The 1960s sit between the golden 1950s and the angry 1970s, often remembered as a bridge rather than a destination. A DESIblitz retrospective of 20 must-watch films argues otherwise. This was the decade when Hindi cinema moved, piece by piece, from black-and-white to Technicolor, from studio-bound plots to foreign locations, and from a settled star system to a wider, riskier screen.
The selection is useful because it names the films that made later Bollywood legible.
A hinge decade in three moves
First, the visual leap. Raj Kapoor’s Sangam (1964) was his first colour film and the first Hindi film shot abroad. Dev Anand’s Guide (1965) was his first colour film and dominated the 1967 Filmfare awards, winning Best Film and Best Actor. Mughal-e-Azam (1960), already years in production, set the scale argument early and stayed the highest-grossing Bollywood film for more than ten years.
Second, the star map widened. Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand remained central, but Shammi Kapoor’s energetic hero, Manoj Kumar’s patriotic turn in Upkar (1967), and Dharmendra’s redemptive Phool Aur Patthar (1966) all broadened what a Hindi film leading man could be. By 1969, Aradhana had turned Rajesh Khanna into a new kind of phenomenon: he followed it with 15 consecutive solo hits from 1969 to 1971.
Music was the connective tissue. The list is dotted with songs that outlived their films, from ‘Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya’ to ‘Lag Jaa Gale’ and ‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti’. Aradhana also marked Kishore Kumar’s transition to full-time playback singing, a shift that changed the sound of Hindi cinema for years.
Third, the templates hardened. Several later blockbusters borrowed directly from 1960s grammar:
- Gunga Jumna (1961), Dilip Kumar’s production and writing debut, set up a separated-brothers conflict that fed Deewaar and Sholay.
- Waqt (1965) began the multi-starrer trend that would define much of 1970s Hindi cinema.
- Ram Aur Shyam (1967) established a dual-role comedy template later seen in Seeta Aur Geeta and Kishen Kanhaiya.
- Woh Kaun Thi (1964), Teesri Manzil (1966) and Jewel Thief (1967) sharpened the mystery-thriller form.
- Hum Dono (1961) was colourised and rereleased in 2011, and its song ‘Abhi Na Jaao Chhod Kar’ was reworked in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023).
Why this still matters
For readers who follow Hindi cinema closely, such a list is less a ranking than a canon. It shows why the multi-starrer feels normal, why the romantic hero can also carry suspense, and why playback singing became industrial. The decade also proved that careers could be remade quickly. Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960) gave Guru Dutt a hit after Kaagaz Ke Phool‘s failure, and Woh Kaun Thi (1964) gave Manoj Kumar a breakthrough after years of struggle.
The 1950s may remain the golden era. But the 1960s were when Hindi cinema learned to operate at a new scale, in new colour, with new kinds of stars, and handed those habits to the decades that followed.
Source: DESIblitz
Comments