The world of Bollywood is brimming with different stories and subgenres, and so it’s never short on varied themes, settings and scenarios.
In fact you’ll often encounter a whole lot of variety within the span of a single Bollywood movie, which means there’s never a dull moment.
Casinos and gambling have featured in various releases over the years, so if you’re a fan of betting or just a lover of Bollywood in general, why not check out some or all of the following flicks?
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Thursday 16 Jan. 2025
Teen Patti (2010)
A relatively recent release, yet one which has managed to gain an important status in the history of Hindi-language cinema, Teen Patti is named after a famous card game and tells a thrilling, critically acclaimed tale of a professor of probability who works out a way to beat the odds and win big.
With an all-star cast that includes Amitabh Bachchan and Sir Ben Kingsley, Teen Patti is significant not only for its entertainment value and cross-border appeal, but also because of the role it had in making gambling a more acceptable mainstream pursuit in India. And of course you don’t need to visit land-based casinos to experience gambling action if this movie inspires you, as you can try out the best new Amatic casino sites from your smartphone at home instead.
Jannat: In Search of Heaven (2008)
In this well loved romantic drama, the lynchpin of the plot is the journey of a young hustler and gambler as he attempts to rise above his humble beginnings and win the affections of the woman he loves.
Starring Emraan Hashmi and Sonal Chauhan, Jannat is not just about romance, but also about various games of chance, and how our protagonist manages to take risks and win big, as well as encountering some speed bumps along the way to wealth and happiness.
It also touches on some more controversial topics, like match fixing in cricket, which is relevant in the sense that it turns a lens on the seedier side of professional sports and the underground gambling industry. If anything, this makes it easier to argue for legal, regulated gambling because the alternative is so problematic and unsportsmanlike.
The Great Gambler (1979)
Back when this film originally hit cinemas, it was notable for the sheer scale of the production, and the comparatively sizable budget that went along with it. And while it may have been eclipsed in terms of cost by many Bollywood hits in the decades since then, it still holds some historical interest for this fact alone.
Even if you aren’t interested in the business side of movie-making, The Great Gambler is an enjoyable romp, with a globe-trotting plot that takes in locations in Europe and Africa as we follow the hero Jai, played by Amitabh Bachchan. He’s a gambler who’s never lost, and yet when he gets mixed up with an underworld plot, things begin to go sideways, and an intricate spy thriller unravels.
Gambler (1971)
There’s no confusion about what this movie is about thanks to its on-the-nose title. Once again, the story focuses on a gambling man, and in this case the protagonist is a policeman who starts off trying to stop gambling rings, but eventually falls into the world of professional gambling himself.
There’s a decent amount of moral ambiguity here, because while we see that gambling can reward those who are skilled and lucky enough, it also factors in the downsides of dedicating yourself to games of chance, and the murky characters that used to define it in bygone decades, before squeaky clean online gaming became widespread.
