Waqt (1965, 3 hours, 26 minutes)
Yash Chopra's 41-year old epic took its title literally as it told the story of three brothers -- Sunil Dutt, Raj Kumar and Shashi Kapoor -- separated by an earthquake as children and brought up in entirely different circumstances. A very well-crafted film.
The length: Thanks to the director's stylised finesse, length wasn't even an issue with Waqt. While time didn't fly, the film was impressively tight enough to stay right on track. The top-notch performances certainly helped.