India was declared independent 77 years ago. But we still need independence from existing social evils, which the following Bollywood films won against.

On August 15 1947, India was declared free from the British rule after 200 long years. In honour of the same, we celebrate Independence Day. It has been 77 years since we got freedom from British raj, but there are several social evils we still need independence from in the 21st century. These social evils continue to prevail, even though there are many segments of society who ignore them. Well, today on the occasion of India’s 78th Independence Day, let’s revisit Bollywood films where we were freed from the shackles of these evils, at least on screen.

Maharaj (2024)

Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan made his acting debut this year with Maharaj alongside Jaideep Ahlawat, Shalini Pandey and Sharvari. The film was based on the Maharaj Libel Case of 1862, where a journalist was accused of defamation after he exposed a god-man who exploited girls on the name of religion. With this film, writers Vipul Mehta and Sneha Desai challenged blind belief and ‘bhakt culture’ which continues to soar in today’s society

Looking for Instant Cash? Get Best Personal Loan offers upto 10 lakh. Apply and Get Money in your bank account Instantly

Amar Singh Chamkila (2024)

Imtiaz Ali’s film Amar Singh Chamkila starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra received rave reviews on release. The biographical drama follows the story of late Punjabi musician Amar Singh Chamkila who was assassinated along with his wife Amarjot Kaur. Till date, this case remains unresolved, much like casteism which continues to exist in certain segments of our country. There were many theories around his murder, one of which includes the battle of caste. According to one such theory, Chamkila who was born in a Dalit family was apparently shot because he married a woman from an ‘upper caste’ in a case of honour killing

Jawan (2023)

Another social evil which continues to prevail, quite openly in some parts of the society, is corruption. This evil was tackled in Atlee’s blockbuster hit film Jawan. Yes, a majority of the audience was drawn to theatres because this was Shah Rukh Khan’s second film after a four-year-long hiatus. But movie-buffs were blown away with the way SRK turned into a vigilante, fighting against corruption for the oppressed with his gang of badass wonder-women. If only we had such a hero in real life too

Darlings (2022)

Raising hand on a woman, exploiting her or treating her aggressively are inhumane practices. This is known by all. Yet, domestic violence continues to be one of the biggest evils in the society. In Darlings, we witnessed Alia Bhatt aka Badrunissa finally take a step against her wife-beating alcoholic husband Hamza, played by Vijay Varma. She was joined by her onscreen mother Shefali Shah in her plight. Was it the best way to fight against domestic abuse? Probably not. But it was delightful to watch Alia’s character win the battle onscreen in this dark comedy

Guilty (2020)

We left the most heinous social evil for the end— rape. It has been 77 years since India got independence from the British raj. But even today, several women don’t have the freedom to be independent. In the 2020 film Guilty, we were introduced to one such girl named Tanu, played by Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, who was raped by the boy she had a crush on. Nobody believed her and she was about to give up when her rapist’s girlfriend Nanki aka Kiara Advani, who faced sexual assault herself at the age of 13, finally helped Tanu get the justice she deserved

Yes, we have been an independent nation for 77 years. But we still have a long way to go. This Independence Day, let’s aim to abolish these social evils and make our society a safer place to live.