You know a movie's immortal when a single screen theatre in Mumbai continues to play it 16 years after its release. Spoilt brat Raj (SRK) successfully woos a reserved Simran (Kajol) to the ire of her tradition-hungry father(Amrish Puri). But love conquers all in the end. What, you were expecting differently?
This magnum opus took nine years to finish and cost more than a couple of Bollywood films at the time took to make. But behind the pomp, the glory and the highly publicized re-release in colour, is a story of love between prince Salim and court dancer Anarkali-lovers doomed to spend eternity apart from each other.
Passenger pigeons must have had it tough after this movie became a super hit. Where else had you heard of pigeons attacking rapists and being credited in a major motion film? But keeping the bird aside, the earnest performances of Salman Khan and Bhagyashree made for a super sappy and super happy romantic film.
Ah, teenage love. The stuff that bikinis, polka dots and Dimple Kapadia were made of in the 1970s. Dimple as Bobby, the poor daughter of a fisherman, dares to catch the fancy of rich boy Raj (Rishi Kapoor) to family objections. Bobby was a stupendous hit and the start of many movies with the clash of the classes as the main plot.
Hot on the heels of a break up, Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor never looked as much in love as they did onscreen in this wonderfully fresh tale of love. What kept 'Jab We Met' alive was a simple story that didn't need props like the Swiss Alps to make it work.
Aamir Khan. Juhi Chawla. What's not to love about this pair that became the nation's sweethearts after they starred in this desi take on 'Romeo and Juliet'. Apart from the lead pair, the movie's music became the hum-along tunes on the lips of all young in the late 80s.
Bollywood's showman brought his acting chops to the table with his performance as a vagabond in this epic movie. But sparks really flew when he shared onscreen time with the movie's leading lady, Nargis.
The movie may have tanked with audiences and critics alike but in retrospect, no movie has dealt with the seven spiritual stages of love as Mani Ratnam did in 'Dil Se'. We watch Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala go through attraction, infatuation, love, reverence, worship, obsession and finally death.
A story of sacrifice, betrayal and unrequited love, 'Silsila' was a powerful love story in its time when fidelity was the societal norm. But what made the movie really click was the reel life chemistry between principals Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and Jaya Bachchan (nee Bhadhuri) that kept audiences guessing about the real life drama.
By 2009, Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's work had already been immortalized in celluloid twice. What Anurag Kashyap however did, was hold up a mirror to romance in the times we live in. There was booze, there were drugs. There was drunken obsession, rejection, sex and MMS. And yes, there was a happy ending too
