A Love Beyond Boundaries

2004 showed us a love story that goes beyond boundaries through Veer Zaara. The movie, directed by Yash Chopra and written by Aditya Chopra stars Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Manoj Bajpai and Rani Mukherji. Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini made special appearances in the film as Veer’s non-biological parents. It was the best and highest grossing movie of 2004 winning 20 awards in various award functions. Songs by the renowned music director, Late Madan Mohan became instant hits worldwide.

The movie has the backdrop of the India-Pakistan conflict and is the story of star crossed lovers Veer Pratap Singh (Shahrukh) Indian Air Force Squadron Leader and Zaara Haayat Khan (Preity.) They fall in love but are separated due to circumstances caused by Jahangir Haayat Khan (Boman Irani) and Raza (Manoj) who is Zaara’s fiancé in Pakistan.

Veer gets imprisoned in Pakistan when he comes to take Zaara back with him to India after her engagement but is asked to leave by Jahangir. Raza informs the Authorities Veer’s an Indian spy. Veer doesn’t try to prove his innocence to protect Zaara and her family; as she is a high profiled politician’s daughter and loving a Hindu would have brought them shame. Veer finds solace in thinking Zaara married Raza and remains silent for years in his Pakistani prison cell.

Twenty-two years later Saamiya Siddiqui (Rani) an aspiring passionate lawyer is given Veer’s case and to defend him in Court. Saamiya desperate to do so leaves Pakistan to go to India and prove his innocence. She goes back to Veer’s village to seek some help; instead finds an unmarried Zaara there. She reunites the lovers and gets Veer exonerated with an apology from the Pakistani Government thus allowing the couple to live the rest of their lives in India together.

Bollywood’s Number One Success Formula

Bollywood has seen a lot of hit reincarnation movies. Pair this age old formula with a successful commercial director, a charming superstar and a gorgeous actress, the result will be a super hit movie. Om Shanti Om was the best and highest grossing movie of 2007. It was directed by Farah Khan, starred Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Shreyas Telpade and Arjun Rampal.

The movie marked the debut for Deepika and had thirty Bollywood stars making special appearances for the title track of the movie.

The movie is about Om Prakash, a junior movie artist in the 70’s who’s dreamt of being a big movie star and finds support and encouragement from Pappu (Shreyas) and Bela (Kirron Kher.) He fantasizes and falls in love with Shanti Priya (Deepika) a famous successful actress but she only likes him as a friend.

Om eventually finds out that she is married and expecting a baby from Mukesh Mehra (Arjun.) A heartbroken Om witnesses Mukesh burning Shanti alive on a set when he because he holds her responsible for his financial loss. A helpless Om tries to save her but gets hit by a famous actor Rakesh Kapoor’s (Javed Sheikh) car and dies.

Thirty years later Om is reincarnated as Rakesh’s son, a rising star. Om starts filming a new movie on the same burnt studio where Shanti Priya was killed. Om Kapoor remembers everything about his past life and wants to bring justice for Shanti Priya. Mukesh has now become a popular Hollywood producer.

Sandhya AKA Sandy is a look-a-like of Shanti Priya and gets selected as the female lead for Om’s movie. Om re-enacts the whole murder in front of Mukesh and eventually Shanti’s ghost kills him by dropping a chandelier on him. The movie ends with Om and Sandy becoming a couple.

Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

After a lot of hype and anticipation, Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, released in 2001. The movie, directed and written by Ashutosh Gowariker was his first commercial and critically acclaimed success.

Lagaan was the best and the highest grossing movie of 2001 winning 44 awards in various film award functions including awards for ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Actor’, ‘Best Movie’, ‘Best Music Director’, ‘Best Actress in a New Comers Role’ and ‘Best Choreographer.’ Lagaan was also nominated for the Oscars for ‘Best Foreign Language Film.’

The movie has a runtime for 224 minutes. The movie’s plot is about a small village in North India which is facing problems in farming due to the drought conditions. The villagers have to pay land taxes (lagaan) to Andrew Russell (Paul Blackthorne) who is a British Captain. The villagers thought they would be excused from the taxes this time because of no rains, but instead the Captain challenges them to a game of cricket which they must win if they want to be freed from taxes. If they lose then they must pay twice the normal tax.

The villagers are unaware of what cricket is and are petrified. Bhuvan (Amir Khan), a young villager accepts this challenge and assembles a team to play against the British after three months. Andrew’s sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley) helps Bhuvan and his team understand the rules of cricket and how it must be played. At the time of the match, they face quite a few challenges but eventually win the game, which frees them off taxes.

The movie also shows a love triangle between Bhuvan, Elizabeth and his girlfriend Gauri (Gracy Singh.) Lagaan sends a message to viewers to never lose hope even in testing times, to stand up for one self and to fight against injustice.

