The Peak Bollywood Rom-Com

After talking about Korean dramas, Chinese dramas, fictional men and novels , I think it is finally time to come back to where I come from - Bollywood.
And before anyone comes at me, I know Bollywood is not the only thing that represents Indian cinema, we have Tollywood, Bhojpuri cinema, Assamese films, Pahadi cinema and so many other regional industries telling their own stories. But today, I want to talk about a very specific category that I personally call peak Bollywood rom -con.
For me , it is movies like Mere brother ki dulhan, I hate luv story’s, Jab we met, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, Khoobsurat, Hasee toh phasee , Ramaaiya Vastavaiya , 2 States and many more.
These are the movies I go back to when i have absolutely no idea what i want to watch.
Not because they are necessarily the greatest films ever made, not because they have some extraordinary plot twist but because they make me feel good.
There is something incredibly comforting about these movies, there isn’t constant negativity, complicated revenge stories, backstabbing or characters trying to destroy each other every five minutes. Instead you have young people figuring themselves out, falling in love, making mistakes, navigating friendships , families and careers and simply trying to understand what they actually want from life.
And I think that is why I keep returning to them.
Some of these movies weren’t even huge successes when they were originally released. But years later, when I watch them, I find myself enjoying them in a completely different way, may be because I am also at a different stage of life now.
I love the little Bollywood moments in them- side glances, the eye contact that lasts just a second longer than it should, the ridiculous romantic situations , the songs arriving at exactly the right moment .
Yesterday I was watching Khoobsurat again, and I found myself smiling at the smallest things. I love how the story is not only moving around the two leads. There are characters and relationships happening around them, which make the entire world feel alive.
And then there are those tiny romantic moments that are so unmistakably Bollywood. Like the hero simply standing outside the door, looking at the female lead and admiring her. Nothing dramatic is happening, but somehow you still feel everything.
And honestly on days when I cannot decide what to watch, peak Bollywood rom com will always win.