Many films have been made on Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in different languages. Film makers-directors have tried to portray Babasaheb in their own way, and the actors portraying Babasaheb have brought him to life on screen with the same boldness and vigor. In this article we will know all films about Dr Ambedkar.
Dr BR Ambedkar is one of the most influential and respected personalities in India. He is more popular than Mahatma Gandhi in Indian society. He was an Indian polymath and the father of modern India.
B R Ambedkar Movies — Several movies, plays, songs, television serials, and other works have been based on the life and thoughts of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. A total of 12 mainstream films have been made on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar so far. 7 of them are in Marathi alone, followed by 3 in Kannada, 1 each in Telugu and English. Let us know about more than 15 films related to the father of Indian constitution.
American filmmaker Ava DuVernay is going to make a Netflix film on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. The search for an actor for this is going on. This will be the first film on Dr Ambedkar in Hollywood. Director DuVernay is making this film on Isabel Wilkerson’s book ‘Caste’ for Netflix.
Movies based on Dr BR Ambedkar
1. Bhim Garjana
Bhim Garjana (Transl: Bhim’s Roar) is a 1990 Marathi film. The film is directed by Vijay Pawar and produced by Nanda Pawar. Actor Krishnanand played the lead role of Babasaheb in this film, while actress Prathama Devi played Ramabai, wife of Babasaheb. This is the first film made on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
2. Balak Ambedkar
Balak Ambedkar (Transl: Child Ambedkar) is a 1991 Kannada film. This movie is directed by Basavaraj Kesthur. It was a film based on the childhood life of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Child actor Chiranjeevi Vinay played the role of child Bhimrao Ambedkar. b. r. ambedkar movies
3. Dr. Ambedkar
Dr. Ambedkar is a Telugu film released on 25 September 1992. The film is directed by Parpalli Bharat, while the producer of the film is Doctor Padmavati. Actor Akash Khurana played the role of Babasaheb while actress Neena Gupta played the role of Ramabai Ambedkar. Rohini Hattandi has also acted in the film. The shooting of this film lasted for 28 days. In this S.P. Bal Subramaniam has sung the playback.
4. Yugpurush Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
Yugpurush Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (Transl: Epoch Maker Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar) is a Marathi film released in 1993. The film was produced by Madhav Lele and directed by Shashikant Nalawade. Actor Narayan Dulake played the role of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in the film. Anant Vartak, Ashok Gharat, Asmita Gharat, Upendra Date, Chitra Koppikar have also acted in the film. The songs ‘Khara To Ekchi Dharma Jagala Prem Arpave’, ‘Jai Bhima, Shubhankara Tuj Koti Koti Pranaam’ are sung by Shahir Sable, Anirudh Joshi, and Rajendra Pai in the film. Yugpurush Doctor Babasaheb Ambedkar is the third film on Babasaheb and the second in Marathi.
Best movies on Ambedkar
5. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar – The Untold Truth
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar : The Untold Truth is a 2000 Indian English-Hindi bilingual feature film directed by Jabbar Patel. It stars Mammootty in the title role. Famous actress Sonali Kulkarni played the role of Ramabai Ambedkar, while Mrinal Kulkarni played the role of Babasaheb’s second wife Savita Ambedkar.
Apart from English and Hindi, this movie has been dubbed in many languages like Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Gujarati and many more. The film has received three national awards namely Best Feature Film in English, Best Actor (Mamootty), Best Art Direction (Nitin Desai). The film has excellent songs like Buddham Sharanam Gachchami, Kabir Kahe Yeh Jag Andha, Mann Lago Mera Yaar, Bhimaichya Vasaracha Ramjichya Lekeracha.
The film cost about Rs.10 crores. Around 100 Ambedkarite intellectuals were also assisted while shooting this film. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathi movies are aired on Maharashtra government television channels on Bhima Jayanti and Mahaparinirvana day.
6. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar is a Kannada language film released on 30 December 2005 and directed by Sharan Kumar Kabbur. In the movie, Dr. The role of Babasaheb Ambedkar was played by actor Vishnukanth BJ. Actress Tara played the role of Babasaheb’s first wife Ramabai while actress Bhavya played the role of second wife Savita Ambedkar.
The film has received three awards – Kannada State Film Award (2005–06), Best Dubbing Artist (Male) – Rabindranath, and Special Mention Award from the judges. Singers Nandita, Abhiman, Shankar Shanbhag, and Gurumurthy provided playback vocals for the film, while Abhiman Roy composed the music for the film.
