THE BOLLYWOOD 100

By Decade

The Best Hindi
Films of the 1970s

26 films from this decade made the canon, 16 of them inside the ranked top 100.

The most consequential decade. Salim–Javed invent the Angry Young Man, the masala film reaches its maximum voltage under Manmohan Desai, and simultaneously the parallel movement opens with Ankur and Nishant. Two entire cinemas, one ten-year window.

26 films from the 1970s made the canon, 16 of them inside the ranked top 100, led by Sholay at #1. The decade leans Drama (20), Action (6), Comedy (5), and the directors carrying it here are Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Yash Chopra, Shyam Benegal, Gulzar.

Every title below has its own page with links to Wikipedia, IMDb, trailers and legal streaming. Compare against the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1980s, or read how the ranking was scored.

RankFilmYearDirectorGenre
1 Sholay शोले 1975Ramesh SippyAction, Drama
6 Deewaar दीवार 1975Yash ChopraCrime, Drama
20 Anand आनंद 1971Hrishikesh MukherjeeDrama
25 Garam Hava गरम हवा 1974M. S. SathyuDrama, Historical
31 Chupke Chupke चुपके चुपके 1975Hrishikesh MukherjeeComedy
33 Amar Akbar Anthony अमर अकबर एंथनी 1977Manmohan DesaiAction, Comedy
37 Manthan मंथन 1976Shyam BenegalDrama
38 Ankur अंकुर 1974Shyam BenegalDrama
39 Bhumika भूमिका 1977Shyam BenegalDrama
40 Nishant निशांत 1975Shyam BenegalDrama
42 Aandhi आंधी 1975GulzarDrama, Political
94 Kabhi Kabhie कभी कभी 1976Yash ChopraRomance, Drama
96 Zanjeer ज़ंजीर 1973Prakash MehraAction, Crime
97 Don डॉन 1978Chandra BarotAction, Thriller
98 Trishul त्रिशूल 1978Yash ChopraDrama, Action
99 Kaala Patthar काला पत्थर 1979Yash ChopraDrama, Action
– Golmaal गोलमाल 1979Hrishikesh MukherjeeComedy
– Bawarchi बावर्ची 1972Hrishikesh MukherjeeComedy, Drama
– Namak Haraam नमक हराम 1973Hrishikesh MukherjeeDrama
– Abhimaan अभिमान 1973Hrishikesh MukherjeeDrama, Musical
– Uski Roti उसकी रोटी 1970Mani KaulAvant-garde, Drama
– 27 Down 27 डाउन 1974Awtar Krishna KaulDrama
– Rajnigandha रजनीगंधा 1974Basu ChatterjeeRomance, Drama
– Baton Baton Mein बातों बातों में 1979Basu ChatterjeeRomance, Comedy
– Mere Apne मेरे अपने 1971GulzarDrama
– Gaman गमन 1978Muzaffar AliDrama

Other decades

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