A Magical Story

A little alien named Jadoo entered our lives in 2003 with Koi Mil Gaya. This Science Fiction movie was directed by Rakesh Roshan and starred his son Hrithik, Preity Zinta and Rekha. This movie helped move Hrithik into the top league of actors because of his phenomenal performance of a mentally disabled young man. KMG was the best and the highest grossing movie for 2003 winning 18 awards in various film award functions.

Hrithik plays the character of Rohit Mehra who is the son of Sanjay and Sonia Mehra (Rekha.) Sanjay, a scientist invents a device to communicate with beings in space. On his return home from a disastrous meeting with scientists at a space research organization he encounters a space craft which leads him to lose control of his car, kill him and injure his heavily pregnant wife who has to give birth to a mentally disabled Rohit.

Rohit grows up in a small town with the mentality of a child but physicality of a man. Nisha (Preity), a local from the town, and Rohit become friends and stumble across the device created by Sanjay. They summon aliens to earth by accident. The aliens leave behind one alien who Nisha, Rohit and his group of his friends, name Jadoo, who’s kept a secret.

Jadoo with his super intellect develops Rohit’s mind into beyond that of the average adult giving him super powers. Rohit and Nisha then fall in love and want to marry. The Government finds Jadoo and wants to experiment on him but Rohit saves him and Jadoo returns to his family who came back for him. Rohit is excused by the Government for his actions as he’s developmentally disabled again without Jadoo. Jadoo restores Rohit’s powers permanently allowing Nisha and him to have a happy future together.

True Love Strikes Twice

Kaho Na Pyaar Hai marked the debut of Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel. The movie was directed by veteran actor Rakesh Roshan. Kaho Na Pyaar Hai was the best and the highest grossing movie for 2000. The blockbuster movie won 30 awards in various film award functions including awards for ‘best director’, ‘best actor’, ‘best movie’, ‘best music director’, and ‘best choreographer.’

Popular songs such as ‘Ek Pal Ka Jeena’ and ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’ contributed to the movie’s overall success. It was Hrithik’s flexible dance steps though that captured audience’s attention worldwide.

The movie’s plot has Hrithik playing two roles, Rohit and Raj. The story is at first of a rich girl Sonia who falls in love with Rohit, a poor struggling singer. Upon a chance encounter on a cruise ship they meet again and their initial attraction blossoms into love when they’re abandoned on a deserted island. They decide they want to marry but Sonia’s father has Rohit killed in what seems like an accident.

A grieving Sonia is sent to New Zealand by her father to overcome her heartbreak. She meets Raj Chopra there who is a look alike of Rohit. Raj tries to woo Sonia who returns to India to get away from him. He falls in love with her and tries to win her over by following her to India. He then encounters the same killers who murdered Rohit. They think Raj is Rohit and try to kill him. Sonia eventually finds out her father is responsible for killing Rohit. She at the end finally does fall in love with Raj.

KNPH highlighted the innocence in ‘first loves’ and the intensity and passion of a lost love. It also sent out a message to everyone, that true love can happen to people more than once.

A Timeless Classic

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam released in 1999 and was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s second directorial venture. He had earlier directed Khamoshi and written the screenplay for 1942: A Love Story. HDDCS was the best and the highest grossing movie for 1999 seeing both critical as well as commercial success. The movie won 26 awards in various film award functions including m‘best director’, ‘best actress’, ‘best movie’, ‘best story’, ‘best male playback singer’ and ‘best choreographer.’ It also got a lot of media attention as Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai were a couple then.

The movie is most remembered for its performances, story and romantic songs, such as ‘Tadap Tadap’, ‘Nimbooda’ and ‘Chand Chupa’ which had become an instant hit with audiences.

The movie’s plot is of a love triangle between Nandini (Aishwarya Rai), Sameer (Salman Khan) and Vanraj (Ajay Devgan.) It sets a perfect example for Doug Horton’s proverb, “if you love something, let it go free. If it doesn’t come back, you never had it. If it comes back, love it forever.”

Nandini is the daughter of a rich singer named Pandit Darbar. She doesn’t get along with Sameer at first, who is from Italy and is her father’s pupil. He stays with them as he wants to learn music from Darbar. Nandini and Sameer eventually fall in love but Darbar opposes and asks Sameer to leave them and go back to Italy. Nandini is then married off to Vanraj who finds out she loves Sameer. Vanraj loves her but helps her travel to Italy to find Sameer so she can be with him. Once there Nandini slowly realizes that she truly loves Vanraj and chooses to be with him.

This movie is still looked upon as a masterpiece and has now become a timeless classic in Indian cinema.

