7 Movies That Challenged Stereotypical Definition Of Love

Love is a topic of elaborate discussion, especially in Bollywood. Bollywoood reflects the society and the society is inturn influenced by Bollywood. For a long time, love in films only meant the sweet romantic relationship between a guy and a girl with the ultimate goal of “married and happily ever after”. But society is changing and so is the portrayal of relationship in Bollywood.

One Night Stand, which has Sunny Leone in the lead role, explores a kind of relationship that has by far remained untouched in Bollywood. Casual hookups and sex are  very much a reality. Films like Love Aj Kal or Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani has shown the lead actors having a casual relationship that end with sex, but have not explored this in details, with the primary subject being quest for true love. One Night Stand tries to explore the subject and its consequences in some details.

Here is a list of other Bollywood movies that have explored the changing dimensions of relationship.

The film, that released in 2004, had shown wife swapping. The lead actors, in an inebriated state, decides to swap their wives for a night.

It was probably one of the first movies that tried to delve into the dynamics of a live-in relationship. The movie released in 2005, a period when Bollywood found a strong foothold among the NRI community. The West had embraced live-in while the Indians were still debating on its pros and cons and the film catered to the ongoing discussion.

The film was a topic of controversy after it stereotyped the idea of the good woman and the bad woman. But the film showed guys and girls living together under the same roof. The man, played by Saif Ali Khan, was on a casual relationship with one woman, played by Deepika Padukone.The character played by Diana Penty lived with the two and the three were friends who always hanged out together.

The film explored the idea of casual relationship and live-in relationship. It showcased that commitment and love are not synonymous and one can exist without the other.

The lead charecters of the movie meet, enjoy each other’s company, go on a trip and deciede to be in a ‘no strings attached’ relationship to cater to their sexual needs. But this Bollywood flick finally took the way that its Hollywood counterparts ‘Friends with Benefits’ and ‘No Strings Attached’ took, with the charecters falling in love and going into a relationship.

The debut film by Shakun Batra was different and fresh in its approach of relationship. Drunk and happy, two strangers marry each other. When sense dawns, they decides to annul their relation. But the guy soon discovers that he is in love, but the girl does not reciprocate the same feeling. They stay friends forever and love does not affect the friendship.

The movie took a bold step and portrayed a homosexual relationship between two women who do not find love in their husbands. it was one of the first movies to explore same sex relationship.