Love on Indian celluloid

This list of on-screen love stories is an effort to maintain a fine balance of the film’s time line, its popularity, the novelty and uniqueness, or the euphoria it generated. 

Let’s start at the very beginning with Devadas in 1935 in Bengali.

1.  Devdas – Unrealized love: This is a poignant tale of love between Devdas and his childhood sweetheart, Paro. A Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s novel by the same name, Devdas has the crowning glory of having been into film 15 times, in 7 Indian languages! It set a standard for later films to live up to.

Devdas, a weak young man, succumbs to patriarchal pressure, and is forced to forgo his love for Paro. He becomes a brooding alcoholic and suffers a sad death. The characters are so etched in the Indian minds that even today, a bearded brooding male is likened to Devdas, and a yearning lover to Paro. Theirs is a story of unrealized love with a tragic end.

2.  Madhumati – A tragic love,  re-incarnation and an avenging spirit:  A newly posted young, educated clerk, Anand, falls in love with a local mountain girl, Madhumati. Their love is harshly interrupted by the villain, a local zamindar, ending in Madhumati’s tragic death. However, it doesn’t end here. The spirit of Madhumati avenges her death and her unfulfilled love, with a shocking finale.

Even in black and white, the pure Himalayan hills are beautifully captured. The misty landscape is painted with the foot tapping song, “Suhana safar aur yeh mausam haseen.” The haunting voice of Madhumati calling out to her love, “Ajaa re, main tho kab se khadi is par…”, can still be heard.

3.  Pakeezah – Forbidden love:  Indian literature and movies have shown great fascination with stories of forbidden love, particularly between a courtesan and a ‘socially acceptable’ man. Pakeezah takes the trophy in this category. This film is so embedded in public memory that Pakeezah and Meena Kumari merged into inseparable identities.

Meena Kumari plays the mother-daughter dual role - Nargis and Sahibjaan. Nargis, a courtesan, runs away with her lover in hopes of leading a respectable life. Unfortunately, Nargis’ dream ends in a tragedy. Her new born daughter is taken away, back into the dark world of kothas and becomes a tawaif (courtesan). She becomes Sahibjaan, whose destiny crosses with Salim. History repeats itself and Sahibjaan’s life goes through emotional and social roller coasters before Salim’s doli (palanquin) arrives at her kotha.

Pakeezah took more than a decade and a half in the making. The team of Pakeezah faced severe setbacks with many behind -the -scenes stalwarts' passing away. During that time, technology changed from cinemascope to Eastman technicolor. It was a fitting tribute to Meena Kumari, who re-emerged from her illness and finished the shooting, saw the magnum opus hit the screen and the craze it generated, and died a month later.

‘Inhi logon ne le liya dupatta mera…’, ‘Chalthe chalte…’, ‘Mausam hai aashiqana…’ are the glittering gems from this movie.

4.  Aradhana – Cherished love:   Aradhana is the story of devotion of two lovers, Arun and Vandana, and their eternal love. Arun, an Indian Air Force pilot, dies in a plane crash and Vandana is forced to raise their son as a single, unwed mother. She braves through several turbulences and hardships life throws at her. Her son lives as a memory of Arun and Vandana’s love. Who has forgotten the melodies, “Mere sapnon ki rani kab aayegi thu..” or “ Roop thera masthana…” ? 

To say that Aradhana created a storm at the box office is an understatment.

 Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore played the central characters. There is no form of love theme that Rajesh Khanna has not emoted on screen. He was India’s first superstar with 17 consecutive hits…. a record unbeaten till today.

5.  Sangam – Love, Friendship and Sacrifice:  A friendship of three, love between only two, ending in the sacrifice of one! A story of childhood love, marriage, separation, and sacrifice. And above all, the agonizing and complex choices the woman is forced to make, between friendship and love. Sundar, Radha, and Gopal are the three rivers, with Gopal making the sacrifice.

A three-hour magnum opus directed and acted by Raj Kapoor, Sangam has a special place in the history of Indian cinema - the first technicolor movie, shot exclusively abroad in London, Paris, and Switzerland, and released in several European countries. The melodious music and songs of Sangam have mesmerized music lovers 50 years then and now…’Har dil jo pyaar karega, woh gaana gaayega’, ‘Yeh mera prem patr padkar..’, ‘ Dost dost na raha…’ are the most memorable tracks.

