised their roles of ACP Jai Dixit and Ali respectively. This time, the villain become high tech and immensely used the latest technology to steal some precious antiques. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Bipasha Basu also played pivotal roles in the film which was become blockbusters at the box office. People loved Hrithik as a villain and collected 1.5 billion dollars worldwide which was itself a record at that time. It was the first Bollywood film to be shot in Brazil and remembered for its technological action sequences. Hrithik won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and the film also went onto bagged several International awards for its uniqueness.
8- Ghajini (2008)
Ghajini was the biggest surprise for Aamir Khan’s fans who became mesmerized to see him as in action movie –avatar for the very first time in his career. Directed by A.R. Murugadoss, Ghajini was an action-packed film showcasing Aamir as Sanjay Singhania, who is short term memory loss patient. Actress Asin made her Bollywood debut with this film, which revolves around a revenge story. Sanjay Singhania, who lost his love, wants to take revenge from a powerful businessman Ghajini (Pradeep Rawat), who killed Kalpana. Aamir at the end takes his revenge in style by thrashing Ghajini and his men one by one. This film was very special for Aamir because for the very first time, he flaunts his muscular physique in a film and worked really hard to get into this unbelievable shape. Ghajini was become first film to enter into 100 crore film and became a blockbuster. Aamir’s haircut was also become so popular and people just loved his action-avatar in the film.
9- Dabangg (2010)
Directed by Abhinav Kashyap and produced by Arbaaz Khan, Dabangg is an action film starring Salman Khan in the main lead. He has played the character of police Inspector Chulbul Pandey, who is known for his corrupt nature. He usually caught the thieves and get in all the looted money in his pocket. Cheddi Singh (Sonu Sood), a local politician want him to be in his side and helps him in his illegal business but Chulbul denied to do so and become biggest enemy of Cheddi Singh. He killed his mother by giving her poison and forced his brother into his side to kill Chulbul. In the end, Chulbul, after a healthy fight, killed Cheddi Singh and took his revenge. Dabangg, which became huge grosser at the box office, was the debut film of actress Sonakshi Sinha. Dabangg won several awards including National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and six Filmfare Award including Best Film and Best Female Debut. Arbaaz Khan also made its sequel Dabangg 2 (2012) which also got the similar response from the audience.
10- Agneepath (2010)
This Karan Johar production venture is last but not the least among this all time top 10 action based Bollywood movies. Directed by Karan Malhotra, Agneepath is the official remake of Karan’s father’s film Agneepath (1990) featured Amitabh Bachchan in the main leads. Karan put some twist and turns in the original story and presented the film with ensemble starcast including Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra and Rishi Kapoor. Agneepath is the story of revenge in which the main protagonist Vijay Deenanath Chauhan (Hrithik) took his revenge from Kancha (Sanjay), who killed his father, who was school teacher in Madwa village. The film was filled with so many interesting twists and at the end Vijay takes his revenge by killing Kancha with the very similar way like he killed his father. Till date, Agneepath is called as one of the best film of Hrithik’s career and it became superhit at the box office. Its action-sequences were so thrilling and its climax is called as the one of the best climaxes of any Bollywood action films. Agneepath went onto won five IIFA Awards and Four Zee Cine Awards.
This is a complete list of all time top 10 action based Bollywood movies. If you find any issue or question regarding the post please feel free to comment below.
