Movies like Balika Badhu (1976)
The best movies like Balika Badhu (1976) are Maria's Lovers (1984), Raja Hindustani (1996) and Dhadkan (2000). If Balika Badhu hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLife in a Year (2020)8.2/10 from 2,027 votes
- NewestSantosh (2024)Released 2024
- In HindiRaja Hindustani (1996)Also in Hindi
Maria's Lovers (1984)
A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaja Hindustani (1996)
Raja, a taxi driver, falls in love with Aarti, a rich girl, and marries her against her parents' wishes. Later, her stepmother tries to create a rift betweenthe couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDhadkan (2000)
Anjali and Dev are in love with each other and plan to marry, but her family gets her married to Ram. Years later, Dev shows up to reunite with Anjali, however, she has fallen in love with Ram.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023)
After leaving his prestigious post at the University of Toronto, Gabriel embarks on a new journey with Julia, and he is eager to become a father. However, Gabriel's idyllic vision is jeopardized when Julia's intensive program becomes all consuming. When Julia is granted a prestigious opportunity to deliver an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel challenges her about the subject of her presentation, which clashes with his own research. In Oxford, their past resurfaces, including an old nemesis determined to humiliate Julia and expose one of Gabriel's well-guarded secrets. Emotions run high, alliances are tested, and the couple must confront the shadows of their shared history in a battle for love, truth, and redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Golden Bowl (2000)
Wealthy American widower Adam Verver and his daughter Maggie live a refined life in Europe, surrounded by art. Maggie marries impoverished Italian Prince Amerigo, while Adam marries Maggie's friend Charlotte Stant. The Prince and Charlotte are having an affair, which Maggie discovers and navigates through a silent, psychological battle of wills, ultimately using her cunning to preserve her marriage and protect her father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParineeta (2005)
Childhood sweethearts Lalita and Shekhar wish to get married someday. However, Shekhar's growing suspicions about Lalita coupled with his conniving father's antics threaten to tear them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNine Lives (2005)
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAjeeb Daastaans (2021)
An anthology of four stories that explore the surprising ways in which unexpected catalysts inflame the uncomfortable emotions simmering under fractured relationships.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988)
Both Dhanraj Singh and Randhir Singh are two bitter and old time enemies. They faced a disastrous situation when their children, Raj and Rashmi fall deeply in love. They openly declare their hatred for one another and will do anything in their power, even kill - but they will not accept their children's choice. But Raj and Rashmi are dedicated to their love and are not willing to accept the fact that their fathers are mutual enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlind (2017)
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAshes in the Snow (2018)
The coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her drawings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDil Ka Rishta (2003)
Wealthy Jai Mehta is a young man with a heart that has gold. He supports many charitable organizations in India and one day when he visits a deaf and dumb school, he falls in love with the teacher there, Tia Sharma, expresses his love to her and is openly humiliated when she introduces her fiancé, Raj. Soon after Raj and Tia gets married and are proud parents of a baby boy, Anshu. A heart broken Jai takes to alcohol and one night under the influence of alcohol, Jai's car collide with Raj and Tia's car mysteriously killing Raj and seriously injuring Tia about the head. Tia is treated by doctor, recovers but is unable to remember anything from her troubled past. Jai makes it his responsibility to take care of her, slowly she falls in love with him and proposes marriage. But will this marriage takes place or will Tia remembers her past and takes revenge from Jai for the death of her husband and for her current condition
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAli and Nino (2016)
Muslim prince Ali and Georgian aristocrat Nino have grown up in the Russian province of Azerbaijan. Their tragic love story sees the outbreak of the First World War and the world’s struggle for Baku’s oil. Ultimately they must choose to fight for their country’s independence or for each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Brilliant Career (1979)
A young woman who is determined to maintain her independence finds herself at odds with her family who wants her to tame her wild side and get married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalome (1953)
In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending him to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are–contrary to Scripture–nearing conversion to the new religion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisTime Is Up (2021)
Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShiddat (2021)
Love-struck Jaggi can cross the seven seas for his dream girl, Kartika. Even if it means stopping her wedding as he doesn't want to be friend-zoned.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisChori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001)
Raj and Priya are newly married. Priya is heavy with children, but due to unexpected circumstances, she loses her child and is unable to conceive again. Enter Madhoo, a prostitute who is willing to become surrogate mother for the couple. Their relationship becomes entangled with love triangle when Madhoo falls in love with Raj.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisLove 86 (1986)
Laxmi Devi is a strict mother having two daughters named Leena and Isha. She wants them to get married in a prosperous and rich family with two brothers so that they can be together for life. But two orphaned boys named Omi and Vikram Doshi who are thieves by profession, fall for these two sisters. Now Laxmi Devi wants to control the fate of her daughters but can she do this?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Heyy Babyy (2007)
Three womanisers find a baby left at their doorstep. Chaos ensues as they try to contact their former girlfriends to determine who is the father amongst them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisDillagi (1999)
Two brothers -- Ranvir and Rajvir along with their parents move to Mumbai. They endure numerous hardships, but their will to survive prevails and they succeed. Soon, their parents pass away, leaving young Rajvir in the care of Ranvir. Now wealthy beyond any means, Ranvir runs the business and Rajvir lives recklessly. When Rajvir falls in love, Ranvir arranges his marriage, but to his dismay finds out that he has arranged his brother to marry the girl he loves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Ek Second... Jo Zindagi Badal De... (2010)
From the moment Rashi (Manisha Koirala) decides not to get on a train home from her job, her life turns in a new direction. But what about what could have been if she did board that train? This drama about destiny and life's turns traces Rashi's parallel lives. Her current beau (Moammar Rana) may not be her true love, as she's about to find out -- or &NFi;not&NFi_; find out. Partho Ghosh (Mr. Hot Mr. Kool) directs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Sanam (1951)
An honest but unemployed young man, Yogen, falls for the wealthy, independent Sadhana after a chance encounter, but his desperate circumstances lead to a crime tried by Sadhana's own father, the prosecutor, creating a profound social and legal barrier to their love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Street Dancer 3D (2020)
Two rival dance groups from India and Pakistan who are always competing against each other, join forces when it comes to competing at an international dance competition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmperor Shivaji (1952)
The film chronicles the ascent of Shivaji, the great Maratha warrior who fought for liberty from the erstwhile Muslim rulers in order to establish a secular Hindu kingdom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Santosh (2024)
A government scheme sees newly widowed Santosh inherit her husband’s job as a police constable in the rural badlands of Northern India. When a low-caste girl is found raped and murdered, she is pulled into the investigation under the wing of charismatic feminist inspector Sharma.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKal Hamara Hai (1959)
Kal Hamara Hai is a 1959 Indian Hindi film, directed by S.K. Prabhakar and produced by K. Amarnath. The film stars Madhubala, Bharat Bhushan, and Jayant in lead roles. The film has a musical score by Chitra Gupta.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Balika Badhu and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Balika Badhu?
The closest matches to Balika Badhu are Maria's Lovers (1984), Raja Hindustani (1996) and Dhadkan (2000). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Balika Badhu?
Start with Maria's Lovers (1984), the closest match to Balika Badhu.
What is the highest-rated movie like Balika Badhu?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,027 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Balika Badhu?
Santosh (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Hindi movies like Balika Badhu?
Yes: Raja Hindustani (1996), Dhadkan (2000) and Parineeta (2005).
How are movies similar to Balika Badhu chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Balika Badhu, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.