The 2000s opened with a debut and closed with a blockbuster that reshaped what a Hindi film could earn. A fresh DESIblitz retrospective selects 20 films from the decade, moving from Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai (2000) to Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots (2009). Taken together, the list is less a ranking than a map of a formative stretch for modern Bollywood.
A decade of arrivals and franchises
The list begins with Hrithik Roshan’s launch in Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, which swept the 2001 Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor. That arrival was followed by a wave of durable commercial properties: Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Dhoom, Koi… Mil Gaya and Krrish. Several of these became franchises; Gadar 2 arrived in 2023 with the original leads returning.
The period also made new stardom. Preity G Zinta moved from Kya Kehna to a Filmfare Best Actress win for Kal Ho Naa Ho, while Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif established a fresh pairing in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahaani. Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Pooja in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham… became one of the decade’s most recognisable characters.
Milestones that changed the scale
The 2000s were not only about star power. Lagaan was shortlisted for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2002, taking a village cricket bet onto the global stage. At the other end of the decade, Ghajini became the first Bollywood film to earn Rs 100 crore domestically, a figure that would soon become a regular benchmark.
Between those poles, the industry tested its boundaries. Dil Chahta Hai brought a new urban cadence; Karan Johar later described it as the film that started the “cool syntax of Hindi cinema”. Koi… Mil Gaya and Krrish offered a homegrown science-fiction and superhero grammar, while Chak De India showed Shah Rukh Khan without romance or lip-synced songs.
Social themes as commercial cinema
The list also captures how the decade folded difficult subjects into mainstream storytelling. Kya Kehna addressed unwed pregnancy and social stigma. Baghban questioned how ageing parents are treated. Taare Zameen Par put dyslexia and the pressure of schooling at the centre of Aamir Khan’s directorial debut, and 3 Idiots pushed against forcing children into fixed career paths.
For readers tracking Hindi cinema’s history, the value of the selection lies in those through-lines:
- Arrivals: Hrithik Roshan, Ameesha Patel, Ranbir Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar all made defining moves during the decade.
- Franchises: Dhoom, Koi… Mil Gaya/Krrish and Munna Bhai MBBS established repeatable worlds.
- Formats: Sports, sci-fi, heist, superhero, slapstick and issue-led drama all found commercial footing.
What emerges is not nostalgia for its own sake. The 2000s built the stardom, the franchise logic and the social-drama instincts that Hindi cinema still trades on. Revisiting these films is a way of seeing current releases with the memory of where their templates began.
Source: DESIblitz
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