As someone who has watched Bollywood movies growing up, you’d know that till about five years ago, there weren’t many alternatives for people to consume apart from the mainstream films. Romance was portrayed as black and white and there was no addressal of the problems and issues that arose from relationships. In 2020, however, there are so many different options available, we don’t know if it’s impacted the projection of love on the big screen or not!
Love stories before
In most plotlines of Bollywood films from the 80s, 90s, and even the early 2000s relationships have been purely between two cis-gender human beings, and the hackneyed scripts often led to a hero and heroine falling in love, most often after the hero has saved the heroine from a state of misery. Even amongst the most iconic movies, girl meets boy, boy meets girl and they fall in love, without any real struggle or fight or even any consequences. Love has been a simple emotion and that’s where the movie would end.
The complexities of love, the relationship aspect of it, the future of love–all of these were omitted from most mainstream movies. Rather, the relationships were usually confined to the hero and heroine. However, it built an unrealistic expectation amongst audiences because a) the mainstream glorified simple, “unadulterated” love b) there wasn’t anything else available to watch.
Love stories now
If you take a look at the kind of love stories being churned out by Bollywood now, the situation is completely different. With the coming in of digital streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Alt Balaji and other OTT streaming platforms, the shift towards realistic and relatable content is more prevalent. Even when it comes to portraying the so-called conventional ‘love story’.
Take movies and shows like Thappad, Little Things, Made In Heaven, Badhai Ho, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Out of Love–they all are essentially love stories,but with a twist. They’re not just about falling in love and dreaming technicolour dreams, it’s more real, more raw, and more gripping. They’re also inspired by what goes on in relationships in real life.
Why now is better
The thing is, movies are the biggest influencers you know of. Even if you’ve never thought about it, understand that one movie reach a wide audience. So, making sure that the mainstream is moving towards concepts that are actually useful for society, as a whole, and making sure that they don’t build up unrealistic relationship goals is always going to be the best possible outcome.
The fact that love stories now come with additional, more complex, sub-plots is a great way of familiarizing people with problems that have existed but haven’t been spoken about in the mainstream and in our houses. These films show how exactly relationships aren’t just flowery, they can be abusive and even problematic. The shift might have taken time but it’s one that needs to keep happening for society to change as a whole.
PICTURE COURTESY: Giphy, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
