Celluloid Romance

Celluloid Romance
Pritha Sarkar
sarkar.pritha@ yahoo.co.in


Romance, in any format, on the silver screen is probably the only universal subject that appeals to every kind of audience. From romantic comedies and ‘chick flicks’ for the young, to intense romance dramas for the mature and action love stories for the masala seekers, every demographic group has its offering. Screen romances magnetise the audience’s emotion quotient towards itself with great polarity and that’s what gives this genre of films an edge over the others. But more importantly, it is the deep connection with a human heart that keeps this genre alive with the same level of entertainment through the ages.

Bollywood has always witnessed big hits in the romantic genre. Some of them being AWARA, MUGHAL -E- AZAM, BOBBY, KABHIE KABHIE, QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK, MAINE PYAR KIYA, DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE, KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI, KAHO NAA PYAAR HAI, HUM TUM, JAB WE MET and the recent LOVE AAJ KAL and AJAB PREM KI GAJAB KAHANI.

Audiences start relating with the on screen pairs; be it Raj Kapoor- Nargis in 'PYAAR HUA IKRAAR HUA', Rishi Kapoor- Neetu Singh in 'KHULLAM KHULLA PYAAR KARENGE HUM DONO' or Ranbir Katrina in 'TERA HONE LAGA HOON', the love of all these lover boys has had the same intensity over the years. It's just the way of confessing their love that has changed over the ages.

With movies like BOBBY, LOVE STORY, QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK, MAINE PYAR KIYA, AASHIQUI, KAHO NA PYAR HAI and the recent JANE TU YA JANE NA, Bollywood created teenage heart throbs. The actors of such movies that worked usually gained overnight success and reached instant stardom like Salman Khan in MAINE PYAR KIYA.

Gone are the days when the actors and actresses used to dance around trees to express their love for each other. The present generation, however, has grown way beyond that. They usually start with one or two breakups before finding their soul mates. Earlier, the hero tried to woo the girl in any way possible. But today in movies like SOCHA NAA THAA, the couple tried to break their relationship in every way only to realise that they love each other.

So with the changing times, Bollywood has always floored the audience with different variations of love. With the e- age running our lives, heroes no longer sing 'Yeh mera prem patra padhkar...' but desperately ask, ‘What is your mobile number...’. Dilip Kumar's DEVDAS showed the actor drowning his sorrows with alcohol. Abhay Deol's DEV D took the ‘emotional atyachar’ a step further by adding drugs to the booze. Earlier, heroes used to fight the villans and cross the seven seas to win their love. Today, the hero is ready to put his sexual orientation at stake to be closer to his sweetheart.

Music is an indispensable part of Bollywood romantic movies. Nobody can forget melodies like PYAR KIYA TO DARNA KYA, KYA YEHI PYAR HAI, PHELHA NASHA, PHELHA PHELHA PYAR HAI, SASON KO SASON SE, PHELHI BAAR MOHABAT KI HAI.

These romantic movies are huge box office success. MAINE PYAR KIYA, DIL TOH PAGAL HAI, KAHO NA PYAR HAI, HUM TUM, LOVE AAJ KAL to name a few, which fall under the same category. Even today some theatre in Mumbai runs DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE. Nobody had ever thought JAB WE MEET would such big blockbuster hit.

Great on screen pairing, good locations with romantic melodies are some of the reasons why they stay evergreen till today. While JAB WE MET depicted two characters who became completely opposites as the movie ends; LOVE AAJ KAL reflected a well balanced contrast between the diehard love of the 60's and the confused present generation.

Still now young people prefer romanticising and getting inspiration from the different shades portrayed in Bollywood. No matter how many movies come and go, the spirit of love will never die in Hindi cinema. It is always said or told that love is eternal and let us hope Bollywood keeps entertaining its audiences with such romantic classics.