India, one of the biggest and most populous nations in the world, is a cultural mash-up of customs, spiritual practises, holidays, architecture, and landscapes. Movie locations have included the enormous Great Indian Desert, the Himalayan Mountains, ancient temples, vibrant cities, and gorgeous palaces like the Taj Mahal. These are a location scout’s dream. It makes an excellent backdrop for numerous films of all genres because it is rich in history and culture.
India’s film industry has been using its own history and scenery for use in films for decades, but other countries have noticed the possibilities. We list the top 10 English-language films with Indian settings in the table below. They can be huge Hollywood blockbusters, independent dramas, or Indian films dubbed into English to appeal to Western audiences.
A Passage to India
The 1920s are the time of the British Raj in India, which is divided between the British upper class and the Indian underclass in the historical epic A Passage to India. Many topics, including racism, imperialism, friendship, love, and loyalty are discussed in the movie. Peggy Ashcroft won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the age of 77, making her the oldest recipient of the award. The film is well-regarded by critics and viewers and got 11 Academy Award nominations.
Gandhi
This 1982 biography is one of the most prestigiously honoured films ever in terms of prizes. Gandhi, starring Ben Kingsley as the titular Gandhi, details how he oversaw the 20th-century nonviolent, non-cooperative Indian independence fight against the British Empire. The film, nominated for 11 Oscars and winning eight of them, including Best Actor for Kingsley, Best Director, and Best Picture, is visually spectacular, masterfully performed, and tells an essential tale.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Given the impending release of the fifth entry in the wildly popular action-adventure series and the revelation that this will be Harrison Ford’s final appearance as the legendary explorer, there has been a lot of discussion about Indiana Jones recently. When the first film in the series, Raiders of the Lost Ark, was released in 1981, it irrevocably altered the film industry and gave rise to one of Hollywood’s most adored and famous heroes. Ford later wore the fedora and whip once more for the film’s sequel, The Temple of Doom.
The action-packed adventure takes place amid the northern Indian jungles and temples. Although it is unquestionably a terrific film with the ideal balance of action, adventure, humour, heart, and intrigue, the Indian government was most delighted with the script when it was first read. They contended, understandably, that some of the Indian characters played into negative stereotypes and that certain scenes gave India the impression of being a primitive, even barbaric, country. They thus declined to provide the production team permission to film any of the movie in the nation. Hence, while it is set in India, much of the movie was, in fact, shot in the neighbouring country of Sri Lanka.
Lion
Lion is based on the true story of Saroo Brierly, who sets off on an Indian trip to find his family after being tragically parted from them 25 years earlier (via People). The film received a lot of positive reviews from critics and was nominated for six Academy Awards. Particular attention was paid to the acting of the cast, which included Tannishtha Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Priyanka Bose in addition to Dev Patel, who played Saroo, and Nicole Kidman, who played his adoptive mother.
Monsoon Wedding
Monsoon Wedding, a mostly English-language film directed by Mira Nair, is a remarkable fusion of jovial humour and music and deep melodrama. It is vibrant, vibrant, full of energy and excitement, and it vividly describes the strains of arranging a lavish arranged marriage while cultures clash and tempers boil. It received a lot of positive reviews from reviewers all around the world, and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.
Octopussy
The sixth movie in the James Bond series to star Roger Moore as the slick and smart British secret agent is Octopussy, the thirteenth overall. Investigating the murder of a fellow agent, it sees the globe-trotting spy travel to India where his trails led him to the mysterious Octopussy, who he ends up later enlisting to help thwart the dastardly plans of exiled Afghan Prince, Kamal Khan, who is working with the deranged Soviet General Orlov, to detonate a nuclear bomb on an American airbase in West Germany.
The following are some of the most common questions we get from our customers. There are also many beautiful palaces, some of which include Shiv Niwas Palace, Taj Lake Palace, and Jag Mandir Palace, as well as photographs of the Taj Mahal.
Slumdog Millionaire
Based on the Vikas Swarup novel Q+A, Slumdog Millionaire follows the life of 18-year-old Jamal Malik, who is portrayed with absolute conviction in a performance that will forever change Dev Patel’s career. The movie shows the challenges he had to go through while living in the slums of India to reach to that point, when he is battling for his right to the prizes he won on a television gameshow. The movie, which won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, was well received in the West and received a staggering 10 nominations. It has received accolades for being one of the most accurate portrayals of India to appear in an English-language film, but it has not been without criticism. Others claim that it presents a greatly inflated image of the nation.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, starring Dev Patel, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith, depicts the life of a group of retirees as they relocate to an Indian retirement home. The film, which was primarily shot in Jaipur and Udaipur, grabbed millions of viewers’ hearts with its sincere fusion of comedy and drama and outperformed all expectations at the box office. It was generally accepted that the choice to centre the story on an older cast of realistic folks and to use settings that are frequently absent from Hollywood films was refreshing. Following the success, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was released, with Richard Gere joining the majority of the original cast.
The Darjeeling Limited
In the Wes Anderson-directed film The Darjeeling Limited, three separated brothers come together while travelling on a “spiritual journey” through India. Anderson takes use of the natural beauty of India, shooting a large portion of the movie in Rajasthan, a location in northern India that was also the setting for Octopussy, Gandhi, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Fans of Anderson will recognise much of the cast, which contains frequent collaborators such Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston. The decision to shoot it there was motivated by Indian director Satyajit Ray, according to Anderson, whose “films have also inspired all my other works in different ways.”
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling’s collection of short stories, has been the subject of innumerable adaptations. The most well-known is arguably Disney’s animated musical from 1967. A feral boy raised by a group of wolves must navigate the perils of the jungle while making both allies and enemies out of men in this story, which is set deep within the Indian forest. The exquisitely rendered Indian wilderness, which was undoubtedly influenced by Kipling’s upbringing in India, precisely captures the essence of the jungle as it is described in his stories.