An Unforgettable Story

Ghajini starring Amir Khan, Asin Thottumkal, Jiah Khan and Pradeep Rawat released in 2008. Based on the Hollywood movie ‘Memento,’ Ghajini is a romantic action thriller directed by Murugadoss. The film became the highest grossing movie for 2008. It also gained a lot of publicity because Amir spent a year preparing for this role by working on his body and achieving eight pack abdominals.

The movie is about a business tycoon, Sanjay Singhania (Amir) who develops anterograde amnesia due to certain circumstances. He owns a successful advertising firm and falls in love with a simple hearted bubbly model Kalpana (Asin.) Sanjay doesn’t tell Kaplana who he is and pretends to be a middle class guy named Sachin. He proposes to her and says if she agrees he’ll tell her the truth otherwise he’ll go away from her life without telling her who he really is.

Kalpana accepts the proposal but before they could get married she gets killed by Ghajini Dharmatma (Pradeep) who breaks into her apartment with his goons. Kalpana had earlier rescued twenty five young girls, who ‘belonged’ to Ghajini, from being sold off as prostitutes and organ donors in a train to Goa. Sanjay also arrives at the apartment and tries to save Kalpana but gets hit on the head with an iron rod and hence develops anterograde amnesia.

When he gains consciousness he sees a dying Kalpana whose last word was Ghajini. Sanjay thereafter dedicates his life to finding Ghajini and wants revenge. With Dr. Sunita’s (Jiah) help he finds Ghajini and kills him. Sunita is a medical student who studies Sanjay’s case and is also the only friend Sanjay had left. The film received positive reviews from critics worldwide for the strong performances of the lead actors and the good music score by A.R. Rehman.

When we think of stylish trend-setting movies of Bollywood, Dhoom 2 is one movie which comes to mind. It was the best and highest grossing movie of 2006. D2 was also amongst the few movies which had a sequel to it and amongst the even fewer movies which became a blockbuster hit. The movie started a trend not just with the stylish clothes but also with the bike stunts.

Dhoom 2 has a multi starrer cast consisting of Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra, Aishwarya Rai, Rimi Sen and Bipasha Basu. The movie caused some controversy because of Aishwarya’s kiss with Hrithik which the Bachchan family wanted removed from the movie and it eventually was.

Dhoom 2’s about a burglar Mr. A AKA Aryan (Hrithik) who Assistant Commissioner of Police, Jai Dixit (Abhishek) is trying to capture along with his former college mate who is now a Police Officer; Sonali Bose (Bipasha) and Ali Akbar Fateh Khan (Uday.) Aryan still manages to rob priceless possessions fearlessly worldwide. Jai then takes help from another burglar, Sunehri (Aishwarya) who would do anything to not go back to prison. She gets to know Aryan when they meet while trying to burglarize the same place. They form a partnership and start working together to rob their next job and eventually fall in love. Soon, Aryan finds out that Sunehri works for the Police.

Sunehri tells the Police she doesn’t want to work for them anymore and in a stand off between her, Jai and Aryan she shoots Aryan. He falls off a waterfall and she makes her escape. Six months later Aryan and Sunehri are running a restaurant in some remote location. Jai still manages to find them but doesn’t charge the couple for their crimes leaving them free to spend their lives together.

A Tragic Love Story

Saratchandra Chatterjee’s classic novel Devdas was brought to the big screen once again in 2002 by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The movie was Sanjay’s second movie as a director after the blockbuster Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in 1999. Devdas was the best and the highest grossing movie for 2002 winning 44 awards in various film award functions including awards for ‘best director’, ‘best actor’, ‘best movie’, ‘best music director’, ‘best actress’ and ‘best choreographer.’ The movie had some memorable songs such as ‘Dola re’ and ‘Mardala.’

Devdas brought back the talented actress, Madhuri Dixit to Bollywood after her wedding in 1999. It also brought the much loved pair, Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai after the hit Mohabbatein in 2000.

The story of the movie is about a love triangle between Devdas Mukherjee (Shahrukh) and Paro (Aishwarya) who are childhood sweethearts and Chandramukhi (Madhuri) a courtesan. Devdas was sent to London for his education in his childhood and returned only after he became an adult. Devdas and Paro wanted to marry but his arrogant father forbid this from happening as Paro belonged to a lower class than the Mukherjee’s. Devdas goes away after the refusal from his father and tells Paro to forget him.

Heartbroken she enters a chaste marriage with a much wealthier and older man, Zamindar Bhuvan. Devdas’s life spirals out of control as he tries to drown his grief and resorts to alcohol. His friend Chunilal (Jackie Shroff) introduces him to Chandramukhi and she immediately falls in love with him. He bonds with her by sharing his feelings and pain of unfulfilled love for Paro. Devdas eventually dies because of his excessive drinking leaving behind two women who loved him intensely. The movie is still remembered today for its unfulfilled tragic tale of love and its brilliant performances.