Favorite romantic films of Bolly stars

Favourite romantic films of Bollywood stars
By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

Here's a look at the all time favourite romantic flicks of Bollywood's dream merchants and stars who have almost always explored various aspects of love in their films:

Amitabh Bachchan: My favourite romantic film is Guru Dutt's "Kaagaz Ke Phool" for no particular reason.

Hrithik Roshan: Nick Cassavetes' "The Notebook" is my all time favourite romantic film, though not as good as the book. Then there's "Titanic" - the best romantic film ever made.

My favourites in Hindi films are Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Devdas" and "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", Sooraj Barjatya's "Maine Pyar Kiya", Karan Johar's "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" and my own "Koi...Mil Gaya". It was the cutest one and had these really sweet moments between a mentally challenged boy and a city girl.

Rani Mukerji: I love "Titanic" because the love in the movie was pure, real, passionate and unconditional. The way the love story culminated in catastrophe was phenomenal... I love "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (DDLJ) and "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" for being so pure and yet so believable for us youngsters.

I love "Black" for being such a sublime love story between a teacher and his student. "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" - I was in school when I fell in love with the Aamir (Khan)-Juhi (Chawla) pair. It was my first experience of first-love on screen.

Farah Khan: My favourite romantic films are "Bobby", "Love Story" and "Ek Duuje Ke Liye" - great music, unusual settings and watchable even today. And in all three the lead pair was new. They shared a great chemistry.

Ashutosh Gowariker: Ah... "Bobby" for its endearing characters, especially the two fathers played by Premnath and Pran, the high romance quotient between Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, superb cameos by Durga Khote and Prem Chopra. Perfect representation of the rich-poor divide, and a narrative that holds together even today, "Bobby" is a major classic for me.

Konkona Sensharma: "Happy Together", "Too Young To Die", "Jules Et Jim" and "Smiles Of A Summer Night"... There must be many more.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra: Truly romantic films? Bimal Roy's "Devdas", "Casablanca", "The English Patient", "Guide", "Ek Duuje Ke Liye", "Mughal-e-Azam", Kidar Sharma's "Jogan" and in some ways "Pyaasa".

Rituparno Ghosh: "Teesri Kasam" because it showed a romance between two people who are oblivious to their feelings for one another; "Guide" - it reflected director Vijay Anand's maturity in dealing with the man-woman relationship; "Charulata" - Satyajit Ray's most acutely romantic film; "Kaagaz Ke Phool" - Guru Dutt on why he died 'pyaasa'; "Pakeezah" - the fallen woman's search for true love; "Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi" - it opened up wounds that even love wouldn't heal; and "Roman Holiday" - Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck were like Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman in "Guide" without the songs.

Nikhil Advani: "Guide" - truly tragic! (Jean-Luc) Godard's "A Bout de Souffle" - a superb story about unrequited love... Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" - funny, mad, eccentric... I think Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan in "Sholay" were silently and intensely romantic.... "When Harry Met Sally" - modern and urbane take on love... "Ye Tu Mama Tambien" - great road movie with hidden love story.

Madhur Bhandarkar: "Ek Duuje Ke Liye" - the bold theme of a romance across regional barriers is just the kind of thing I'd like to attempt. K. Balachander's direction and Laxmikant-Pyarelal's music were amazing. Then there was Kamal Haasan, in his Hindi debut. He made a perfect pair with Rati Agnihotri.

Bipasha Basu: "Ghost"... I like the theme of eternal love beyond the living, Arthur Hiller's "Love Story" showcases the strength of love and "DDLJ", because it is just simply so romantic and makes you feel happy and good about falling in love.

Raveena Tandon: I loved the taming-of-the-shrew angle in "Betaab"... then my dad's (Ravi Tandon) film "Khel Khel Mein", which was full of youthful energy and super-music... "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak", "Aandhi" and "Hero" for their haunting music. And "Ek Duuje Ke Liye" in which I could feel the couple's pain.

Vidya Balan: My favourite romantic films? "DDLJ", "Dil Se" and "One Fine Day".

Priyanka Chopra: Oh, there are too many to pick from! "DDLJ", "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", "Casablanca" and "Jerry Maguire". I remember every dialogue from these films.