Mumbai: As India celebrates its 80th Independence Day, patriotic storytelling is no longer confined to the familiar grammar of larger-than-life heroes, battlefield triumphs and chest-thumping nationalism.
In theatres, on streaming platforms, and on television, a new crop of films and series is exploring patriotism through more intimate stories of sacrifice, loss, duty, family and the human cost of conflict.
This shift does not necessarily mark the disappearance of big-budget spectacles. Films such as “Border 2” and “Dhurandhar” continue to embrace scale, action and high-stakes national security narratives, even as titles such as “Ikkis”, “Amaran”, and “Operation Safed Sagar” have sought to put people and their emotional journeys at the centre of stories about the nation.
Here is a look at some of the titles from the past 10 years shaping the changing landscape of patriotic storytelling:
1. Raazi (2018)
Meghna Gulzar’s spy drama, adapted from author Harinder Sikka’s novel “Calling Sehmat”, offered an intimate take on patriotism through Sehmat, played by Alia Bhatt, an Indian woman who goes undercover in Pakistan after marrying into a military family in 1971. It also featured Vicky Kaushal as her Pakistani husband Iqbal Syed.
The film’s focus extends beyond her intelligence mission to the moral and emotional consequences of espionage, making personal sacrifice as important as national duty.
2. The Family Man (2019)
The Prime Video series, headlined by seasoned actor Manoj Bajpayee, brought another dimension to the national-security genre by placing espionage alongside the mundane realities of middle-class family life.
Bajpayee’s Srikant Tiwari is simultaneously a covert intelligence officer, husband and father, with the show examining the personal cost of protecting the country while trying to maintain an ordinary family life.
3. Shershaah (2021)
The biographical war drama starring Sidharth Malhotra as Captain Vikram Batra combines the conventional heroism of a military biopic with the soldier’s personal life, particularly his relationship with his fiancee Dimple Cheema.
Set against the Kargil War, the film presents Batra’s journey from a young officer to a decorated war hero while keeping his relationships at the centre of the narrative.
4. Amaran (2024)
The Tamil-language biographical war drama, starring Sivakarthikeyan as Major Mukund Varadarajan and Sai Pallavi as his wife Indhu Rebecca Varghese, places the soldier’s relationship and family alongside his military career.
Based on an account from Rahul Singh and Shiv Aroor’s book “India’s Most Fearless”, the film approaches sacrifice through the people left behind as much as through the soldier’s actions in combat.
5. Sky Force (2025)
The aerial war drama, starring Akshay Kumar and newcomer Veer Pahariya, is inspired by the Indian Air Force’s 1965 war operations, including the strike on Pakistan’s Sargodha airbase.
With aerial combat and military heroism at its centre, the film represents the continuing appetite for large-scale war spectacles.
6. Ikkis (2026)
Sriram Raghavan’s biographical war drama, released in January, is based on the life of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, played by Agastya Nanda. It was the final film of screen icon Dharmendra, who died in November last year at the age of 89.
Set against the 1971 India-Pakistan War, the film focuses on the young soldier’s courage and sacrifice while adopting a more restrained approach to conflict. Its treatment of war and heroism has been praised for its humanistic, peace-oriented perspective.
7. Border 2 (2026)
The follow-up to JP Dutta’s 1997 war drama returns to the 1971 India-Pakistan War with Sunny Deol leading an ensemble that includes Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty.
Directed by Anurag Singh, the film embraces the scale and spectacle traditionally associated with the Hindi war genre while expanding the story across multiple characters and military units.
8. Operation Safed Sagar (2026)
The Netflix series revisits the Indian Air Force’s role in the 1999 Kargil War through the Golden Arrows Squadron.
Starring Siddharth, Jimmy Sheirgill and Abhay Verma, among others, the series recreates the high-altitude operation and the pressures faced by fighter pilots, while also highlighting squadron culture, camaraderie and the emotional toll of military service.
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