Naxalism and Maoism were rampant in India in the 1960s. Producers made many movies in different languages based on these over a considerable period of time. In this blog we will discuss about Top 10 Naxalist Movies based on Maoism. These movies are high IMDb ratings and also worth it to watch.
Naxalist Movies – CHAKRAVYUH
This is a famous film based on Naxalite, directed by Prakash Jha and released in the year 2012. This film is a narrative of the issue of Naxalites.
In this movie, Adil Shah, a policeman, gets transferred to Nandighat, a village in Ranaghat, West Beng. Adil Shah is brave, but soon he discovers the dominance of the Maoists led by Rajan in the area. He had never felt so anxious and nervous before in his career. In such a situation, his friend Kabir helps him out. Kabir secretly joined the Maoist group as a member and began to inform him about their plans and actions. In this way, after crossing many hurdles, Adil wins the battle against them.
RED ALERT: THE WAR WITHIN – one of the Naxalist Movies
This Naxalite movie earned huge praise and accolades. In this movie, we see that Narasimha, who is a poor cook, is caught by a band of Naxalites headed by Velu against his will. Narasimha delivers food in a forest area in Andhra Pradesh, and is anxious to return home to his wife and children after collecting his dues. Narasimha was coerced into joining the group and compelled to engage in immoral acts, leading him to escape from his family, the authorities, and other individuals.
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HAZAARON KHWAISHEIN AISI
It is one of the best Naxalite movies, directed by Sudhir Mishra, and released in the year 2005. It is the story of India in the 60’s period when India was passing through turbulent times, the Emergency, the Naxalite movement, and the supremacy of the government over Indians. This story has three characters: two males and a female.
The central character is Geeta, who has a soft nature with inner strength. The character Siddharth is complex and is the face of the youths. He tries to struggle with the repressive authorities.
CHAMKU 2008
Chamku, directed by Kabeer Kaushik, was released in 2008. It is the journey of a male Naxalite, from the southern fringe of Bihar. He was trained and tutored under governmental programs to kill, but he wants to return to his normal life after a certain time.
The male protagonist is named Chandrama, who grows up to become a Naxalite. But later in the story, he becomes a police assassin when his adoptive father is killed. He falls in love with Shubhi, a kindergarten teacher and wants to return to normal life, but again he gets entangled in the world of crime.
RED ANT DREAM – a movie based on Maoist movement
This is a documentary film based on the Maoist movement in India. It was directed by Sanjay Kak and was released in the year 2013.
The plot of the story centers on Bastar, the troubled heart of Central India. This film also features the Adivasis of Odisha who come with their axes and songs and also the Punjabi peasants who see hope around the iconic Bhagat Singh. The film emphasizes the famous slogan ‘Let us declare that the state of war does exist and shall exist
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PRATIDWANDI – one of the Naxalist Movies
This famous film on Naxalism was directed by Satyajit Ray. The film was made against the backdrop of Naxalism when Woodstock and the Vietnam War were fresh. The protagonist of the film Siddharth is an unemployed youth who lives with his revolutionary brother and widowed mother.
The film reflects the anger and restlessness of an intelligent youth who is involved in the difficult task of finding a job. During that time, unemployment was rampant and it was a period of turbulence in Kolkata. This film nicely depicts the picture of Kolkata in the late sixties.
This is one of Ray’s best movies.
HAZAAR CHAURASI KI MAA
Hazaar Chaurasi ki Maa is a film that narrates a tale of political violence from a feminine viewpoint. This is a Calcutta( Kolkata) based movie, in which a bourgeois bank worker tries to discover the brutal death of her son. His son, who believed in Marxist ideology. He had inspired him to join the revolutionary group Naxalbari. On his 21st birthday he was killed.
His mother tries to discover the reasons for his death by gathering pieces of information from people who knew his son.
This film shows a division between male and female perspectives. Men always engage in fights while women attempt to calm them down.
LAL SALAAM – Naxalist Movies
This film is based on the true incidents of tribes, their culture and their way of living. It is a South India based film. The main characters are Dr. Kanna and Rupi. Kanna’s brother joins Naxalites. He is an angry and violent man. Kanna, before going to complete his MBBS in Nagpur warns Ghisu about the Naxalites and urges him not to join. But due to Ranger’s atrocities and high-handedness, Ghisu becomes a Naxalite. Later Rupi also joins Naxalism and a war between violence and non-violence takes place.
SINDHOORAM
The film Sindhooram is about pseudo-naxals. The story was based on Sriramgiri where he influences youth and also college goers to join his group. Here, Ravi is the protagonist, a college dropout who used to work as an informer to Singhanna, a Maoist leader who works against local politicians. As a result of such opposition, there are continuous confrontations and bloodshed between democracy and armed struggle. This shows that there is always a darker side behind every noble cause.
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KO
A Tamil film, released in 2011 and directed by K.V Anand. A political action thriller that deals with the Naxals and their actions against the Government.
Ashwin Kumar, a photojournalist witnessed Naxals robbing a local bank. The story continues following the sequence.
These movies explore the underlying social and political issues that triggered the Naxalite movement and forced many youths to join Naxalist or Maoism. Most of these movies are based upon real-life experiences and also show a realistic impact of such movements. These Naxalist Movies also depict situations or events that occurred during the time of Naxals and Maoism.