6.  Bobby – Young love and differing faiths:  Bobby is a super duper hit love story that revolves around an 18-year-old rich Hindu boy and a 16-year-old poor Christian girl, Bobby. Their love is put to test from the opposing families. Does their love succeed? 

This movie hit the high note among the teenagers of the 70’s with the story, music, and the lead actors, especially Dimple Kapadia, who became the heartthrob of the country. It was Rishi Kapoor’s and Dimple Kapadia’s first film. It was a trend setter for rich-poor, differing faiths formula that featured in numerous films that followed. Bobby remains a cult film.

The songs are the soul of the film, with ‘Main shayar tho nahin..’, ‘ Na mangun sona chandi…., ‘ Hum tum ek kamre mein band ho…’ topping the charts for decades.

At a time when Hindi film industry focused on mainstream form of story-telling, parallel art films were making a small, yet significant mark, on screen and also in the minds of film-goers. Films of brilliant actors like Amol Palekar, Farooq Sheikh, and Nasseruddin Shah need special mention.

7.  Gharaonda – Love nest; a plan gone awry:  At a time when box office was about big names, established actors and grand love, came a movie called Gharaonda.  Set against the backdrop of an urban Bombay of the late 70’s, struggling middle-class, and a dream of building a house nest, Gharaonda tells the tale of two lovers, Sudip and Chaaya. When their love nest is demolished by a builders scam, they get separated as part of a plan. But ethical dilemmas keep them apart.

A theater artist, Amol Palekar, and Zarina Wahab carried this heavy themed film with their stupendous acting skills. The song, “Do deewane shaher mein…” captures the essence of the movie.

Amol Palekar’s Golmaal, Chitchor, Rajnigandhi, Choti Si Baath are absolutely delightful films that are reminiscent of middle-class life in Mumbai…and romance in the midst of it all.

8.  Chashme Baddoor – Simple love:   Sai Paranjpe’s wonderful film, Chashme Baddoor is a simple, breezy love story from the rom-com genre, set against the back drop of Delhi. Everything about this movie exudes nostalgia and endears the viewers to the characters of the film. Every nuance and detail are superbly captured on lens.  

It’s an evergreen, ever fresh story that transports you into another time. Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval’s acting feels real and relatable. Siddharth and Neha fall in love after a few comic and endearing encounters. Their friends play truant and the lovers get separated. A comic finale is enacted by the friends to right their wrong.

‘Kahan se aaye badra..’ is a gem of a song.

Farooq and Dipti Naval’s, Saath Saath is another great film given by this pair.

9.  Ijaazat – Love gives permission:  A movie by Gulzar and based on a Bengali story, Ijaazat stars Nasseruddin Shah, Rekha and Anuradha Patel in the lead roles. The movie narration happens in the waiting room of a railway station, where Mahendra and Sudha, now divorced couple, meet unexpectedly.

Their past unfolds revealing layers of situations and complex emotions between the couple, caused by Mahendra’s unsettled issues with Maya - the unstable and intense ex-girlfriend of Mahendra. The story of their relationship leading up to their separation, is sensitively handled. The movie ends with Sudha’s formal parting from Mahendra.

Naseeruddin Shah’s Mahendra, sandwiched between being an honest husband and a caring lover, is on point. Asha Bhosle’s, ‘Mera kuch samaan..’ was the breakup song of those times.

10.  Ek Duje Ke Liye– Doomed love:   Originally made in Telugu as 'Marocharitra',  Ek Duje Ke Liye remains etched in memories of doomed love. Their honest and true love conquers all barriers of language and region, but their victory is not entirely a happy ending. This movie caught the pulse of the youth, who were desperate to break the shackles of society, for love. The song, “Tere mere beech mein…”  became an anthem across the country.

11.  Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak – Love and Doomsday:   A true Romeo-Juliet take off, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT) was a stupendous hit, in the later part of the 80’s. Raj and Rashmi, are the young couple, who fall in love knowing that their families have deep hostilities. They hope that their love will cause them to patch up.

