AWARA (1951) Director-star Raj Kapoor was just 26 when he filmed this tale of sons disowned and justice betrayed. The politics made Awara a hit in the U.S.S.R. So did a sexy beach scene with Kapoor and his co-star, and lover, Nargis

MOTHER INDIA (1957) Chic, sultry Nargis went prole, brilliantly, as a peasant mother defending her land and family in Mehboob Khan's blockbuster. It's a left-wing Gone With the Wind but grittier and more volcanic. Better songs, too

PYAASA (1957) Guru Dutt was Indian film's doomed romantic poet. He plays one here, with gorgeous Waheeda Rehman as his muse-whore, in a movie unmatched for dark tenderness

GUIDE (1965) A tour guide (Dev Anand) has an affair with a married woman (Rehman); later he is mistaken for a holy man and, miraculously, becomes one. Anand's brother Vijay directed this daring tale of worldly passion and spiritual transcendence

ANKUR (1973) Shyam Benegal launched New Indian Cinema with his deft story of a man's love for his maid. Rehman turned down the role; Shabana Azmi got it (her debut film), and a great star was born

SHOLAY (1975) Pairing Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra was nearly an excess of testosteronic star quality. There's a complex revenge plot and lots of nifty action scenes in Ramesh Sippy's curry western, but its heart lies with the two outlaw heroes. Maybe the burliest male love story ever made

BOMBAY (1995) Tamil director Mani Rathnam and composer A.R. Rahman had an India-wide hit with this political parable of a Hindu man and his Muslim bride in the 1993 Bombay riots. By turns sweet and furious, this is superb melodrama

DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE (1995) Producer Yash Chopra and his director son Aditya, 24, gave India's diaspora its own Romeo and Juliet. Blithe and buoyant, it helped Shahrukh Khan move from thug-loser roles to amiable superstardom

DEVDAS (2002) This oft-filmed story of rich boy (Khan) leaving rich girl (Aishwarya Rai) for loving whore (Madhuri Dixit) and a life of glamorous misery is one Bollywood megamovie that never chokes on its own opulence

CENTURY DHAMAKA (2002) Yes, they sing and dance in Indian movies. Isn't it wonderful? To put a lot of music in your life, get this DVD collection of 100 production numbers, from Guru Dutt's sublime Baazi (1951) to Khan's goofy Baadshah (1999). Eight hours of film bliss