From October to Saiyaara, these Hindi love stories proved that romance still has the power to break hearts, move audiences and create box office magic in the age of violent cinema.
Key Points
- Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Vedang Raina, Sharvari, Diljit Dosanjh, aims to revive the enduring appeal of tragic love stories, set against the backdrop of Partition.
- The success of Saiyaara demonstrates that emotionally resonant love stories can still be blockbusters, even in an era dominated by action films.
- Films like October, Laila Majnu, Kedarnath, and Kabir Singh are highlighted for their unconventional and deeply affecting portrayals of love.
People say this is the era of violent cinema, especially after the staggering success of the Dhurandhar films. People say love stories no longer work. And yet, in the very year Dhurandhar exploded at the box office, another blockbuster emerged in the form of Saiyaara.
The strength of Saiyaara did not merely lie in competent filmmaking, apt casting or a memorable soundtrack, though all those factors certainly mattered. What truly made Mohit Suri’s film resonate was how deeply the love story lingered with audiences long after the credits rolled.
It connected emotionally with viewers in a way few recent romances have managed, with some fans even going overboard in theatres to express how much the film affected them. Others may dismiss that as PR overdrive. Whatever the case, the emotional impact was undeniable.
Now it is Imtiaz Ali’s turn to prove that love stories still matter.
The filmmaker is returning with his new directorial, Main Vaapas Aaunga, which follows a man discovering his grandfather’s tragic love story while the latter lies on his deathbed. Determined to uncover what happened to the woman his grandfather lost during Partition, the grandson embarks on a search for an emotional conclusion that spans decades.
Naseeruddin Shah plays the grandfather, while Vedang Raina portrays him in his youth. Sharvari stars as the lost love, and Diljit Dosanjh plays the grandson piecing the story together.
If executed well, Main Vaapas Aaunga certainly has the potential to live in people’s hearts. After all, it has all the ingredients of an heartbreaking romance that will endure in viewers’ minds for a potentially long time.
A love story scarred by tragedy.
The mystery of whether the lovers ever reunite despite the passage of time. And, of course, all of it elevated by A R Rahman’s music.
While we wait to see whether Imtiaz Ali recreates the magic of Jab We Met and Rockstar with Main Vaapas Aaunga, Sreeju Sudhakaran looks back at 10 Hindi films from the past decade whose love stories managed to haunt the viewer beyond the cinema halls.
October (2018)
Shoojit Sircar’s slow-burn drama is not a love story in the conventional sense. In fact, before her accident, it is clearly established that Shiuli and Dan are barely more than acquaintances.
Yet, what makes the film so heartbreaking is the sensitive manner in which Dan (Varun Dhawan, in one of his finest roles) is affected by her comatose state after the accident and how devotedly he cares for her simply because the last thing she uttered before falling was a question about him.
By the end, the film does not answer every question, but it hardly matters.
We are left emotionally devastated by a relationship born out of the most unusual circumstances.
Laila Majnu (2018)
Laila Majnu remains one of India’s most enduring tragic folk tales and has inspired numerous adaptations over the decades.
When Imtiaz Ali’s brother Sajid Ali made his directorial debut with this modern retelling, the film was largely overlooked at the box office.
But those who watched it were swept away by the emotional intensity of the romance, the stirring performances of Avinash Tiwary and Triptii Dimri, both of whom began their upward journey here, and the exceptional music.
The hero’s descent into madness at the thought of losing his beloved is picturised in a deeply affecting manner, particularly in the Hafiz Hafiz song sequence.
The theatrical run may have been brief, but the film’s legacy only grew stronger afterwards.
Kedarnath (2018)
Sara Ali Khan’s debut film was a star-crossed romance set against the devastating Uttarakhand floods of 2013.
The story follows a Brahmin girl who falls in love with a Muslim porter in a romance that evokes shades of Jack and Rose from Titanic.
It is difficult to imagine a filmmaker attempting such a love story in today’s climate without attracting accusations of promoting ‘love jihad’; ironic considering the religious divide is very much the central obstacle in the romance, while the floods become the antagonistic force only later.
Following Sushant Singh Rajput’s tragic demise in 2020, Kedarnath received renewed appreciation from audiences who deeply admired his performance here.
