Filmfare recommends: the best romantic Bollywood movies of the 80s

Thanks to the video revolution, the films of the 80s were more formal than ever while the filmmakers fought against piracy on the one hand and decreasing steps in cinemas on the other. Romance was considered the savior at that time. The subject prompted creators to turn to new faces in order to attract viewers with something unique. The intrigue, however, followed the pattern established by popular tales such as Laila Majnu or Romeo And Juliet by Shakespeare. The audience knew much of the story beforehand, but came to see the cool faces playing the familiar tales. Music also played a big role in turning these films into success. We can say that the music acted as a savior in this transition phase where the old gave way to the new. It should be mentioned that the great filmmakers, like Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai, thanks to their deep pockets and their appropriate configuration, not only survived the onslaught of video, but also made good profits at the time. . Present a list of romantic 80s gems to help you overcome boredom during this lockdown.

Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981)

Director: K. Balachander
Performers: Kamal Haasan, Rati Agnihotri, Madhavi

Shot in the middle of lush Goa, this star lover blockbuster was a remake of K. Balachander’s own blockbuster, Telo, Maro Charitra (1978), with Kamal Haasan and Saritha in mind. This film had a Tamil boy in love with a Telugu girl. Here, while Kamal has retained his Tamil character, Rati Agnihotri was led to play a North Indian girl, transforming the central dilemma into a North against South battle. Vasu (Kamal Haasan) and Sapna (Rati Agnihotri) are neighbors in Goa. Although their families do not get along, they fall in love even if they do not know the language. The couple are invited to separate for a year to test their love. Vasu moves to Hyderabad and meets Sandhya (Madhvi), a widow who begins to teach him Hindi. Under the false impression that Sapna is marrying someone else, Vasu wants to marry Sandhya. However, it reaches Goa and corrects things. Vasu’s Hindi has improved and it seems that lovers will see a happy ending, but fate has something tragic in store for them. Kamal Haasan, Rati Agnihotri, Madhavi and playback singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam made their Bollywood debut with this film. Laxmikant – Pyarelal tunes like Tere simple beech mein and Hum bane, tum bane are still popular today.

Silsila (1981)

Director: Yash Chopra
Performers: Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Rekha, Sanjeev Kumar, Shashi Kapoor

The film is considered a cult classic today, but did not work well when it was first released. The reason being that people at the time considered the cast a little too close to reality. There were huge rumors of a deal between Amitabh and Rekha at the time and while Yash Chopra had signed the husband and wife in real life – Amitabh and Jaya plus the alleged lover Rekha to cash the gossip, but the movement failed. The film was leagues ahead of its time in the sense that it portrayed a shameless extra-marital history. The frames seem almost poetic and the chemistry between Amitabh and Rekha has burned the screen. Amit (Amitabh) is very in love with Chandni (Rekha) but circumstances force him to marry the fiancée of his late brother Shobha (Jaya). The two lovers meet later in life and the old flame rekindles. Their spouses – Sanjeev Kumar is superb as Chandni’s husband – are devastated by this when the news breaks. Fate, however, helps keep the sanctity of their respective marriages intact. Shiv-Hari’s melodic score was exactly what the doctor ordered. Row barse, remains the quintessential Holi song while Dekha ek khwaab is easily one of the most romantic songs of all time.

Prem Rog (1982)

Director: Raj Kapoor
Performers: Shammi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Padmini Kolhapure

Raj Kapoor made sure his films left a message. This time the message was about widow reform and widow remarriage. He struck a blow against age-old customs and preached that one should learn to move in tandem with the changing times. Devdhar (Rishi Kapoor) is an orphan raised by Bade Thakur (Shammi Kapoor). He is sent to Bombay for higher studies and, on his return, he finds that his childhood friend Manorma (Padmini Kolhapure) has become a beautiful young woman. He falls in love with her, but due to the class difference, he is unable to express his feelings. She is married to another Thakur, who unfortunately dies one day after the marriage, leaving her widowed. She was raped by her brother-in-law and later sent to her parents. To the credit of Raj Kapoor, the rape was shown symbolically and without any intention of titillation. His vibrant personality takes a 360 degree turn and at this point, Devdhar enters his life in order to bring a smile back to his face. The last segment of the film is rather preacher like Devdhar is shown delivering Reform speeches. But the sheer love he feels for Manorma has a certain appeal.

Hero (1983)

Director: Subhash Ghai
Performers: Shammi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Meenakshi Sheshadri and Amrish Puri

Pasha (Amrish Puri) is a dreaded gangster. He tells his right arm Jackie (Jackie Shroff) to get him out of prison at all costs. Jackie kidnaps the daughter of police commissioner Mathur (Shammi Kapoor) and makes her believe that he belongs to the police and she has been taken into police custody. The duo falls in love and inspired by her, Jackie goes to the police. He is serving two years in prison and tries to earn an honest living when he is released. He is still hated by Mathur, who changes his mind when Jackie saves him and his family from Pacha’s clutches. The film was an action love story and the macho looks of Jackie Shroff made her a star overnight. His association with the magnificent beauty queen Meenakshi was also appreciated by the public. It was a musical hit containing songs like Lambi judaai, Tu mera hero hai and many others.

