Movies like Nair Saab (1989)
The best movies like Nair Saab (1989) are Bennett's War (2019), Inside I'm Dancing (2004) and Waiting for Anya (2020). If Nair Saab hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Asphalt Jungle (1950)7.5/10 from 562 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
- In MalayalamTrance (2020)Also in Malayalam
Bennett's War (2019)
After surviving an IED explosion in combat overseas, a young soldier with the Army Motorcycle Unit is medically discharged with a broken back and leg. Against all odds he trains to make an impossible comeback as a motocross racer in order to support his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside I'm Dancing (2004)
Michael is a 24-year-old who has cerebral palsy and long-term resident of the Carrigmore Residential Home for the Disabled, run by the formidable Eileen. His life is transformed when the maverick Rory O'Shea moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWaiting for Anya (2020)
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrance (2020)
A disheartened motivational speaker gets hired by a corporate to become a preacher until his live stint on television puts him and his service under the scanner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Color of Friendship (2000)
Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from California and who lives in a nice home in Washington DC. When Mahree is chosen to spend a semester at the Dellums' house, she doesn't expect that her host family would be black. Nor do her hosts suspect that she is not a black South African.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeeds of Yesterday (2015)
The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow Sarah Got Her Wings (2015)
Good Samaritan Sarah Fitzpatrick has a fatal accident just before Christmas, and finds herself in the lobby before the gates of Heaven. Certain that she will be let in, she is shocked to find that her name is not on the reservation list. However, she is granted the chance to return to Earth as an "angel in training" with the requirement to help a soul in need. Sarah has the 12 days before Christmas to secure her place on the list leaving her in the race for her after-life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSound of Christmas (2016)
Lizzie is a young piano teacher working at a music school while trying to save enough money for a Steinway piano. The school is gearing up for their major Christmas fundraiser and she has committed much of her time to plan the event. One afternoon, she meets Brad who takes an interest in her playing and asks if she will teach his uninterested teenage daughter. She begins to break through to the young girl, and sparks begin to fly with Brad, but she is shocked to find out that his interest is not solely in her playing, but in the property that houses the music school. She sets out to save the school and the event, but can she work things out with Brad?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattleground (1949)
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRDX: Robert Dony Xavier (2023)
Once-menacing, anger fueled, trained martial arts fighters Robert, Dony and Xavier settle down to peaceful lives, after a significant event prompts them. Fate orchestrates their reunion and return from exile to their fighting ways, when their history linger ominously and one of them faces a violent attack.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of Bamboo (1955)
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Together Now (2020)
An optimistic, talented teen clings to a huge secret: she's homeless and living on a school bus. When tragedy strikes, can she learn to accept a helping hand?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015)
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
A dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Grit (1969)
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReturn (2011)
Back from a tour of duty, Kelli struggles to find her place in her family and the rust-belt town she no longer recognizes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSubhalekha (1982)
Sujatha, a lecturer, stands up against the dowry system when a rich man comes to her house with a marriage proposal. But she doesn't have the support of her family and her actions have serious consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tingu Rangadu (1982)
Tingu Rangadu is action drama based movie in which, Chiranjeevi is a carefree guy who lives with his grandmother (nirmalamma) and his cousin. One day he escapes from his house and landsup in a city. He gets into RamchandraRao (Jaggayya)’s house claiming to be his son, through his extra-marital relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bhoothakkannadi (1997)
Vidyadharan, a clocksmith, is a widower and lives for his only daughter. However, his life takes a turn for the worse when he kills a thug suspecting him for murdering a village girl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mukthi (1988)
Haridas is a district collector who tries to help people. However, he faces several challenges due to a rift between him and his brother who joins a corrupt political party.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ponthan Mada (1994)
Set in 1940s,Ponthan Mada movie is about the irrational bonding of the low-caste Ponthan Mada with his colonial landlord Sheema Thampuran, who was expelled to British India from England during his youth for supporting the Irish Republican Army. Crossing the class boundaries, the two communicate through Thampuran's window, with Mada hanging from a palm tree.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Thacholi Ambu (1978)
Thacholi Ambu is a 1978 Malayalam-language film starring Prem Nazir, Sivaji Ganesan, Ravikumar and Jayan. Directed and produced by Navodaya Appachan, it was the first cinemascope film in Malayalam. Prem Nazir played the title role in the film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Malabar (2018)
An undocumented mother is unable to turn to the authorities for help when her son goes missing, so she sets off on a treacherous path to find him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Daddy (2001)
An audio company and dance school owner is a very rich man but also gullible. He gets married to the girl he loves; but loses all his money to his scheming friends. They lose their daughter to a heart disease following which his wife leaves him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Abhilasha (1983)
In order to reform the death sentence penalty, a lawyer sets a trap and gets himself arrested for a murder. But he is caught in his own web of evidence and struggles to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ival Droupadi (2014)
Ival Droupadi movie tells the story of Ajitha (Vani Viswanath) whose sister Anitha is brutally raped by a three member gang including a minister, a Police Commissioner and a rich businessman. (Anitha is in love with Sudhi (Shiju) who is a mimicry artist and their neighbour). As can be presumed, Anitha (Sujitha) commits suicide. The only witness to the brutal crime Raavunni (Mala Aravindhan) is murdered by the three-member gang. Ajitha, along with her father, tries to seek the help of the police, but to no avail. When she decides to take matters into her hands and seek vengeance for her sister`s death in her own way, her father, for the sake of her safety, dubs her a lunatic and manages to send her to a lunatic asylum.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Nair Saab and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Nair Saab?
The closest matches to Nair Saab are Bennett's War (2019), Inside I'm Dancing (2004) and Waiting for Anya (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Nair Saab?
Start with Bennett's War (2019), the closest match to Nair Saab.
What is the highest-rated movie like Nair Saab?
The Asphalt Jungle (1950), rated 7.5/10 by 562 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Nair Saab?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Malayalam movies like Nair Saab?
Yes: Trance (2020), RDX: Robert Dony Xavier (2023) and Bhoothakkannadi (1997).
How are movies similar to Nair Saab chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Nair Saab, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.