7. Periyar
Periyar is a 2007 Tamil language film based on the life of social reformer and rationalist Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The film was directed by Gnana Rajasekaran. In this film, actor Mohan Raman played the role of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, while famous actor Sathyaraj played the role of Periyar. This is the same Satyaraj who played the famous character of Kattappa in Baahubali.
Periyar was greatly influenced by Dr. Ambedkar. Both of them have met many times. Periyar once told his followers, “If I am no longer in the world, if you want to consider anyone as your ‘father’, consider Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar as your father, and follow his teachings.”
8. Debu
Debu is a 2010 Marathi film directed by Nilesh Jalamkar. The film is based on the life of Social reformer and Saint Gadge Baba, and was played by actor Mohan Joshi. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s character has also been shown in this. Gadge Baba was greatly influenced by Babasaheb, and both of them met many times. b. r. ambedkar movies
9. Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar
Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar is a Marathi film based on Ramabai Ambedkar directed by Prakash Jadhav. The film was released on 4 November 2010. Actress Nisha Parulekar has played the main role of Ramabai, while Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was played by actor Ganesh Jethe. Singers like Shakuntala Jadhav, Vijay Sartape, Nandesh Umap, Koras have sung playback in this film. This is the first film made on the life of Ramabai Ambedkar, apart from this two other films have been made on Ramabai.
10. Ramabai
Ramabai is a 2016 Kannada language film directed by M. Ranganath. This is the second film based on Ramabai Ambedkar. In this movie Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was played by actor Siddaram Karnik, and Ramabai Ambedkar was played by actress Yagna Shetty. Actors like A Srinivas, Nagaraj, Bank Janardhan, Sumathi Sri, Mysore Ramanand have also acted in the film. K Kalyan composed the music for the film. The film was released on April 14, 2016 on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 125th birthday.
11. Bole India Jai Bhim
Bole India Jai Bhim (Transl: India Says Hail Bhim) is a Marathi film directed by Subodh Nagdeve and released on 7 October 2016. The producers of this film are Jitendra Khushaldas Doshi and Dhananjay Galani. The film is based on the life work of Dr. Ambedkar’s follower and social reformer L. N. Hardas. In this, the role of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was played by actor Shyam Bhimsaria, while the main role of Hardas was played by actor Amol Chiwhane. The famous greeting Jai Bhim (victory to Bhim/Ambedkar) was started by Hardas. Dinesh Arjuna composed the music for the film, while singers Javed Ali and Bela Shende sang in the film.
12. Saranam Gacchami
Sharanam Gachchami (transl. I take refuge) is a 2017 Telugu film directed by Prem Raj, based on the Constitution of India and the thoughts of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Ambedkar Saranam Gaccham (transl. I take refuge in Ambedkar) is one of the songs of the film, in which Dr. Ambedkar’s character has also been shown. Navin Sanjay and Tanishq Tiwari were the main actors in this film.
13. Bal Bhimrao
Bal Bhimrao (Transl: Child Bhimrao) is a Marathi film released on 9 March 2018. The director of this film was Prakash Narayan Jadhav. Child artist Manish Kamble played the role of child Bhimrao Ambedkar. The film also stars Mohan Joshi, Vikram Gokhale, Kishori Shahane, Nisha Bhagat and Prema Kiran. Shankar Mahadevan and Suresh Wadkar have sung the songs in the film. This is the second film on the childhood life of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
14. Ramai
Ramai (transl. Mother Ramā) is a 2019 Marathi film directed by Bal Bagrale. This is the third film on Ramabai Ambedkar. It was produced by Prof. Pragati Kharat, Manisha Mote, and Chandrakant Kharat. Actress Vina Jamkar played the lead role of Ramabai in this film, while actor Sagar Talashikar played the role of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Arun Nalavde, Swanil Rajasekhar, Prafulla Samant, Prakash Dhotre were also included in the film. Anand Shinde, Nandesh Ump, Sadhana Sargam, Ravindra Sathe, and Vijay Sartape have sung the film’s songs, while Bhimrao Dhulbulu and Gopal Kabanurak were the lyricists. The film was released on April 12, 2019, on the occasion of Dr. Ambedkar’s 128th birth anniversary.
