The patriotic struggle gave birth to a large number of films in the patriotic mode including a couple of offshoots that seemed pro British. The most famous patriotic film was Gyan Mukherjee`s Kismet (1943). It is one of the biggest commercial hits in the history of Indian cinema whose anti German and Japanese songs became famous all over India. Popular in the years between 1940s and the 1960s, this genre resurfaced in the 18980s-90s. It was particularly due to the fact that India was celebrating her 50th year of independence in 1997.

The earlier patriotic films include Rani of Jhansi. In 1952 it was Hemen Gupta, a Bengali director who made Anandamath. The film was based on a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. It dealt with the 18th century revolt against the British led by a sanyasi (ascetic). In 1964 Chetan Anand and Navketan Films made Haqeeqat with a host of prestigious actors like, Balraj Sahni, Vijay Anand, Sulochana, Dharmendra and others. It dealt with an incident during the Indo-China war. Another important film was Shaheed (1965) by S Ram Sharma, with several popular patriotic songs. This particular film features the contribution of the revolutionaries during the struggle for independence, such as, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.

In 1969 Saat Hindustani was released. The film was directed by KA Abbas. This film is also noteworthy for the first appearance of Amitabh Bachchan. In 1959, Padmini Pictures of Chennai made Veerapandia Kattabomman, a spectacular epic fairytale, directed by BR Panthalu on the legendary Tamil hero, Kattabomman. The role was evnacted by Shivaji Ganeshan. The same director also made another epic Tamil film, Kittur Rani Chinnamma in the year 1961. The film had fabulous songs and a cast which included fine actresses, such as, Saroja Devi. Again in 1974, the Telegu director V Ramachandra Rao made Alluri Seetaramaraju, a big budget film, financed by the Telegu megastar Krishna who acted in the main role of the charismatic tribal chief. The film is named after this `adivasi` chief.

In Malayalam cinema, the prolific director from Kerala, I.V. Sasi, made a big budget patriotic historical film 1921, in 1988, starring amongst others the great actor Mammootty. This film depicts the Khilafat Movement in which both Hindus and Muslims participated.

The patriotic films at a later stage were more concentrated with the internal affairs of India. The new films are now more thought provoking where the contemporary social issues are brought to the forefront alongwith patriotism. The theme of patriotism is allegorically presented to the audience. One of the recent films in Hindi, Rang De Basanti, aptly suit this category. Apart from these Mani Ratnam films, like, Bombay, deals with patriotism. Gandhi (1948), Kranti, Tiranga, Border, 1942 A Love Story, Gadar, Lagaan, Sarfarosh, Legend of Bhagat Singh, Swadesh, Lakshya, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: the Forgotten Hero, Swayamkrushi (Telegu), Vazir (Maratha), Sardar, Hindustani, Sabyasachi (Bengal) and several others.