It’s Diwali everywhere, happiness is in the air!
Diwali is a great opportunity to snuggle up with your family and watch all the latest Bollywood blockbusters. To mark the occasion, we've rounded up a list of Bollywood films, ranging from U to 12 – so there’s something for all the family.
Panga
U, very mild bad language
Panga is a Hindi language family drama in which a retired Kabbadi champion makes a comeback with the support of her husband and son.
Language
There is infrequent very mild bad language (eg 'hell', 'damn').
Mr. India
U
Mr. India is a 1961 Hindi language film in which a naive unemployed youth is mistaken for a look-alike gangster.
Taare Zameen Par - Every Child Is Special
PG, Contains mild language and derogatory terms
Taare Zameen Par - Every Child Is Special is a Hindi language drama with English subtitles about an eight-year-old boy whose dreamy – and sometimes disruptive – behaviour masks a problem that no-one is aware of until he is sent to boarding school and comes under the influence of an inspirational young art teacher.
Language
There is some use of mild bad language (‘bloody’, ‘shit’, ‘hell’, ‘goddammit’) although this is not spoken by child characters. There is also use of ‘retard’ by a father who is unable to understand that their child is dyslexic.
Violence
Mild violence occurs in a fight between two boys that results in some minor injury.
Theme
There are scenes in which the child protagonist is seen in a distressed and upset state, including in the aftermath of a fight and when his parents become angry with him.
There is also a scene in which a child is seen handling a firework, although no harm comes to them and the scene is not suggesting playing with fireworks is fun or harmless.
Lagaan - Once Upon A Time In India
PG, Contains mild bad language and violence
Lagaan - Once Upon A Time In India is about the people in a small village in Victorian India, who stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers.
Dangal
PG, mild sporting violence
Dangal is a Hindi language sports drama about a former champion who trains his daughter to become a professional wrestler to compete in the Commonwealth games.
Violence
There are frequent scenes of mild sporting violence which feature characters competing in professional wrestling tournaments.
There are mild sex references when villagers give a couple advice on how to conceive a baby boy. A scene of mild innuendo shows two characters going to a back street cinema which is showing titles such as 'The Lustful Aunt'.
Very mild bad language includes infrequent uses of 'damn'.
Devdas
PG, Contains mild violence and sex references
Devdas is a Hindi language film in which, after his wealthy family prohibits him from marrying the woman he is in love with, Devdas Mukherjee's life spirals further and further out of control as he takes up alcohol and a life of vice to numb the pain.
Good Newzz
12A, moderate sex references, infrequent strong language, drug misuse
Good Newzz is a comedy in which two couples with the same surname discover that sperm samples for their IVF treatment have been mixed up.
Sex
Moderate sex references include a conversation about the best positions for conception being “Missionary, spoon and egg”. A woman lies on her back, after sex, to improve her chances of conceiving.
Language
There is infrequent strong language (‘f**k’).
Drugs
Drug misuse includes a stressed father smoking marijuana. He is verbally chastised as he does so.
Padmaavat
12, moderate violence, injury detail
Padmaavat is a Hindi language drama, based on a 16th century epic poem that is considered a work of fiction, in which a Sultan leads an invasion to capture a Rajput Queen.
Violence
There are frequent scenes of moderate violence, including slashings, stabbings and decapitations. Other moments include a man being suffocated and soldiers being shot down with arrows.
Injury detail
There is occasional injury detail during battle sequences, including some bloodied corpses shown on the battlefield.
There are several references to the historical practice of self-immolation by widows. One scene shows a large group of women walking towards a large fire, but no further detail is shown. The film includes a disclaimer stressing that it does not endorse this practice in any way.
Mild sex references include a scene in which a man tells his wife to make "unabashed love" to him. In another scene, a man lies in bed with a woman.
There is use of very mild bad language ('God').
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
12, moderate violence, sex references
Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a Hindi language drama about an Indian man who takes on the mission of returning a little girl to her parents - across the border in Pakistan.
Violence
There is some moderate violence when a character beats up some characters by throwing them through windows. There are beatings by police and soldiers as a character is struck with sticks and blows. The character has his face dunked in water and there is brief detail of his bruises and injuries.
Sex
A character walks into a brothel where there are some prostitutes in bedrooms, seen with male clients.
There is use of mild bad language (eg 'bloody', 'shit') and some mild threat when a little girl falls off a cliff and hangs on to a mountain tree.
Barfi!
Barfi! is a Hindi language drama about a Nepalese deaf-mute man who has unrequited feelings for one woman and who also begins a friendship with an autistic girl. He kidnaps the girl in order to raise some money for his own father's operation but has no ill intentions towards her.
Language
There is bleeped but identifiable uses of strong language ('f**k'). There are also unsubtitled uses of the Hindi equivalent of 'bastard'.
In one scene the main character prepares for the kidnapping by dabbing some chloroform onto a napkin and holding it over his sidekick's face. His sidekick then passes out. A policeman is later seen putting the same napkin to his face, also causing him to pass out. The scenes are filmed in a comic style and any sense of threat is unrealistic and neither prolonged nor intense.
There is a scene of mild violence in which the father of the kidnapped girl finally lashes out at the main character and hits him with a stick. The main character quickly escapes and runs away. There is no detail in the violence.
The main character is seen smoking in two scenes but the film carries strong anti-smoking warnings during the film's opening captions.
