Books & Films about India

We recommend watching a film or two before you travel to set the scene, and taking a book to read whilst you travel, to enhance your understanding and enjoyment of India. 

Here is a list of books, films and TV documentaries which we have found both informative and entertaining. 

Books

• The Great Mutiny – India 1857 by Christopher Hibbert
• The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
• White Mughals by William Dalrymple
• City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
• Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
• Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
• Freedom at Midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins
• Kim by Rudyard Kipling
• A Passage to India by E M Forster
• The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer
• India after Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha
• The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
• Slowly Down the Ganges by Eric Newby 

Films

• Dangal - Bollywood film directed by Nitesh Tiwari
• Lagaan – Bollywood film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
• Bahubali - South Indian production directed by S.S. Rajamouli
• Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Hollywood directed by John Madden
• A Passage to India directed by David Lean
• The Darjeeling Limited directed by Wed Anderson
• Lion directed by Garth Davis
• Life of Pi directed by Ang Lee
• Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough.

TV

• The Story of India BBC documentary written and presented by Michael Wood (2007)
• Children of the Pyre Hard hitting documentary telling the stories of seven children working in India’s busiest cremation ground. Directed and produced by Rajesh S. Jala (2008)
• The Great Indian Railway by National Geographic (1995)
• Great Indian Railway Journeys BBC travel documentary presented by Michael Portillo (2018)