Movies like Banaras (2006)
The best movies like Banaras (2006) are A Passage to India (1984), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) and Viceroy's House (2017). If Banaras hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSteven Universe: The Movie (2019)8.2/10 from 889 votes
- NewestHere (2024)Released 2024
- In HindiBajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)Also in Hindi
A Passage to India (1984)
Cultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)
A young mute girl from Pakistan loses herself in India with no way to head back. A devoted man with a magnanimous spirit undertakes the task to get her back to her motherland and unite her with her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisViceroy's House (2017)
In 1947, Lord Mountbatten assumes the post of last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people, living upstairs at the house which was the home of British rulers, whilst 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants lived downstairs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnne of Green Gables (2016)
Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. India (1987)
A poor but big-hearted man takes orphans into his home. After discovering his scientist father's invisibility device, he rises to the occasion and fights to save his children and all of India from the clutches of a megalomaniac.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret Garden (2020)
Mary Lennox is born in India to wealthy British parents who never wanted her. When her parents suddenly die, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle. She meets her sickly cousin, and the two children find a wondrous secret garden lost in the grounds of Misselthwaite Manor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrishyam 2 (2022)
7 years after the case related to Vijay Salgaonkar and his family was closed, a series of unexpected events bring truth to light that threatens to change everything for the Salgaonkars. Can Vijay save his family this time?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Secret Garden (1993)
A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and forgotten. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSwades (2004)
A successful Indian scientist returns home to his village to take his nanny back to America with him, and in the process rediscovers his roots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991)
A runaway orphan, young Sonora, persists in a menial job mucking stables in Doc Carver's travelling stunt show. Her great wish is to become a death-defying "diving girl," but Doc refuses her pleas. Undaunted, Sonora's gutsy resolve finally convinces him to give her a break. On the brink of stardom, however, a cruel twist of fate threatens to destroy her dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Shine of Rainbows (2009)
An orphaned boy named Tomás is adopted by Maire O’Donnell to live on a whimsical Irish isle filled with new friends, secret caves and a lost baby pup seal stranded on the coast. But when Maire's reluctant husband Alec refuses to accept Tomás as his own son, the boy drifts down a fateful path of adventure and self-discovery, illuminating how rainbows can shine around - and within - us all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeidi (2005)
Swiss girl Adelheid 'Heidi' is orphaned young. Aunt Detie brings her to grandpa Alp and his wife, who live isolated in the Alps since his murder charge. Heidi soon takes to the wild country, especially accompanying young goatherd Peter. Grandpa refuses to send her to school in the city, but aunt Detie returns and forces him to give in. She's sent to a posh lady in Frankfurt, where she'll be a companion for crippled daughter Clara after school hours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOliver Twist (1948)
When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Little Princess (1939)
A little girl goes in search of her father who is reported missing by the military during the Second Boer War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Finds You In Sugarcreek (2014)
Will a mysterious stranger's past wreak havoc on a quiet Amish community after they've opened their doors -- and hearts -- to him and his son?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Miracle (2021)
To save their cash-strapped orphanage, a guardian and his kids partner with a washed-up boat captain for a chance to win a lucrative fishing competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSteven Universe: The Movie (2019)
Two years after bringing peace to the galaxy, Steven Universe sees his past come back to haunt him in the form of a deranged Gem who wants to destroy the Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHere (2024)
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAkeli Mat Jaiyo (1963)
A prince disguises himself as a common man to win the love of Seema, a middle-class woman. Complications arise when his true identity is revealed, testing their love and trust.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Beste Chance (2014)
Since they graduated from school five years ago, the friends Jo and Kati have not seen one another. While one of them travels around the world and has arrived in India in the meantime, the other one is struggling with the final exams of the university. But five years are like blown away when Kati one day listens to a worrying message from her friend on her answering machine. Immediately, she drops everything and drives to her home village in order to gather together the old friends from her school days and to look for Jo in India.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
III Smoking Barrels (2018)
A combination of three stories, each exploring a different stage in life - A CHILD involved in armed conflicts, a BOY in drug peddling and a MAN entangled in elephant poaching.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mohabbatein (2000)
At a prestigious all-male university, three friends seek love outside of the school grounds; at the same time, a newly-hired music teacher seeks to befriend and loosen up the militantly strict headmaster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlmost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat (2023)
In pursuit of forbidden love, two young couples from different worlds find their lives entangled as rebellion and intolerance collide in dual stories.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Uff! Yeh Mohabbat (1997)
St. George's College in Bombay has two sweethearts namely, Chiclet (Saddiya Siddiqui), and Raja (Abhishek Kapoor), until Raja sets his eyes on Sonia Verma (Twinkle Khanna).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sham Ghansham (1998)
Satyadev Singh lives with his wife, Ganga, and two sons, Sham and Ghansham, and their family leads a fairly comfortable life. Things turn for the worse for them when a new corrupt Collector named Bhim Singh enters their region. Satyadev is killed, and Ganga has to flee with her children away from this region, and from Bhim Singh. Years later, Sham and Ghansham have grown up and would like to avenge their father's death. Their quest takes them to Collector Bhim Singh and his men, who are ready to let history repeat itself, by killing the sons of Satyadev Singh.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dulhan Ek Raat Ki (1967)
Arrogant son of a wealthy, blind woman, rapes his mother's nurse and abandons her. She gets pregnant but the child does not live, and she continues to live her life and follow up on her love life, only to face the past, and her "reformed" rapist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mehlon Ke Khwaab (1960)
After winning a lottery, Asha and Bela round up a holiday to find suitable husbands. But they end up being framed for stealing a precious necklace.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi... (1999)
Siddhant recounts three months in his struggle to attain fame via the National Institute of Performing Arts and his close friendship with fellow-students: Baksh Bhargav, Radha, Ruby, KS, Ronnie, Hari, and new-comer Khushi. His attraction towards supermodel Roxy spurs him on to make a name for himself, while also maintaining an attachment to Khushi, who also has a secret admirer in this group. And the group's attempts to deal with the fact that one of them is HIV positive. - Written by rAjOo
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Banaras and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Banaras?
The closest matches to Banaras are A Passage to India (1984), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) and Viceroy's House (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Banaras?
Start with A Passage to India (1984), the closest match to Banaras.
What is the highest-rated movie like Banaras?
Steven Universe: The Movie (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 889 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Banaras?
Here (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Hindi movies like Banaras?
Yes: Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), Mr. India (1987) and Drishyam 2 (2022).
How are movies similar to Banaras chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Banaras, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.