Photograph (2019)
Ritesh Batra’s follow-up to The Lunchbox was another unconventional romance that resisted tidy storytelling or definitive closure.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra play the leads, with Nawazuddin portraying a photographer who persuades a college student to pose as his fiancée in order to appease his grandmother.
Warm feelings slowly emerge between the two despite their differences in age, religion and economic background. Their growing bond is handled with subtlety and grace, using Mumbai itself as the wistful backdrop to their meetings.
The film also drips with nostalgia, particularly in the subplot where the protagonist searches for the machinery that once made a now-defunct soft drink loved by the woman he adores.
Photograph may not be as bombastic in its portrayal of love, but wins in the natural depiction of an emerging, unconventional romance.
Kabir Singh (2019)
Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Kabir Singh generated enormous controversy for its portrayal of an aggressively toxic, alpha-male protagonist.
Yet, many viewers embraced the film because, somewhere beneath its troubling surface, they connected with the passion driving Kabir’s love for Preeti and the emotional collapse he undergoes after losing her, even if he himself is responsible for much of the damage.
Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani share crackling chemistry that lends intensity to the romance, while the soundtrack adds a dream-like quality to the film’s emotional highs and lows.
Shershaah (2021)
Shershaah may primarily be a war drama based on the life of real-life war hero Captain Vikram Batra, who died during the 1999 Kargil War, but its emotional core lies in the love story between Vikram and his girlfriend, Dimpy.
The romance is beautifully enhanced by the music, while Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani look genuinely adorable together.
Their on-screen chemistry eventually blossomed into a real-life relationship, marriage and now parenthood.
PS: Vikram Batra’s story had previously appeared in J P Dutta’s LOC Kargil, with Abhishek Bachchan playing Vikram Batra and Esha Deol portraying his fiancée.
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023)
Criticise him all you want, but Karan Johar still knows how to make love stories feel grand and emotionally sweeping.
In Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, he essentially delivers two romances for the price of one.
The first is the youthful relationship between Rocky, played by Ranveer Singh, and Rani, played by Alia Bhatt, challenged by differences in their culture and intellect. The second, however, is the more unexpectedly moving one.
An ageing patriarch suffering from memory loss remembers a decades-old affair with a married woman while he himself was married, believing they are still in love.
While technically an extramarital affair, the film avoids moral grandstanding and instead explores the emotional loneliness that drew two unhappy souls together. The result is a bittersweet and surprisingly tender love story within the larger narrative.
Laapataa Ladies (2023)
The delightful tale of accidentally switched brides is fundamentally about two women — Phool and Jaya — adapting to strange new circumstances. But what gives the film its emotional warmth is the affection Phool’s groom Deepak has for his bride.
The guilt, desperation and regret driving him to search for her, while also helping the wrong bride find comfort and belonging, make their romance deeply endearing.
Phool’s emotional growth under the care of Manju Mai, played beautifully by Chhaya Kadam, as she waits for her husband to return to her, further strengthens the narrative.
Sparsh Shrivastava and Nitanshi Goel make for an adorable pair, while the song Sajni Re perfectly captures the tender blossoming of their relationship. When the couple finally unite at that desolate railway station, it is hard to hold those tears of joy back.
Saiyaara (2025)
Of course, no list like this would make sense without the biggest romantic blockbuster of them all.
Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara initially feels as though it might head into Kabir Singh territory with love story between its rebellious hero and timid heroine, but instead it embraces the aching melancholy of films like Aashiqui 2.
Yes, the film loses points on originality for borrowing heavily from the Korean drama, A Moment to Remember, but audiences hardly seemed to care.
They fell in love with Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, grieved over their romance shattered by a neurodegenerative disease and longed desperately for their eventual reconciliation, which unfolds in a touching emotional fashion.
Of course, the songs were massive crowd-pullers, especially the haunting title track.
Dhadak 2 (2025)
Dhadak 2 is the Hindi remake of the acclaimed Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal, but unlike many remakes that pale beside the original, this version changes a few key aspects in ways that actually strengthen the story.
Firstly, it establishes the romance far more effectively. Secondly, the female lead, played by Triptii Dimri, is significantly better written than her counterpart in the original, who remained largely oblivious to the realities surrounding her.
As a result, the love story becomes even more heartbreaking when confronted by brutal caste discrimination, an issue the first Dhadak had mostly sidestepped.
Sadly, despite strong reviews, the film failed to perform at the box office, though it was better received on OTT.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff