Best Gangster Movies of India
by brijeshmarand | created - 27 Feb 2021 | updated - 21 May 2022 | PublicGangster movies form one of the most successful sub-genres. The portrayal of struggle, violence, syndication, power, and downfall of the protagonist brings the best out of the genre. The varied emotions often bring the best out of the actors as well.
Which of these gangster movies of India do you like most or would like to watch the most?
Discuss the poll here
Note: Only movies with an IMDb rating of 7.0 or above and minimum of 5,000 votes are included.
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1. Nayakan (1987)
Not Rated | 145 min | Crime, Drama
A common man's struggles against a corrupt police force put him on the wrong side of the law. He becomes a don, who is loved and respected by many, but his growing power and influence exact a heavy toll.
Director: Mani Ratnam | Stars: Kamal Haasan, Saranya Ponvannan, Delhi Ganesh, Janakaraj
Votes: 22,996
2. Pudhu Pettai (2006)
Not Rated | 168 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After running away from his home, Kumar falls in with a gang and slowly rises through the ranks of the criminal underworld.
Director: K. Selvaraghavan | Stars: Dhanush, Sneha, Sonia Agarwal, Azhagam Perumal
Votes: 7,918
3. Black Friday (2004)
Not Rated | 143 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A film about the investigations following the 1993 serial Bombay bomb blasts, told through the different stories of the people involved --police, conspirators, victims, middlemen.
Director: Anurag Kashyap | Stars: Kay Kay Menon, Pawan Malhotra, Aditya Srivastav, Dibyendu Bhattacharya
Votes: 22,001 | Gross: $0.03M
4. Vada Chennai (2018)
Not Rated | 164 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A young carrom player in north Chennai becomes a reluctant participant in a war between two warring gangsters.
Director: Vetrimaaran | Stars: Dhanush, Ameer Sultan, Radha Ravi, Daniel Balaji
Votes: 19,653
5. Thalapathi (1991)
Not Rated | 157 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An orphan named Surya raised in a slum befriends a good crime boss named Devaraj and works for him. Their existence is threatened when a new honest district collector arrives.
Director: Mani Ratnam | Stars: Rajinikanth, Mammootty, Shobana, Arvind Swamy
Votes: 13,240
6. Vikram Vedha (2017)
Not Rated | 147 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Vikram, a no-nonsense police officer, accompanied by Simon, his partner, is on the hunt to capture Vedha, a smuggler and a murderer. Vedha tries to change Vikram's life, which leads to a conflict.
Directors: Gayatri, Pushkar, Gowtham Selvaraj | Stars: Madhavan, Vijay Sethupathi, Shraddha Srinath, Kathir
Votes: 50,537
7. Jigarthanda (2014)
Not Rated | 171 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
An aspiring director targets a ruthless gangster because he wants to make a violent gangster film. His discreet attempts to research the gangster fail miserably. Finally when he gets caught snooping, things hit the fan.
Director: Karthik Subbaraj | Stars: Siddharth, Bobby Simha, Lakshmi Menon, Nassar
Votes: 13,546
8. K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2018)
Not Rated | 154 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In the 1970s, a gangster named Rocky goes undercover as a slave to assassinate the owner of a notorious gold mine known as the Kolar Gold Fields.
Director: Prashanth Neel | Stars: Yash, Srinidhi Shetty, Ramachandra Raju, Archana Jois
Votes: 98,497
9. Satya (1998)
Not Rated | 170 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An innocent man is embroiled in underworld after being falsely charged and sets out to punish the perpetrators who subjected his life to misery.
Director: Ram Gopal Varma | Stars: J.D. Chakravarthi, Manoj Bajpayee, Urmila Matondkar, Paresh Rawal
Votes: 16,706
10. Baasha (1995)
Not Rated | 145 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An auto driver, Manikam, desperately tries to hide his dark underworld side to keep his promise to his father.
Director: Suresh Krishna | Stars: Rajinikanth, Nagma, Raghuvaran, Vijayakumar
Votes: 11,488
11. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
Not Rated | 321 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A clash between Sultan and Shahid Khan leads to the expulsion of Khan from Wasseypur, and ignites a deadly blood feud spanning three generations.
Director: Anurag Kashyap | Stars: Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chadha
Votes: 103,859
12. Malik (I) (2021)
162 min | Action, Biography, Crime
A past ridden with crime, death and pain is recounted to Freddy, a juvenile criminal, who has been assigned to eliminate his estranged uncle Sulaiman, an aging patriarch, while behind bars.
Director: Mahesh Narayanan | Stars: Fahadh Faasil, Nimisha Sajayan, Vinay Forrt, Jalaja
Votes: 13,912
13. Maqbool (2003)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The intrigue of the Shakespearean tragedy 'Macbeth' is transposed to the Mumbai underworld.
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj | Stars: Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Pankaj Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah
Votes: 12,016
14. Deewaar (1975)
Not Rated | 174 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Vijay struggles as a dockworker and eventually becomes a leading figure of the underworld, while his younger brother Ravi is an educated, upright policeman. This divide causes problems in their relationship.
Director: Yash Chopra | Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Nirupa Roy, Parveen Babi
Votes: 11,720
15. Omkara (2006)
Not Rated | 155 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A politically-minded enforcer's misguided trust in his lieutenant leads him to suspect his wife of infidelity in this adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Othello'.
