Motivational Films on Real-Life Women Icons

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Bandit Queen (1994)

Seema Biswas starred in this film about Phoolan Devi, a rebel from Chambal who forced issues facing women and the Oppressed out in the open and went on to become a politician.

Elizabeth (1998)

Shekhar Kapur directed Cate Blanchett in this film about the early years of Elizabeth the First's reign and the challenges she faced at the time.

Erin Brockovich (2001)

Steven Soderbergh helmed this film about a young woman who took on a massive utilities company over an instance of groundwater contamination.

Neerja (2016)

Ram Madhvani directed this film about the heroic Neerja Bhanot, AC, the head purser on a hijacked aircraft who laid down her life to save hundreds of others.

Jackie (2016)

Natalie Portman starred in this biopic of Jacqueline Kennedy in the aftermath of her husband's assassination and how she navigated through an emotionally complex period with clarity and deftness while allowing herself to be human.

Poorna: Courage Has No Limit (2017)

Rahul Bose directed this film about Poorna, a Dalit teenager from the interiors of Andhra Pradesh who became the youngest Indian to scale Everest.

Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020)

Sharan Sharma directed this film about a young woman who refused to let gender bias get in the way of her aspiration to Touch the Sky with Glory, and went on to fly sorties in the Kargil War.

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