With its ‘Rahuls’ and ‘Prems’, Bollywood has been blamed for promoting unrealistic standards of love and romance. We have all loved movies like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Dil To Pagal Hai! But, there are some underrated romantic movies, that took a much more mature take on love and redefined love for our generation. Here are 16 such underrated romantic movies that deserve our love.
1. Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh (2005)
This movie showcases a much more realistic take on love and marriage. In our country, where arranged marriages are so prevalent, this movie revolves around one such arranged marriage that came with its own share of adjustments and compromises. After meeting through their parents, the couple (Rajpal Yadav and Rituparna Sengupta) gets married. This cute love story is one-of-a-kind as it shows how this couple realistically finds love in their own way!
2. Tum Bin (2001)
Starring Priyanshu Chatterjee, Sandali Sinha, Himanshu Malik, and Raqesh Vashisth in pivotal roles, this film is a tragic tale of two lovers who become victims of their own destiny.
3. Lootera (2013)
Lootera saw both Ranveer and Sonakshi’s best performances. This tragic love story is about ‘Pakhi’ (Sonakshi Sinha), who falls in love with a con artist (Ranveer Singh). He is on the run from the police and Pakhi falls sick. Their beautiful & tragic romance is what good love stories are made of.
4. Socha Na Tha (2005)
Though it was Imtiaz Ali’s first film, it is nothing less than a masterpiece. This underrated movie is about a tale of two complicated people meeting in the most uncomplicated manner and then discovering their love for each other in a rather gradual way. This movie may not have performed well on the box office but with time, it has received cult status in all these years
5. Wake Up Sid (2009)
Though many remember this movie as a story of an aimless boy who finds passion in his life, this film also has a sweet love-friendship story to tell. The movie showcases how sometimes couples take their own sweet time to fall in love. When Sid (Ranbir Kapoor) moves in with Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma), they are just living together as friends, but gradually develop affection for each other.
6. Raincoat (2004)
Taking a mature take on love, this movie is about a couple, who were once in love and were engaged to be married. But with time, things change. The woman (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) enters into an unhappy marriage with another man and the man (Ajay Devgn) struggles to gather money for his business. Love and nostalgia fill the air when they meet as they reminisce about the love they had and weave a web of lies regarding their present.
7. Fire (1996)
Radha (Shabana Azmi) and Sita (Nandita Das) are married to two brothers and live in a joint family. Both their marriages are in trouble and they choose to confide in each other. They gradually fall in love and decide to be together. Their relationship is a sin in society’s eyes but they see it as a way of living happily.
8. Cheeni Kum (2007)
R Balki, a veteran ad filmmaker, made his first film on what some would call a dicey subject. A 64-year-old man (Amitabh Bachchan) falls in love with a 34-year-old woman (Tabu). Their love story gets complicated when he meets the girl’s father who is younger than him. The kind of love story this film had was a little unheard of, but somehow felt natural.
9. Zubeidaa (2001)
This film set in the 1950s is about an aspiring actress Zubeidaa (Karisma Kapoor) who marries a Hindu prince (Manoj Bajpai) to become his second wife. Unlike many other love stories, this movie shows her rocky relationship with husband along with her struggles and her sadness.
10. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994)
One of the finest romantic movies, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa – is a one-sided love story that redefined love in the most beautiful way. Sunil (Shah Rukh Khan) is in love with his band’s lead singer Anna (Suchitra Krishnamoorthi). He tries hard to make her fall in love with him. But Chris’ (Deepak Tijori) love for Anna complicates the equation. This one-sided love story is a must-watch.
11. Sadma (1983)
This heartbreaking love story is a masterpiece. Reshami (Sridevi) suffers from amnesia after meeting an accident and is left with the intelligence of a 7-year old. Somu (Kamal Haasan) meets her in a brothel and decides to look after her. Their relationship is full of love and affection. In the end, Somu is left heartbroken as Reshami recovers from her condition but fails to recognise him anymore.
12. Kareeb (1998)
Birju and Neha’s love story hits a bumpy road because of the difference in their financial backgrounds, but against all odds, they fight for their love. It is impossible not to develop a crush on Bobby Deol after watching this film again.
13. Lamhe (1991)
The unconventional love story, Lamhe is the story of a young man, Viren (Anil Kapoor), who falls in love with a woman (Sridevi) but she’s already engaged to someone else. He never confesses his love for her but remains in love with her even after her death. Things change when years later, her daughter who looks just like her falls in love with Viren. This film was way ahead of its time when it was released in 1991.
14. Tamasha (2015)
An offbeat love story is in store when you watch Tamasha. Unexpected and surprisingly fresh, this is one of the most unique love story movies of Bollywood.
15. Masaan (2015)
Against the surreal backdrop of Varanasi, Masaan is a heart-wrenching love story. It makes you smile and then weep inconsolably. Love story movies of Bollywood do not very often depict the loss of love the way Masan does.
16. Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015)
Finally, a love story that shames body shaming. Can you fall in love with your overweight wife? Can love conquer artificial societal norms to fall for the soul? One of those rare love story movies of Bollywood that broke several stereotypes!