The young, naïve, and innocent lead pair became an overnight brand for ‘destined to love and die.’  This movie showed romance as a soft petaled flower, fragrant and bright. Even the middle age generation were touched and moved by this love story. “Papa kehtein hai…, Ay mere humsafar” …. hit songs of that decade.

Enter the 1990’s:  If there is any actor in Indian cinema till date who played all themes of love, it is Shah Rukh Khan. His palette of romantic colors paints a broad, colorful landscape on the movie canvas, matched only by, perhaps, Rajesh Khanna. He’s been a lover boy of every possible type: cheery, breezy, spooky, psycho, matured, gangster, mischievous, gawky, and charming. We could cover an entire Valentine’s Day month just talking about SRK’s romantic films. A look at his famous ‘negative’ lover movies.

12.  Baazigar – Love and vengeance:  A cold-blooded, merciless lover, and a spiteful fiancé, is the hero of this love story. It was the first time in Indian cinema that an anti-hero garnered all the attention, and the songs too. A young man with a vendetta against a business tycoon pretends to love his first daughter and kills her. The second time around, the pretense turns to true love for him. What happens to him and his fiancé? Does the risk pay off?

Incidentally, it was a risk for everyone involved with the film, and it paid off well at the box office. It catapulted Shah Rukh Khan to new heights, and kept him there for decades to follow.

13.  Darr – Scary, stalking love:  Another of Shah Rukh Khan’s anti-hero movie close on the heels of Baazigar. In Darr he plays a stalking lover, Rahul. He is the obsessive lover, and his love interest Kiran is unaware of his intentions. Her love for a  navy officer, Sunil, doesn’t go well with Rahul.

Rahul becomes destructive and resorts to murder…all in the name of love. Somewhere towards the end, the director puts a sympathetic spin to the character of Rahul. But fear is fear….and stalking is, well, not cute.

The movie was a blockbuster hit. SRK was bang on in his acting and Juhi Chawla as the scared and terrified Kiran was spot on! The songs were chartbusters…’Jaadu teri nazar..’, ‘Tu mere saamne…..’

14.  Veer Zaara – Love knows no enmity:  A moving love story of an Indian man, Squadron Leader Veer Pratap (SRK), and a Pakistani woman, Zaara (Preity Zinta).

Love of Veer-Zaara crosses man-made boundaries of culture, religion and enmity of the nations. The film is narrated as a flashback in a Pakistani jail cell, to a human rights lawyer Saamiya. Sammiya talks to Veer, who is imprisoned in jail for 22 years. She takes on the mission of finding Zaara and uniting her with Veer. Or can she?

The movie tells the saga of love, separation, and courage. This movie was an inspiration and remains a legend. The song, ‘Aisa des hai mera..’ reminds us that patriotism is universal.

15.  Hum Aapke Hai Koun – Love, Love and more Love:   This movie was long branded as a textbook and manual for weddings, human relations, and ideal romance. People watched this movie to plan their bridal events. HAHK is a simple story of Prem and Nisha. When Nisha’s sister dies, she is forced to give up her love for a higher good. This movie is a showcasing of pure love – not just between the lead pair, but between the in-laws, the master and servant, man and dog. Just about anyone in the story is radiating love.

HAHK remains an iconic film that broke many records of that decade!  Madhuri Dixit’s costume, her paycheck, Lata’s 14 songs, and the time it took to script it…. all were major talking points in those days. It was the highest grossing film of all time. Despite inhibitions about the length and the traditional concept, this Bharjatya banner movie changed the fate of everyone…for life!

16.  Roja – Love after marriage:  A first pan India film by ace movie maker Mani Ratnam. The movie introduced two new comers Madhoo, who plays the titular role of Roja, and Arvind Swamy as Rishi. Roja, a simple village girl is reluctantly married off to a sophisticated city tech guy (a cryptographer), Rishi.

Love blossoms, after the unexpected marriage, between Roja and Rishi. Just when the going is good for the newly married, Rishi is kidnapped by terrorists in Kashmir and a desperate Roja moves heaven and earth to bring back her husband.

