Love is in the Air Valentine's Day Bolly Style

Love is in the Air (Valentine's Day...Bollywood Style)

Love is in the air…yes, it's once again Valentine's Day and the entire world is busy buying 'heart' shaped chocolates and candies, roses and balloons and what not. Since we all consider Bollywood to be a part of our lives & even agree that it has a significant role to play so far as love is concerned, why not take a look at all those hit films in the last ten years that spoke of feelings and emotions.

Kaho na pyar hai was the biggest hit of 2000 and introduced Hrithik Roshan, currently the heartthrob of millions to Bollywood. Lovely songs, mind-blowing cinematography, good story and the most important, love at first sight between a middle class ambitious boy and a rich spoilt girl. The twists and turns in the story once again proved that true love never dies and even God almighty helps you to find your own.

Devdas, once again was the biggest hit of 2002 and narrated the tale of love between two childhood friends. Purely a love story…I used the word purely because they weren't any twists or turns but simply love…and there were three people involved, not really a triangular love story, but a story of childhood friends who fell in love, betrayal, hero worshipping and lots more.  The story was bold considering the fact that both the girls took the first step to love.

Talking of friends, the film that comes to my mind is the one that narrated a tale of two strangers. They became friends, then partners in crime, fell in love, married each other and when decided to give up all mischief were arrested by the police. The story had a fun ending and the love between the two was shown very nicely; the way it happened,  the romance and the kiddish fights…very sweet. Bunty aur Babli, happily married partners in crime…in fact Abhishek Bachhan and Rani Mukherjee's awesome chemistry in reel life  was highly appreciated. Unfortunately they chose different partners in real life. Abhishek B went for Miss World and Rani could be the wife of the brightest of all young director's in India.  

Moving on to some serious love affair, a love that never knew any political boundaries, never understood religion and never cared about what the world said.  It was that love for which the boy gave up his lucrative career in the Indian Air Force and went to look for his lady love in a country with which his motherland never shared a cordial relation. Set against the backdrop of conflict between India and Pakistan, this romance follows the unfortunate love story of an IAF Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh, and a Pakistani girl of Lahore from a rich political family & connections,  Zaara Haayat Khan, who are separated for about twenty years. Veer is falsely accused of being a spy and is imprisoned in zaara's country as he refuses to give out her name to protect her privacy and Zaara calls off her wedding and  goes to Veer's country to run the school for girls' that veer had started. Wow…what a love…the best thing is, at the end of the film, they get united.

Fanaa: A story where the two people are from very different classes in life. No it wasn't a rich boy poor girl or anything of that sort. It was a story between a tourist and a tour guide. A bit unusual story to digest because people who stay or have stayed in Delhi will surely agree that Delhi tourist guides (esp. the ones you find near Red Fort) are certainly not the sort with one may love to fall in love. But it still happened ; an unfortunate love story.

So, what is love? Is it just the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment or is it just a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion and affection? Who is a soul mate? It has a deeper meaning when it comes to love. Can two lovers get re united even after death, is there really anything can re incarnation. Well, in Bollywood it is certainly there. A story of admiration, respect and true love,  for which the hero sacrifices himself only to be re united in the next birth. Does it only happen in Bollywood? Om Shanti Om narrated the tales of soul mates who got reunited.  

Rab ne bana di Jodi: A story about a man who lacked self confidence and could not express his love to his legally wedded wife. His friend helped him to have a complete makeover, in clothes & mannerisms and there was no looking back for him and finally he was successful in winning the heart of his wife.

I hate luv storys: After all this love stories between husband/wives, friends , colleagues, partners in crime and after all the  lifelong commitments and expectations…it's time to move to the current generation who think a bit differently than their seniors. One of the heroes, for instance, does not even believe in love and is an assistant to a film director who makes films on love stories only. Poor guy, what a pathetic condition he was in. a red rose, a pink hand bag or cuddly soft toys only meant stuffs for him, nothing to do with love…ask me, what a big bore this guy was. But then, the inevitable happened…love, emotional attachment, feelings and ultimately heartbreak….from both the girl & the boys side. But cupid is always there to save those who are really in love and finally his arrow hits the boy in the right place, his heart and the rest is known to all.

Ajab prem ki gazab kahani: Talking of the younger generation in Bollywood, Sonam Kapoor is Anil Kapoor's daughter, Imran Khan is Aamir Khan's nephew and so on…so why are we not talking about Ranbir Kapoor,  yesteryears dancing star Rishi kapoor and Neetu Singh's handsome young boy. He first started his career in films with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Sawaariya'…an intense love story and then went on to do quite a few unconventional love stories…Wake up Sid, Bachna ae haseeno and finally Ajab Prem ki gazab kahani. Even though in Hindi Prem means love, in this film the hero is called Prem and he falls in love with a girl who has already chosen a life partner…what??…why can't this guys and dolls take the correct decision. Anyway's , ultimately they live happily ever after.

Hope 2011 will make many more Love Stories and keep the audience glued to the silver screens