Dinesh Kamath's column 'Love stories of Bollywood' that was published in Newsband

Love stories of Bollywood

By Dinesh Kamath

Before Valentine’s Day 2019: the day of love, Bollywood and TV had come up with fantastic romantic stories. There was a great variety of films and series that told stories of love in Bollywood like we had never seen before. The filmmakers depicted in their works anything from love shared by two women in secret to that shared by an elderly couple, films and television embraced the most sincere stories with open arms, as did the audience. They proved that love comes in more forms than one. They proved that love can be something very easy to understand or very puzzling.

Badhaai Ho

It was the love story of a middle-aged couple made by Amit Sharma. Badhaai Ho was a comedy starring Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao as the aging couple with active sex life, albeit behind close doors. But she gets pregnant, much to the embarrassment of her sons and mother-in-law. Then the movie shows many hilarious moments. The film preaches that our parents too need intimacy in their lives. Who said that old couple get bored of each others’ bodies.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

This movie gives rare portrayals of same-sex love. After the decriminalisation of homosexuality by the Supreme Court in 2018, Bollywood delivers an ode to a love that filmmakers have so far shied away from. In the film, Sonam plays a Punjabi girl whose family is looking for a suitable groom for her. However, she cannot say yes to any of the men as she always dreamt of a bride for herself. While her family is not ready to accept her truth, a friend gives her the support she has always needed. The movie talks about the challenges that LGBTQ community faces in the Indian society, It was a bold film. This film will encourage other filmmakers to tell love stories of more same-sex couples.

Manmarziyaan

A modern day love story with the girl caught between matters of heart and mind that is close to reality. Vicky Kaushal loves Taapsee Pannu but is not ready to commit. Can love blossom between the two? After waiting for Vicky for a long time, Taapsee’s character is eventually forced to take practical decisions. The film narrates a complex love story with the husband coming to terms with his wife’s infidelity.

Sui Dhaaga

In Sui Dhaaga, Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan’s characters are not just a married couple in a traditional, small town set-up but also friends and partners for life. They are with each other through thick and thin. These is a couple who work together to make ends meet and find happiness and security in each other.

Raazi

In this movie, Meghna Gulzar showed us the personal costs of war and how ultimately, no one is the winner. The movie showed that there are good people on both sides of the border.  In Raazi, Sehmat is snooping on the Pakistani family she is wedded in. The young girl has to make sure there are no mistakes. But when a man says all the right things, shows her kindness like she had never expected, she cannot help but give her heart to him. But her duty for the country comes first.

Sacred Games

In Netflix’s first Indian original, Ganesh Gaitonde is a man who portrays the dark side. He kills, butchers, destroys anything and everything that doesn’t let him feel like a god. One day Kuku and her magic enter his life. He finds had craved that love all his life. But she is a transgender. Sacred Games showed us that beautiful love can exist in any relationship. The movie talks about the trans community.

October

Dan (Varun Dhawan) and Shiuli (Banita Sandhu) never exchange a word or gesture of love -- their story begins where most romances end. They are just colleagues till Shiuli ends up in coma, her last words about Dan. He helps her recover from the coma.

Mukkabaaz

Mukkabaaz shows gau rakshaks lynching a group of men and ends with a bare knuckle beat down. It’s mainly love story about a mute girl and a low-caste boxer, two people who have no business being together but are pulled towards each other by love and movie magic. Rest of the movie is about the relationship between Shravan and Sunaina.

Love Per Square Foot

Love Per Square Foot stars Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar as two young people in Mumbai, looking for their perfect home. They decide to get married--without love--to be able to afford an apartment together. But at last, the two do eventually fall in love.