by Swetha Ramachandran
[box]Who among us hasn’t been captivated by tales on silver screen? And more so, by romance that transports you to a different world altogether! Swetha Ramachandran pays a perfect tribute to movies in this genre – the ‘happily-ever-after’s and the ‘jilted-at-the-altar’s that many of us have fun watching![/box]Come February and love is in the air. Everything around you transforms into red and pink. Cute little hearts, beautifully worded cards and confetti become a common sight.
In between all this, yours truly, a person totally inexperienced as far as romance goes, has been rummaging her head for ideas, for a brain wave, for ‘that’ creative flash to aid her in writing something in a genre that she isn’t too familiar with! And voila! My creative bulb finally gets switched on! Yes!! I decided to delve into romantic movies – into the romcoms, ‘happily-ever-after’s, and ‘jilted-at-the-altar’s.
The best thing about many romantic movies is that you know for sure that the ending is going to be happy and that the hero is going to win the hands of the heroine, against all odds – be it fighting a bunch of baddies in Indian cinema or flying Batman style in Hollywood!
For many years now, perhaps ever since cinema came into being, romance has been an undercurrent in almost all movies; if not in a big way, at least a small romantic plot has found its way into the narration of any film! And in the case of full-fledged romantic movies, there is a big dose of love – they have represented the dreams and aspirations of many a lover, made them giggle, go teary-eyed and map their own story to the characters lighting up the silver screen!
Romance – one genre and good God, how many formulae there are! Yet, In Indian cinema, the most popular formula remains – ‘girl meets boy’, ‘love at first sight or perhaps a little later’ and ‘families opposing their love’!
From ‘Alaipayuthey’ (Directed by Maniratnam with R,Madhavan and Shalini in the lead) in Tamil to the historic, Sharukh-Kajol starrer ‘Dilwale Dulhania le Jayenge'(DDLJ) in Hindi, this is a formula that has worked wonders at the box-office!! Raj and Simran of DDLJ meet in a train, and Raj instantly falls in love with Simran which is not reciprocated by her! So what happens next is no mystery. It is time for Simran to fall in love with Raj (only after a while though!). But here comes the twist in the tale where Simran is engaged to a guy back home. Hence ‘the family opposing their love’ factor coupled with few fights take a seat in the movie. Now one may wonder as to what makes this the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema. The answer is that it has Sharukh Khan and Kajol essaying the lead roles. But that’s not all. The direction and timing have played an important role too. But most importantly, it is a well-packaged love story that any romantically-inclined person would dream of! And what are movies for after all? Delivering dreams!
If you are one of those few Indians who has never watched this movie, I will not play spoilsport! The minute you start watching the film you know its end too! But no matter how clichéd it is, it surely has the ‘feel good’ factor in it that will continue to attract the audience.
Now picture this: The wedding hall or church has been beautifully decorated, the guests have arrived, the groom is all set for the wedding with the thaali or mangalsutra or the ring but, where is the bride?? Either she is in the room thinking of her ex-lover, or has already eloped with him! In a very pitiable scenario, she is already standing beside the groom thinking about how her life is about to get doomed forever in matter of minutes!!
scenario, she is already standing beside the groom thinking about how her life is about to get doomed forever in matter of minutes!!
Sounds familiar? No doubt it does, for, these are the ‘jilted at the altar’ plots! But the scene that comes subsequent to this is what interests me more! The bride’s ex-lover or friend whom she had always loved and still loves (and never confessed about the same) makes an appearance at the wedding. This is the time where the ex lovers realize that they still love each other or the supposed friend proposes his love (usually in front of a shocked audience at the wedding!). No prizes for guessing what’s next! .The groom is dumped unfeelingly (perhaps even getting all bloody after a big fight for the bride!) and the same old saga of a happy married life awaits the hero and the heroine!
A perfect example would be the romantic flick ‘Made of Honour’ where Patrick Dempsey transforms into a true knight, riding his way to the church in pursuit of the love of his life who is to be wedded to somebody else!
Our own, famous Bollywood blockbuster ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ has the hero Sharukh proposing to Kajol just before her wedding with Salman! This was another Sharukh-Kajol combo that was a big hit with the audience. Even the acclaimed 100th movie of Kamal Hassan. ‘Rajapaarvai’. did not spare such a scene!
What we already know is that be it Anshuman or Manjeeth, Geet is ultimately going to tie the knot with Aditya. But the movie takes a lot of twists and turns and finally comes to the scene where after having decided to marry Anshuman, Geet is aware of the love she has for Aditya. Yes, what follows suit is the happily-ever-after marriage of Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor (only in the movie;))
There are numerous other movies where the leading ladies dump their fiancé and end up marrying the super hot, charming heroes. It is definitely the case of old wine in new bottles, but then why must we care about it as long as the taste of the wine is not compromised?!
And then, we have the ‘happily ever after’ theme of those fairy tale-ish films that bring hope to the audience. Why….even you could be that Cinderella wishing for a better morrow or the sleeping beauty waiting for her prince charming!
The film ‘Enchanted’ (starring Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams) is as an excellent example! A princess out of a fairy tale enters the real world after her prince’s step mother plots against her. The handsome hero of the real world makes an entry here but with his seven-year-old kid. Don’t worry! His wife comes nowhere in the picture, paving a clear path for our princess to fall in love! What follows is a beautiful tale that talks about the true love of one’s life (notwithstanding the presence of an evil step mother!), and other elements that make it an adorable movie that can be watched over and over again!
The universal truth that ‘love triumphs’ is what makes such romantic movies stand out amongst the serious and meaningful ones (of course there is a lot to learn from these romantic flicks too!)
Ultimately everybody dreams for a picture-perfect, flawless life and when this is portrayed in movies with the help of fictional characters, why wouldn’t we be interested in knowing how?! We are, after all, mere mortals curious about other people’s lives and wouldn’t mind laughing and crying along with some fictional character!
One thing I have to tell you all for sure is that it is time you browsed through the movies in your laptop to watch one of those breezy romantic ones!
Keep aside serious cinema for a while. Experience the joy of watching a run-of-the-mill love story with one of these usual but enjoyable plots. Trust me, they will surely rejuvenate your spirit and leave a smile on your face!
Pic:
Chris Campbell