15. Origin
Origin is a 2023 American biographical drama film written and directed by Ava DuVernay. It is based upon Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. Professor Gaurav J Pathania played the role of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in this film. Origin, the first Hollywood film based on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, was released worldwide on January 19, 2024.
16. Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh
Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh (transl. Gandhi Godse – A War) is a 2023 Indian-Hindi language history film written and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. The film stars Deepak Antani (as Mahatma Gandhi) and Chinmay Mandlekar (as Nathuram Godse) in the lead roles. Actor Mukund Pathak played the role of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in this film. The film deals with a fictional situation in which Mahatma Gandhi survives his assassination and thereafter decides to not only pardon Nathuram Godse, but also socialize with him.
17. Satyashodhak
Satyashodhak (transl. Truth-seeker) is a 2024 Indian Marathi-language biographical film directed by Nilesh Jalamkar, with Sandeep Kulkarni and Rajshri Deshpande in the lead roles. It was released in theatres on 5 January 2024. The film based on the life of social reformers Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule. Film “Satyashodhak” also has the role of Dr. Babasheb Ambedkar played by the director Nilesh Jalamkar himself.
Swatantrya Veer Savarkar is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language historical biographical film on the life of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. It is directed, co-written and co-produced by Randeep Hooda, who also plays the titular role of Savarkar. The film is scheduled to be theatrically released in India on 22 March 2024. Actor Lokesh Mittal played the role of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in the film.
Films on Dr Ambedkar
19. Joshi ki Kamble
Joshi Ki Kamble (transl. Joshi or Kamble) is a 2008 Marathi film directed by Shekhar Sartandel. The protagonist of this film is a young Ambedkarite Sanjay Kamble [Amey Wagh], who grew up in a Buddhist Scheduled Caste family [Kamble family], but his biological parents are Hindu Brahmin [Joshi family]. b. r. ambedkar movies
The film also deals with reservation and caste system. In this film, ‘Bhimravancha Jai Jaikar’ is a Bhim song. Also, Indian govt. minister Ramdas Athavale has a special role in the film.
20. Shudra : The Rising
Shudra: The Rising is a 2012 Hindi film directed by Sanjiv Jaiswal. Although the film depicts the life of a Shudra, it is dedicated to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. The film also features the popular Bhima song Jai Jai Bhim.
21. A Journey of Samyak Buddha
A Journey of Samyak Buddha is a 2013 Hindi film directed by Praveen Damle. It is an excellent film on the life of Gautama Buddha, and his role is played by actor Abhishek Urade. The film is based on Dr Ambedkar’s book The Buddha and His Dhamma. This is also a movie dedicated to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
22. Jai Bhim
Jai Bhim (transl. Victory to Bhim) is a 2021 Tamil-language legal drama film directed by T. J. Gnanavel and produced by Jyothika and Suriya under 2D Entertainment. The film stars Suriya, Lijomol Jose and Manikandan, with Rajisha Vijayan, Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh and others in supporting roles.
The film’s title is a reference to the slogan used by followers of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. The film deals with the subject of police bias and state violence against a marginalised community. Based on a true incident in 1993, which involves a case fought by Justice K. Chandru, it revolves around the lives of Sengeni and Rajakannu, a couple from the Irular tribe.
Rajakannu was arrested by the police, and was later missing from the police station. Sengeni seeks the help of an advocate Chandru to seek justice for her husband. Adv. K. Chandru, the hero of the film, is shown to be inspired by Dr. Ambedkar.
23. Jayanti
Jayanti (transl. ”birth anniversary”) is a 2021 Indian Marathi-language social-drama film, directed by Shailesh Baliram Narwade and produced by Meliorist Film Studio. The film, starring Ruturaj Wankhede, Titeeksha Tawde and Milind Shinde, was theatrically released on 12 November 2021. The film’s hero Santosh is shown to be inspired by the thoughts of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
24. The Battle of Bhima Koregaon
The Battle of Bhima Koregaon is an upcoming Hindi film produced and directed by Ramesh Thete. The film is produced under the banner of Ramesh Thete Films. This is a film dedicated to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.
It is based on the Battle of Koregaon, which took place on January 1, 1818. The film stars Arjun Rampal in the lead role of Shidnak Inamdar, a Mahar warrior. Digangana Suryavanshi, Sunny Leone and Abhimanyu Singh will also be in the cast. b. r. ambedkar movies
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