What are the best drama movies on Disney+ Hotstar? The 26 titles below are a mix of one-act plays, comedies, and period dramas. It stars Shabana Azmi, Mohanlal, Richa Chadda, Vicky Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi, Mammootty, Robin Williams, Ralph Fiennes, Julie Andrews, Drew Barrymore, Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Forest Whitaker, James McVoyker. Mark Ruffalo, Lupita Nyong’o, Laura Dern, Elizabeth Debicki, Claire Danes and Willem Dafoe. And they come from directors Neeraj Ghaiwan, Dibakar Banerjee, Mira Nair, Shyam Benegal, Anwar Rasheed, Theodore Melfi, Kevin McDonald, Ryan Murphy, Wes Anderson and Steven Spielberg. A “⭐” marks an Editors’ Choice.
You can find more drama movies in our list of best movies on Disney+ Hotstar. If you’re looking for more movies on Disney+ Hotstar, we’ve also made recommendations for a few select other genres that you should check out. We have similar articles for the best drama movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
In writer-director Shyam Benegal’s feature-length directorial debut, a child-desiring Dalit woman (Shabana Azmi) marries a deaf-mute alcoholic potter, is seduced by the village landlord’s son (Anant Nag), leading to personal and social problems. Free to watch.
In 1959, an unconventional English teacher (Robin Williams) at an elite conservative boarding school inspires his students (among them Ethan Hawke) with free-thinking about both poetry and life. Helped popularize the Latin phrase “carpe diem,” meaning seize the day.
In this Kannada language film, an Alzheimer’s-stricken widower (Anant Nag) goes missing from an old-age home, the son who boosted his career prompts him to pause, as he learns about his father’s past while trying to find him. Free to watch.
Between World Wars I and II, a concierge (Ralph Fiennes) at a famous European hotel befriends a lobby boy to prove his innocence after being convicted of murder. Directed by Wes Anderson.
The life of socialite and fashion model Edith Bowier Beale (Drew Barrymore) and her mother (Jessica Lange) — cousin and aunt of future US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy — from her 1936 debut to the filming of the 1975 documentary. Won six Emmys, including one for Lange.
A young black woman living in a poor neighborhood but attending a prestigious school finds her world shattered after witnessing the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend by a police officer.
The true-life story of a team of gifted and talented female African-American mathematicians (Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae) at NASA who played a pivotal role in the early days of the Space Race while dealing with sexism and racism from their colleagues.
Two boys from the slums of Chennai do anything to get their hands on a slice of pizza after falling in love with a television commercial in this Tamil-language comedy-drama. Newcomer M. Written, directed and filmed by Manikandan. Free to watch.
Centered on the slums of the Indian city of Kochi, the Malayalam-language film explores how urbanization and the real estate mafia have exacerbated the problems facing the Dalit community from the 80s to the present day. Free to watch.
After a powerful property dealer (Boman Irani) holds the newly purchased property of a middle-class, middle-aged man (Anupam Kher) to ransom, his son and his son’s friends conspire to outwit the fraudster and pay him back on their own. Paisa Dibakar Banerjee’s directorial debut.
In this Malayalam language drama, an honest policeman’s son (Mohanlal) finds himself on a slippery slope after rescuing his father (Thilakan) from a local gang. Directed by Sibi Malayil. Free to watch.
Based on Giles Foden’s novel of the same name, a fictional young Scottish doctor (James McAvoy) becomes a personal physician to depict life under brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whittaker) in the 1970s.
In his directorial debut, Neeraj Ghaiwan ventures into India’s central region to explore the lives of four people, all of whom must battle issues of caste, culture and norms. Winner of the National Award and FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes. Free to watch.
The National Award-winning film follows a boy who is forced to leave his job behind to accompany his elderly father to the ghats of Varanasi, where the latter hopes for salvation.
Mark Ruffalo plays an openly gay New York writer who is drawn into the frightening early days of the HIV-AIDS crisis in the early eighties and whose fearless activism is met with shock from those close to him.
Spanning several decades from the sixties to the present day, a man (Mammootty) illegally migrates to Dubai for a better life but vows to one day return to his Kerala home. Noted for leading performance. Free to watch.
A true story of a slum-dwelling Ugandan girl who learns to play chess and wins the World Chess Olympiad. Lupita Nyong’o stars and Mira Nair directs.
Wes Anderson draws on the works of JD Salinger, Orson Welles and Louis Malley for this absurdist tale of three talented siblings (Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow) who unexpectedly reunite two decades after their father fakes a terminal illness to win. On his wife and adult children.
A young aspiring nun (Julie Andrews) from an Austrian convent is sent to governess the home of a naval officer widower and wins the hearts of seven motherless children and their father.
The Captain Marvel The director made his directorial debut with this tale of a 19-year-old Dominican who immigrates to the United States of America to play minor league baseball and support his impoverished family back home but struggles with language and cultural barriers.
A documentary filmmaker (Laura Dern) begins to question her pre-teen relationships with two adults – her riding instructor (Elizabeth Debicki) and running coach (Jason Ritter) – after an essay she wrote at the time comes across.
An eponymous autistic girl (Claire Danes) rises above the medical restrictions imposed on her and improves the world of ranching through her humane innovations in this biopic.
A newlywed interracial couple prepares to start a new life away from their families, but things take a turn for the worse when a thief steals one of their most valuable possessions: a gold chain. Maheshinte Prathikaram’s second Malayalam feature from director Dileesh Pothan. Free to watch.
Based on a true story from 1925, the titular Siberian Husky dog is the star of the heartwarming drama as he helps deliver an antitoxin serum to his musher-owner Leonhard Sepla (Willem Dafoe), despite being considered small and weak. A thousand kilometers of harsh winter. Disney+ Original.
Winner of three National Awards, this Malayalam-language drama looks at class, privilege and food through the story of a chef from a wealthy family who returns to his hometown to work with his grandfather after being disowned by his father. Free to watch.
Steven Spielberg directs this second live-action adaptation of the 1957 stage musical — previously made into an award-winning 1961 film — about two young men from different neighborhoods who fall in love, but the rivalry between their respective teenage street gangs gets in the way.
