Best of Bollywood police officers fighting against corruption
written by Souranath Banerjee
Best of Bollywood police officers fighting against corruption: The police officers in notorious crime world of Bollywood are rarely taken seriously!
Either they are shown as the corrupt sadistic nuisance with no honor, conscience or sense of duty (generally villain’s sidekicks who 
will be bashed up by the hero towards the end of the film). Or else they are fabricated into these caricatured super heroes who can singlehandedly beat up an entire town of bad guys (the likes of Dabangg, Singham and Rowdy Rathore).
In the history of Bollywood only a few handful films portray a cop in the right perspective; someone who has dignity, honesty, the will to fight against corruption and most importantly a common man with no superhuman powers.
And here’s some of Best of Bollywood police officers fighting against corruption, a list that celebrates all those real life brave Indian police officers who respects their uniform and we respect them.
Let’s hear the sirens!
10. Sehar (2005)
Film clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uzJPW7qqxE
An uncorrupted cop, Ajay Kumar (Arshad Warsi) when transferred to Uttar Pradesh, clashes with the brutal mafia don Gajraj Singh (Sushant Singh).
Ajay Kumar leads a team of daring officers who took up the mission to stop organized crimes in Lucknow.
Directed by Kabeer Kaushik, the film is a dramatic take based on the real lives of gangster Shiv Prakash Shukla and gallant SSP Arun Kumar. Also watch Pankaj Kapur in a unique role as Prof. Tiwari.
9. Yeshwant (1997)
Film clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yPO2EA_YEE
Maverick, tough and committed Inspector Yeshwant Lohar (Nana Patekar) is the man to watch out for in this film.
Directed by Anil Mattoo, this is a cop who struggles in-between his professional and personal lives; a man who is too straightforward and undiluted for surviving our current work system.
Basically, a one man show for Nana Patekar and a must watch for his superb energetic performance.
8. Gangaajal (2003)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf5mD-Q05_8
SP Amit Kumar (Ajay Devgn) is given the charge of Tezpur police station in Bihar, where law and order is known by the name of a corrupted politician Sadhu Yadav (Mohan Joshi).
But of course the situation changes by the time our strict and honest SP is done with the notorious Yadav gang.
As with most of Prakash Jha‘s films, this one too tries to restore our faith in law, constitution, and democracy by the end of the film.
7. Mardaani (2014)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04E-jHtWrDA
A girl goes missing and eventually senior inspector of the criminal branch Mumbai, Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji) takes up the case.
Soon she is confronted by the child trafficking mafia kingpin Walt (Tahir Raj Bhasin) who wants her to stop the investigation.
Directed by Pradeep Sarkar, this lady cop drama is one of the pretty realistic sketch of a devoted cop trying to accomplish her duty at any cost.
6. Sarfarosh (1999)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlULorEPMig
A personal tragedy makes Ajay Singh Rathod (Aamir Khan) to join the police force to fight against terrorism.
And soon famous Pakistan-based Ghazal singer Gulfam Hassan (Naseeruddin Shah) becomes a suspect of Ajay’s hunt for terrorists.
Directed by John Mathew Matthan, this one is a fine crime drama that is portrayed in a very realistic manner, a thriller at its best.
5. Khakee (2004)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuo5cq2QBcg
Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, this is the story of DCP Anant Shrivastav (Amitabh Bachchan), who is responsible to escort a terrorist Iqbal Ansari (Atul Kulkarni) from Chandangarh to Mumbai.
Though determined to accomplish his mission, he faces tremendous resistance from the terrorist leader Yashwant Angre (Ajay Devgn).
Along with Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Tusshar Kapoor this one is a cool police drama to consider.
4. Ab Tak Chhappan (2004)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tKzKJko34A
With Inspector Sadhu Agashe Nana Patekar is back as the encounter specialist, who believes that its better to eliminate the rouges of our society than taking them into custody.
Directed by Shimit Amin, this is one gritty tale of how the volatile equation between the police and the underworld is maintained.
Probably Nana Patekar’s best performance till date.
3. Shool (1999)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqU4vpL-0LA
Inspector Samar Pratap Singh (Manoj Bajpayee) is transferred to Motihari, in the Indian state of Bihar along with his wife (Raveena Tandon) and kid.
And there, the officer’s honesty and diligence is tested against the local MLA Bachoo Yadav (Sayaji Shinde).
Directed by Eeshwar Nivas, outstanding performances and the film also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
2. Zanjeer (1973)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfvbZsPsBZU
Bollywood has never seen such an honest cop story told with such conviction before the release of this super hit film.
The film that made Amitabh Bachchan a super star and gave him the iconic screen name ‘Vijay’!
Along with Jaya Bhaduri, Ajit and Pran, and directed by Prakash Mehra, this film established the well known ‘angry young man’ image!
- Ardh Satya (1983)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EesInevxpAs
When talking about a lone honest police officer fighting against the odds of the system, this is the first film that comes to my mind!
A newly appointed Sub-Inspector Anant Velankar (Om Puri) wants to make the world a better place but soon finds out the reality of how our system works.
Directed by Govind Nihalani, along with Smita Patil, Amrish Puri and Sadashiv Amrapurkar, this is a film that perfectly depicts an honest cop’s humiliation and frustration as he is sucked into the whirlpool of corruption.
and now, (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most innovative one. A must watch).
+1. Black Friday (2004)
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR1mkPQI9z0
The film (though it’s not exactly a story based on an honest cop’s struggle) shows the thorough investigation process that followed the 1993 serial Bombay bomb blasts.
Directed by Anurag Kashyap, one of his earlier films and of course the most controversial one.
A superb thriller and Kay Kay Menon as DCP Rakesh Maria is an absolute delight to watch.
Poster curtsey: en.wikipedia.org, www.imdb.com, www.koimoi.com/, www.filmiclub.com.
In the early 70s Smita Patil used to be a
She was probably the first actress who gave the directors enough