Of all the labels cinema loves to flash before a film begins, “based on a true story” may be the most emotionally effective and the least reliable. The phrase instantly changes how we watch a movie. In Indian cinema especially, where biopics, patriotic dramas, crime thrillers and social-issue films have become their own thriving industry, that disclaimer has practically become a marketing tool of its own. Here are 9 true story movies that play fast and loose with facts.
The problem, of course, is that “based on” can mean just about anything. Sometimes it means the movie has taken the general outline of the life of a real person and then filled in the rest with dramatic license (Chhaava comes to mind). Sometimes it means the movie has taken a complicated political situation and reduced it to the hero versus villain dichotomy. And sometimes it means the director has looked at the past and then done whatever was necessary to make the block of time most interesting. Which, to be fair, is kind of the point of the whole enterprise.
This does not necessarily mean that such films are bad. Some of the most interesting Indian films about real events are the ones which are least concerned with documentary accuracy. These titles’s historical accuracy (or lack of it) is not necessarily representative of the entertainment value. Because, well, sometimes reality is not that interesting. They speed up the timeline, create composite characters, dramatise conflicts, oversimplify ideologies, and so on. What they present may not be truth in the literal sense of the word. What they present may be more akin to truth in the sense of drama, myth, emotion, and entertainment.
One good example is Dhurandhar and its sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge. They take inputs from real events and adds a dash of drama and heighten the tensions and significance of the events.
Note: The movies are ranked according to IMDb ratings, from worst to best.
9 based on a true story Indian movies that took major liberties with the facts
1 /9
Mohenjo Daro (2016)IMDb rating: 5.6
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pooja Hegde, Kabir Bedi
Synopsis: Ashutosh Gowariker’s Mohenjo Daro is technically set in the Indus Valley Civilisation, but what it often feels like is an ancient action-romance assembled from what we can actually call improv. Since so much about the civilisation remains uncertain, the film had room for invention. But it uses that room with such abandon that it ends up looking more like a fantasy epic. Fascinating as spectacle, not exactly persuasive as reconstruction.
2 /9
The Kerala Story (2023)IMDb rating: 6.7
Cast: Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani
Synopsis: The Kerala Story appears to have taken inspiration from real events related to radicalisation and coercion in the state of Kerala. However, The Kerala Story became embroiled in controversy almost as soon as it appeared based on its claims, statistics, framing, and politics. The movie relies on the power of “truth” while crafting its story in a way that is akin to a sensationalised alarmist thriller. It represents one of the most visible examples of “based on a true story” as a dramatic device but also as a means of defence.
3 /9
Padmaavat (2018)IMDb rating: 7.1
Cast: Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor
Synopsis: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat is an epic period drama, tracing the lives of Queen Padmavati, Maharawal Ratan Singh, and Alauddin Khilji as they face off in an epic saga of honour and obsession. The problem, or the point, depending on your level of tolerance for such things, is that it is, for all intents and purposes, not based on any particular historical events.
It takes inspiration from Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s 16th-century epic poem Padmavat, which is itself understood to be a literary and imaginative work rather than any particular notion of factual history. And then, of course, there is Bhansali’s own operatic flourishes. It is a film that is like history, sounds like history, and is presented like history… but it’s not.
Watch Padmaavat on Netflix4 /9
Chhaava (2025)IMDb rating: 7.3
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Rashmika Mandanna, Akshaye Khanna
Synopsis: Mounted as a grand retelling of Sambhaji Maharaj’s life, Chhaava arrived with all the expected ingredients: valour, sacrifice, imperial cruelty, and enough intensity to make historical nuance feel almost impolite. The film has also attracted criticism and debate over how it represents certain figures and events, with concerns that its emotional and political framing often overtakes historical complexity. In other words, exactly the kind of film that fits a list like this.
Watch Chhaava on Netflix
5 /9
Kesari (2019)IMDb rating: 7.4
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra, Mir Sarwar
Synopsis: Kesari is based on the Battle of Saragarhi, which depicts the last stand of 21 British Sikh soldiers against an enormous Afghan force. Again, there are additional emotional touches and patriotic moments for mass appeal beyond what history strictly dictates. Yes, it is stirring, but very deliberately so as a nationalist spectacle for the modern era.
6 /9
Sanju (2018)IMDb rating: 7.6
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal
Synopsis: Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju is the film about the life of Sanjay Dutt, his addictions, his troubles with the law, his family tragedies, and his celebrity. The reason why the film was so controversial was not the way it was done or the way it was told; it was the point of view it was told from. It is not so much a biopic as it is a highly polished PR exercise in rescuing the reputation of the star it is ostensibly about.
Watch Sanju on Netflix
7 /9
Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022)IMDb rating: 7.8
Cast: Alia Bhatt, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz
Synopsis: In Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi, the life of Gangubai is reimagined as a richly styled epic of survival, political ascent, and defiance. While the film is inspired by the real-life woman of Kamathipura, it is as much about the visual splendour and emotional power of the film as it is about the reality of the life it depicts. The reality was not as neat or heroic as the film suggests. Bhansali’s films, to be honest, rarely concern themselves with history (which is why there are two of his movies on this list), and that’s not such a bad thing necessarily.
Watch Gangubai Kathiawadi on Netflix8 /9
Dhurandhar (2025)IMDb rating: 8.3
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal
Synopsis: Dhurandhar seems to be inspired by actual intelligence operations conducted by India, but certainly not in any way that is remotely realistic or procedural. Based on the tone and style of the film, it appears to be far more invested in mythologising espionage than in accurately portraying it, reducing complex statecraft to a brash spectacle of nationalism and machismo. Which is precisely why it is relevant here: not because it is masquerading as a documentary, but because it employs the trappings of ‘real events’ to amplify what is obviously a highly stylised, over-the-top cinematic fantasy.
Watch Dhurandhar on Netflix9 /9
The Kashmir Files (2022)IMDb rating: 8.5
Cast: Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumaar
Synopsis: Marketed heavily as a film that finally “tells the truth”, The Kashmir Files is rooted in the very real tragedy of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus. But its storytelling has been widely debated for its selective framing, political emphasis and dramatic absolutism. It is less a careful historical reconstruction than a forcefully ideological interpretation of history. Whatever one’s politics, it belongs on any list about “true story” films that took aggressive liberties in how they shaped facts into cinema.
(Hero and Featured images: Courtesy of IMDb)Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
