like this? or any film at all that has some reality-based history and an underlying political or cultural theme? but i want a well-made one... not just some crappy movie that has the same theme... i really loved this movie even though some bits were cheesy.
and oh, don't bother recommending "The Namesake"... i saw it and did NOT like it one bit.
Son't know what you mean by 'cultural indepandent movie', but you might like to see a movie called "Silent Waters" starring Khirron Kher.
Jodhar Akbar starring Hrith Roshan and Aishwarya Rai.
Wondered about your opinion of The Namesake, why did you dislike it so. As a first genration foreigner, I found it quite intriguing...Are you an NRI?
Water(2005) - (Hindi) (English Dubbed Version or English Subtitles)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240200/
Jodhaa Akbar (2008) (Urdu/Hindi) (English Subtitles Only)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449994/
Devdas (2002) (Hindi) (Do not get the English dubbed version, it is awful! Use English subtitles!!)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238936/
These films are quite heavy, but visually enriching, especially the latter two. The first is a critique of hindu society concerning widowed women.
Dor (2006) (Hindi/German Dubbed) (English Subtitles)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0824316/
Always buy from official sites such as play.com amazon.com etc. Beware of pirates as whilst being theives they also reward you with awful subtitles, bad picture quality and a fake dubbed version. If you live in the UK Channel 4 does a Bollywood film season around September each year. They do the best subtitles! The only problem is you would have to record the movie or stay up late as they usually are on once or twice a week at about 1AM!
Good luck. Happy viewing. =D
The Indian movies mentioned above are all quite good. Since the OP asked for reality-based historical movies with cultural / political themes, without specifying a country; I recommend the following films...
(Persian)
Border Cafe: An independently-minded Iranian widow and mother flouts tradition by re-opening her late husband's Europe/Asia border café.
Persepolis: Animated, but incredibly potent story set in the period of the Iranian revolution. That follows Marjane as she experiences the oppressions and abuse of power during this period, her flight and adjustment to a new life in France, and her return to Iran as a young woman. It's both gut wrenching and hilarious...brilliant film.
(Israel/Palestine/Syria):
Paradise Now: Palestine - 2 young recruited suicide bombers - brilliant.
Free Zone: Strange road trip involving an American, Palestinian, and Israeli woman seeking a fortune in the Free Zone.
The Lemon Tree: A Palestinian widow (Hiam Abbass) fights to keep her lemon grove from being uprooted when Israeli security forces declare it a threat to the Israeli defense minister living next door.
Asphalt Zahov: Three powerful stories of women's experiences, set among the Bedouin of Jahalin in the hills of the Judean desert. Hard to find and rather amateur, but very very real and powerful.
(Germany):
The Lives of Others: Amazing movie. Set in the 1980's Berlin, this film provides an exquisitely nuanced portrait of life under the watchful eye of the state police. When a successful playwright and his actress companion become subjects of the Stasi's secret surveillance program, their friends, family -- and even those doing the watching -- find their lives forever changed.
The Ninth Day: During World War II, a Catholic Priest is released from the infamous Dachau concentration camp and sent home to Luxembourg. But it's not a reprieve. He soon learns that he has nine days to convince the Bishop of Luxembourg to work with the Nazi occupiers ... or he'll be transferred to a death camp in the East
Downfall: Hitler's last days in the bunker. Brilliantly done.
Before the Fall: A naive young boxer from a small German village, is recruited by the Nazis to come train in one of their Napolas. A coming of age film that addresses the ethical dilemma's facing 'Hitler's Youth'.
Good Bye Lenin: Alex's (Daniel Brühl) mother (Katrin Sass) falls into a coma just as the Berlin Wall is about to come down. But when she wakes up eight months later, her heart is too weak to withstand shock -- so Alex goes to great lengths to keep the truth about her country's reform a secret.
Fuhrer-ex: Set in East Berlin in the 80's, this film shows the evolution of an average teenage kid who eventually becomes a Neo-Nazi leader.
(Germany/Africa):
Nowhere in Africa: A wealthy Jewish couple flees to the Bush of Africa to escape the Holocaust. Based on a true story.
(Africa):
Tsotsi: Six days in the violent life of a young Johannesburg gang leader who inadvertently acquires a baby in the commission of a crime.
(France/Chile):
Blame it on Fidel: a privileged young Parisian girl whose orderly, structured life is thrown into turmoil when her parents are drawn into Paris's turbulent and radical 1970s political scene. Unique, cute, and interesting.
Die Fälschung: Acclaimed filmmaker Volker Schlondorff meditates on the evils of war in this drama about a German journalist, who trades the slow death of his marriage for the incessant assault of chaotic Beirut.
(Romania):
Children Underground: A documentary about a group of homeless children living in a Romanian subway station. Most of these children have parents with homes, yet they choose or are pressured into choosing, to live in the subway station. Powerfully done, I find myself thinking about the children and, even more, about the parents.
(India):
Born into Brothels: a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in Calcutta's red-light district, where their mothers work as prostitutes. The children are given cameras. As they begin to look at and record their world through new eyes, the kids awaken to their own talents and sense of worth.