This movie gave us a sensational music director – A R Rahman and catapulted Mani Ratnam’s reputation as a film maker to another level. With spellbinding visuals, terrific acting, brilliant camerawork, Roja inspired many aspiring film makers.

Every song is a chartbuster. Although the original was made in Tamil, the dubbed versions performed just as well at the box office.

17.  Cheeni Kum- A taste of matured love:  Any talk of movies without mentioning Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan is unthinkable; And Tabu, one of the finest actresses of Indian cinema. When the two come together in a unique love story, it has to be talked about. Ad-man R Balki’s debut feature film, Chenni Kum, narrates a simple love story told in a unique rom-com fashion.

A pompous, egoistic 64-year-old chef falls for an independent, feisty woman, 30 years younger to him. Buddha is a chef in London and Nina is visitor from India. A few sharp encounters between them, and they fall in love. This dish is totally unpalatable to Nina’s father, brilliantly played by Paresh Rawal. It was an unusual love story of that time.

When ad film makers make full length feature films, there is something very glossy and classy about the presentation. From the get go, the story gets straight to the point. Title song ‘Cheeni Kum’, and ‘Janne Do Na’ have a soft smooth appeal.

18.  Dil Chahtha Hai – Friends and Urban Love:   A coming of age movie of that came at the turn of the century, in 2001. It broke stereotypes and records regarding the story, music, production values, and stunning foreign locales. Saif Ali Khan, got a new lease of life and has never looked back since Dil Chahtha Hai. He got to perform one unique role after another. The comic timing between the friends set a trend in humor. Amir Khan, Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan walked away with many accolades for their parts.

The musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composed some terrific songs like ‘Dil Chahtha Hai..’, ‘Kaisi Hai Yeh Ruth….’, ‘ Woh Ladki Hain Kahan…’

19.  Jab We Met – Love the idea of love:   I mention this movie because, the female lead played by Kareena Kapoor, stole our hearts with her portrayal of Geet. Geet is a simple girl, in love with the idea of love. Nothing else matters to her but to meet her lover and move on in life…sharing love, living love.

Shahid Kapoor plays Aditya, a brooding wealthy businessman, meets Geet, a spunky and carefree young woman on an unexpected journey. She invites Aditya into world of love, which changes him forever. But what happens to Geet and her world of love after the journey?

The lilting melody of ‘Tum Se Hi’ and the dance floor numbers, ‘Mauja hi mauja’ and ‘Nagada nagada’ are still hugely popular.

20.  Kuch Kuch Hotha Hai – Love lost and found:  A film that, besides being a blockbuster, brought back teen romance and true love, in a sort of a juvenile way. Rahul and Anjali are best friends in school. Enter Tina, a matured and classy new girl, for whom Rahul falls in love…hook, line and sinker. Rahul marries Tina and Anjali leaves their lives for good. Few blissful years later, Tina dies in childbirth. Some cinematic unbelievable twists and turns later, Rahul reunites with Anjali and all ends well.

SRK and Kajol immortalized the pair of Rahul and Anjali…. almost as popular as the legendary pairs like Heer-Ranjha, Laila-Majnu. Except that Rahul and Anjali have a happy reunion.

Shah Rukh Khan, known for his winning charm and handsome personality, would have been the only Bollywood actor who could make any love story work, no matter how silly and dotty it may have been. Kajol completed the chemistry and together they formed a hit jodi.

All the songs of KKHH are a harmony of sweetness, melody and rhythm. ‘Tum paas aaye…’, ‘ Ladki badi anjaani hai…’. The hugely popular doleful farewell song, ‘Tujhe yaad na meri aaye…’

These twenty romantic films cover a good 50 years of Indian Hindi cinema, and are my personal favorites. The next 50 years defined another era of storytelling and portrayal of love in new forms, and with new meanings. That is for another time.

I am extremely apologetic for not mentioning films from South Indian film industry. Being a South Indian myself, I cannot stress enough the glorious and rich stories from the regions of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra/Telangana and Kerala. With gifted artists and outstanding performers, these stories have been immortalized on screen. And those movies have gained their rightful place in the annals of Indian cinema.