Saagar (1985)

Director: Ramesh Sippy
Performers: Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Kamal Haasan

Saagar was presented as Dimple Kapadia’s return film. His screen jodi from Bobby (1973) with Rishi Kapoor was repeated here. The film was a love triangle and the real surprise of the film turned out to be Kamal Haasan, who played the man who loved him from afar since childhood. From a film about the romance of Rishi and Dimple, it became a film about the pain of unrequited love, perhaps unintentionally, thanks to Kamal’s superlative performance. The scene where he learns that Dimple prefers Rishi as a lover and not is heartbreaking for him. Dimple was a pleasure to watch and looked sexy as always even after an interval of twelve years. There is a tasteful wink and you will miss her topless scene in the film. It is far from being a perfect film but the performances and sublime music of RD Burman make it a must even now.

Pyar Jhukta Nahin (1985)

Director: Vijay Sadanah
Performers: Mithun Chakraborty, Padmini Kolhapure

It was a remake of Shashi Kapoor star Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973) and followed the pattern of the rich girl meeting the poor boy. Preeti (Padmini Kolhapure) is a rich girl who falls in love with photographer Ajay (Mithun Chakraborty) who belongs to the middle class. His father (Danny Denzongpa) dislikes him and sows misunderstandings among them even after marriage. She gives birth to a child but her father tells the husband that she does not want the child because she needs a new life and tells the girl that her child has died. She loses her mental balance and later, when meeting a child, she acquires a certain stability. It seems that her young friend is her own long lost son and soon she finds her husband and resolves the misunderstandings. It was an emotionally charged film. Cinegoers did it despite the melodramatic content because of the stable performance of the leads. The pairing of Mithun and Padmini has become popular.

Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988)

Director: Mansoor Khan
Performers: Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla

It was a new version of the tale Romeo and Juliet. Its success was such that the film transformed Aamir and Juhi into stars overnight. It’s love at first sight for Raj (Aamir Khan) and Rashmi (Juhi Chawla) but at this point, they do not both know that they belong to families who have been at war with each other. Raj finds out the truth later, but doesn’t tell her anything because he fell in love with her. The couple fled, gaining anger from their two families. They get closer to each other in their seclusion, gain confidence and seem inclined to lead a happy life together. However, his father sends a hitman after them, who shoots Rashmi. Unable to think of a life without her, he stabs himself mortally with a dagger given by her as a gift. The musical score of Anand-Milind’s film was another factor that made it a huge success. Songs like Papa kehte hain, Akele hain in kya gham hai, Ae simple humsafar are always a hit. It should be noted that they were written by lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri at the age of 70.

Chandni (1989)

Director: Yash Chopra
Performers: Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Sridevi, Waheeda Rehman

Yash Chopra has a way of highlighting human emotions and of linking viewers to the lives of his characters. The film is a classic love triangle but told with such sensitivity that it does not seem jaded. Rohit (Rishi Kapoor) meets Chandni (Sridevi) at a wedding and instantly falls in love with her. He courted her tirelessly and she finally said yes to her marriage to him. However, his family is against her and they become upset when he encounters an accident and paralyzes on one side. Seeing that he can no longer be his life partner, he sends her away. She starts working in a travel agency where her boss, Lalit (Vinod Khanna), a widower, is struck by her. He too pursues her and after a lot of reluctance at the start, she finally says yes. Lalit goes to Switzerland where he meets Rohit, who is treated there and the duo becomes friend. Rohit, once in great shape, wants Chandni to return to his life. When he learns that she is engaged to his friend, he suppresses this desire. He meets an accident again and seeing Chandni upset by all this, Lalit guesses the truth that she is still in love with Rohit. He sacrifices his own happiness for his own and she and Rohit end up getting married.

Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)

Director: Sooraj R. Barjatya
Performers: Salman Khan, Bhagyashree

It is the film which started the phenomenon called Salman Khan on the world. Like Juggernaut, Salman refused to slow down and grew from year to year. The film was a classic rework of the rich guy meeting a poor girl with a twist. Karan (Alok Nath), leaves his only daughter Suman (Bhagyashree) with the family of an old friend Kishan (Rajeev Varma) as he travels to Dubai to earn money for his marriage. Suman comes into contact with Kishan’s son Prem (Salman) and sparks fly. Kishan does not like their growing practice and humiliates her and her father on her return. Prem, who can’t forget Suman, returns to his village where Karan challenges him to earn some money before asking for Suman’s hand in marriage. Prem starts doing various odd jobs like driving a truck to earn the amount mentioned by Suman’s father. At the end of it all, Karan’s heart melts and the film heads for a happy ending. Salman became an instant superstar after the film was released. Bhagyashree was also inundated with offers but chose marriage rather than career. It was a musical blockbuster and songs like Kabootar ja ja ja, Aaja shaam hone aayi, Dil deewana, as well as the title song composed by Raamlaxman are extremely popular even today.