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj | Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma
Votes: 22,104 | Gross: $0.79M
16. Company (2002)
Not Rated | 142 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A small-time gangster named Chandu teams up with Malik, a low-level enforcer for a criminal syndicate. Together they eliminate all their enemies, becoming the most feared gangsters in Mumbai.
Director: Ram Gopal Varma | Stars: Ajay Devgn, Mohanlal, Manisha Koirala, Seema Biswas
Votes: 16,156
17. Vaastav: The Reality (1999)
Not Rated | 145 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Consequences force an innocent man to get involved in crime after making an error.
Director: Mahesh Manjrekar | Stars: Sanjay Dutt, Namrata Shirodkar, Reema Lagoo, Shivaji Satam
Votes: 14,765
18. Don (1978)
Not Rated | 166 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Don, a wanted criminal, dies in a police chase. DSP D'Silva is the only one who knows about his death, and to get hold of the gang he trains Don-lookalike Vijay. But Vijay faces danger from the police and from within the gang.
Director: Chandra Barot | Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Pran Sikand, Iftekhar
Votes: 12,759
19. Agneepath (1990)
Not Rated | 174 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A young boy's quest for revenge leads him to become a gangster as an adult, and with each day he becomes more and more like his enemies. Can he find vengeance and redemption?
Director: Mukul Anand | Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Madhavi, Neelam Kothari
Votes: 9,457
20. Sarkar (2005)
Not Rated | 124 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Subhash Nagre runs a parallel government in the city where he has a cult following. When his enemies plot to murder him, his son takes charge and stands up against them.
Director: Ram Gopal Varma | Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Kay Kay Menon, Supriya Pathak
Votes: 17,437
21. Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010)
Not Rated | 134 min | Action, Crime, Drama
As a smuggler rises to power in in 1970s Mumbai, a younger gangster seeks to overthrow him and a police officer is caught in the middle.
Director: Milan Luthria | Stars: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut, Prachi Desai
Votes: 18,685
22. Kaminey (2009)
Not Rated | 130 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The desperate lives of two estranged twin brothers converge over missing drugs, politics, racial prejudice, corrupt cops and an unplanned pregnancy.
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj | Stars: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Deb Mukherjee, Shivkumar Subramaniam
Votes: 18,128 | Gross: $1.29M
23. Ghulam (1998)
Not Rated | 162 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An amateur boxer runs errands for a local gangster but revolts against him after the gangster kills his friend and his conscience is awakened.
Director: Vikram Bhatt | Stars: Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, Rajit Kapoor, Mita Vashisht
Votes: 12,147
24. Awarapan (2007)
Not Rated | 126 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A loyal henchman is ordered by his boss to keep an eye on his mistress, and trouble begins when he refuses to kill her.
Director: Mohit Suri | Stars: Emraan Hashmi, Mrinalini Sharma, Ashish Vidyarthi, Ashutosh Rana
Votes: 8,009
25. Petta (2019)
Not Rated | 171 min | Action, Drama
A hostel warden becomes the target of a dreaded politician and his gangster son, but little do they realize that it is they who should fear him.
Director: Karthik Subbaraj | Stars: Rajinikanth, Vijay Sethupathi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, M. Sasikumar
Votes: 11,926
26. Don (I) (2006)
Not Rated | 171 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Vijay is recruited by a police officer to masquerade as his lookalike Don, the leader of an international gang of smugglers. Things go wrong when the officer is killed and Vijay is left to fend for himself.
Director: Farhan Akhtar | Stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Arjun Rampal, Isha Koppikar
Votes: 41,032 | Gross: $0.80M
27. D-Day (I) (2013)
Not Rated | 153 min | Action, Thriller
A team of experts dispatched to bring in The Most Wanted Man in India almost achieve the unthinkable ... until something goes horribly wrong.
Director: Nikkhil Advani | Stars: Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Shruti Haasan
Votes: 10,260
28. Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007)
Not Rated | 122 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An account of the gangster Maya Dolas and his gang which terrorized Mumbai City, and the ensuing standoff between Mumbai Police and the gang on 16 November 1991.
Director: Apoorva Lakhia | Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Arbaaz Khan
Votes: 10,895 | Gross: $0.29M
29. Don 2 (2011)
Not Rated | 148 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Don turns himself in and escapes with Vardhaan from prison, following which he recruits a team to steal currency printing plates from a bank in Berlin.
Director: Farhan Akhtar | Stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Florian Lukas, Om Puri, Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Votes: 58,404 | Gross: $3.68M
30. Gangster (2006)
Not Rated | 123 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Simran, who relocates to Seoul, is distraught when Daya, a gangster, re-enters her life. She has to make a choice between him and her lover Akash, who is a singer at an Indian restaurant.
Director: Anurag Basu | Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Shiney Ahuja, Emraan Hashmi, Gulshan Grover
Votes: 6,673
31. Welcome (I) (2007)
Not Rated | 150 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A man falls in love with a beautiful woman, but later discovers that her brothers are gangsters.
Directors: Anees Bazmee, Mayur K. Barot | Stars: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor
Votes: 25,355 | Gross: $1.09M
32. K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022)
Not Rated | 166 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In the blood-soaked Kolar Gold Fields, Rocky's name strikes fear into his foes, while the government sees him as a threat to law and order. Rocky must battle threats from all sides for unchallenged supremacy.
Director: Prashanth Neel | Stars: Yash, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Srinidhi Shetty
Votes: 150,161 | Gross: $6.60M
Added on 21st May, 2022
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