All is fair in love and war…
We have come to a very bad custom of labeling love with traditions, names and relationships, when some of the most eternal love stories transcend above these boundaries. Love is said to be the most powerful driving force in the world. Then how can it only be limited to these social constructs and traditional norms?
The very idea of boy meets girl is quite stale and repetitive. World cinema is filled with movies revolving around that very idea. But some movies dare to foray into a territory of presenting an unconventional love story that is free of labels. Love stories that aren’t looking for validation. Love stories that are not looking for a destination. You know the ones that has society ask “Log Kya Kahenge?”. Like these ones-
English Vinglish
The movie wasn’t a romantic story per se. But it did involve one tiny romantic track of unrequited love. Laurent, a French chef (Mehdi Nebbou) falls for Shashi (Sri Devi) who is married with two kids. Both move on with their separate lives, and very happily, realizing it was just a mere infatuation.
Barfi
A love story of a deaf-mute man and an autistic woman. The story had many emotional moments and showed how love can overlook, what the world calls as abnormalities. Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra) and Barfi (Ranbir Kapoor) play the unlikely couple in the film.
Cheeni Kum
Buddhadev Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan) is 64. Nina Verma (Tabu) is 34. And THEY fall in love. The age disparity is beautifully dealt with in the film.
Ek Main Aur Ek Tuu
It happens so often that good friends fall for each other. and more often only one of the two friends falls for the other. It shouldn’t cause any harm to their friendship, as there IS a mature way to deal with it. Rahul Kapoor (Imran Khan) and Riana Braganza (Kareena Kapoor) get married under the influence of alcohol. Eventually, they become friends during the process of getting the marriage annulled. But Rahul falls for Rhea, and Rhea doesn’t feel the same. Story takes an unexpected turn with this revelation.
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
Meenakshi Iyer (Konkona Sen Sharma) and Raja Chowdhury (Rahul Bose) form a special bond amidst the chaos surrounding racial tension. Meenakshi, who is married and has a kid, and Raja belong to different castes and yet fall for each other, fully aware that they don’t have a future together.
The Lunchbox
Saajan (Irrfan Khan) and Ila (Nimrat Kaur) have never met each other, but find solace in each other’s words through a series of letters they exchange through a lunchbox. Their unspoken love story develops even when Ila turns out to be unhappily married and Saajan is a widower.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha
Love does come in all sizes. Prem Prakash (Ayushmann Khurrana) finally is able to look over his wife’s obesity and see more of her than just her size. The character of the wife impressively played by debutante Bhumi Pednekar.