Raj Kapoor's take on young, rebellious teen love became a huge rage in its time. It also launched the careers of solid talents like Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia.
But it's not so much about class barriers between the couple involved as it is about the raw moments Bobby creates with its disarming spontaneity that lends our 'dosti' with this 1973 blockbuster its longevity.
Mature take on romance often takes a backseat in Bollywood's obsession with the young and restless. Gulzar's Aandhi, however, is an elegant exception to the rule.
In his touching drama about an estranged middle-aged husband (Sanjeev Kumar) and wife (Suchitra Sen) reminiscing their days of togetherness, reconciling with their present, the filmmaker and poet examines the intricacies of marriage, the challenges it faces while underscoring the beauty of details and nuances.
Romance isn't about looking into each other's eyes and spewing poetry. Even love marriages go through their share of ups and downs, insecurities and upheavals as pointed out deftly by director Hrishikesh Mukerjee's marital drama, Abhimaan.
At the same, the filmmaker focuses on how something as tricky as rivalry in marriage can be overcome if handled with sense and sensibility though compelling performances from Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.
In our movies, men go through all sorts of trouble to win over ladylove.
Playing on this mindset, Basu Chatterjee's Chhoti Si Baat concocts a cute love story between a nervous office goer and the girl at the bus stop after the guy takes formal training in personality development and wooing women from a retired army-man.
Amol Palekar's sweet awkwardness and Vidya Sinha's playful fervour makes Chhoti Si Baat a model middle-class romance.
No matter how successful David Dhawan remake is, it cannot overwrite the fun memories created by Sai Paranjpe's Delhi-based rom-com starring Farookh Shaikh and Deepti Naval as one of the most believable couples in Bollywood history.
While the story goes through an entire gamut of hilarious twists and turns, it's the delightful interactions between the two over detergent or dessert that we never seem to get enough of.
In another gem from Paranjpe, Sparsh is about two lonely souls finding an anchor in each other. While the film is often heralded for its accurate portrayal of the visually-impaired, it's essentially a love story between Naseeruddin Shah's blind school principal and a young widow who volunteers to teach (Shabana Azmi).
The delicate manner in which they conquer their fears, doubts and prejudices to develop a deep understanding of each other is what Sparsh unravels.
Brash love knows no censure and will strive to stay together against all odds, as established in K Balachander's high-strung Ek Duuje Ke Liye.
Language, caste, community and disapproving parents prove to be pointless hurdles in Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri's path, which is all very entertaining until Balachander decides to startle us with its mega shock ending.
Given the nostalgia it triggered recently, on its silver anniversary, there's clearly no shortage of members in the QSQT Fan Club.
And why not? Aamir Khan's boyish charm and Juhi Chawla's sparkly innocence beams up ever single frame of Mansoor Khan's lively take on Romeo and Juliet even after 25 good years.
Close on the heels of QSQT followed Sooraj R Barjatya's much-loved Maine Pyaar Kiya, which gave the industry another Khan -- Salman and a likable leading lady -- Bhagyashree. While the latter chose premature retirement to settle in marital bliss, Salman Khan strengthened his position as Prem.
The sheer goodness of Barjatya's universe and the incorruptible quality of Prem and Suman, their vivacious romance had the audience quoting their lines verbatim.
Yash Chopra made several romances in his lifetime, enough to warrantee a feature of its own. But if one were to pick the film where he truly pushed the boundary, it has to be Anil Kapoor and Sridevi's Lamhe.
Some argued its older guy-younger girl romance to be ahead of its time. Some deemed the climax too inappropriate -- a man proposing to the daughter of a woman he once loved.
Despite these complexities or commercial failure, Chopra establishes the reasons of heart with such finesse, the union, appears both classy and essential.
With this one film, Barjatya changed the face of Indian weddings and Bollywood romances (where it became mandatory to feature at least one wedding) for better or worse.
The super duper success starring Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan is basically a one-line story idea stretched into a three-hour plus movie. But the sprightly duo, their gorgeous chemistry and how they fall in love around a crowd of relatives is what appealed to the masses hugely.
We once asked you to name the greatest romantic Hindi film of all time and the message board was inundated with Aditya Chopra's directorial debut.
Everything about Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge -- Raj, Simran, Bauji, mustard fields, Ruk ja, Mehendi, Undekha Anjaana Chehras, has been spoken about, emulated, celebrated -- on screen, off it, in media, in print to exhausting limits but there's simply no getting over this epic.
Quite happy to play second fiddle to this overpowering giant is buddy Karan Johar with his first film as director, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai featuring the same leading actors -- Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol.
K Jo's Riverdale-ized version of college campuses and a story that's both Mills and Boons and desi gave the audience oodles to laugh and cry about as they witnessed two best friends Rahul and Anjali, finally, achieve their happily ever after.
Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor may have called it splits right before Imtiaz Ali's Jab We Met released but it made no difference to their best collaboration together.
The crunchy dialogue, free flowing script and superlative performances from the two actors as Geet and Aditya entailing their madcap adventures on the road makes Jab We Met so much more than an ideal date movie.
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