Bombay

Mani Ratnam's Bombay was released just two years after the 1992-93 Bombay riots that killed over 900 people, and it remains one of the most politically courageous films made in mainstream Indian cinema. Arvind Swamy plays Shekhar, a Hindu journalist; Manisha Koirala plays Shaila Bano, a Muslim woman. Their interfaith marriage enrages both families, and they flee to Bombay to start a new life — only to find themselves trapped in the city during the riots.

The film's depiction of the riots is harrowing but never exploitative. Ratnam shoots the violence from the perspective of ordinary people caught in the middle — a father searching for his children, a mother hiding in a cupboard with her infant twins. The scene in which Shekhar strips off his shirt to show a mob that he is neither Hindu nor Muslim but simply human — "Main insaan hoon" — is one of the most iconic moments in Indian cinema.

Bombay was banned in several states, and Ratnam received death threats. A.R. Rahman's songs — "Kannalane," "Uyire," "Hamma Hamma" — were massive hits. The film proved that a political message, if embedded in great craft, could reach the largest possible audience.