With so much despair and gloom around us, many have chosen to fall back on films to uplift their mood. And what better than a romance to instantly make you feel better? While Indian cinema routinely produces love stories, not all of them have stayed in our minds.
Once in a while, however, magic happens and the actors are able to work up a chemistry that makes fans root for them even years after the film’s release.
Here are 10 such on screen couples who’ve been a hit with the audience. All these films came out in the last six years and we’re sure that they won’t be forgotten anytime soon!
Nithya Menen and Dulquer in Ok Kanmani: Mani Ratnam’s 2015 film was about a young couple in a live-in relationship. Dulquer played Adhi, a video game developer who is commitment-phobic. He first sees Tara (Nithya Menen) when she’s threatening to jump in front of a train at the railway station. They meet at a wedding later and the two of them decide to live together after dating each other. While they’re convinced that they don’t want to get married, they slowly change their minds over time. The film also had another memorable couple, Ganapathy and Bhavani, played by Prakash Raj and Leela Samson respectively. The lightweight romance was made magical by AR Rahman’s music.
Prabhas and Anushka Shetty in Baahubali: The Conclusion: Prabhas and Anushka have always been a favourite on screen pair with fans. However, the Baahubali films took the craze to a whole other level. The fantasy film directed by SS Rajamouli saw Prabhas play a young man who discovers his royal roots and unravels the truth about his past. The second film had the actor play the father character, Amarendra Baahubali, a much-loved prince. Anushka played Devasena, a brave princess from another kingdom who meets Amarendra and falls in love with him. The couple shared great chemistry on screen and inspired fans to an extent that we saw a slew of Baahubali themed weddings where the bride and groom dressed like Devasena and Amarendra respectively.
Tovino and Aishwarya Lekshmi in Mayaanadhi: Aashiq Abu’s film was about the one-off relationship between a criminal on the run and an aspiring actor. Tovino played Maathan while Aishwarya played Appu. The two of them have known each other since their school days and find each other’s presence comforting, but circumstances keep coming in their way. While Maathan is sure that he wants Appu in his life, the latter is more practical and knows that he cannot be good for her in the long run. The film has a heartbreaking ending, which only made the audience remember the couple even more.
Teju Belwadi and Nischith Korodi in Gantumoote: Roopa Rao’s tender coming-of-age film, told from a girl’s perspective, is undoubtedly one of the best Kannada films to come out in recent times. Meera (Teju) is an independent young girl who loves watching movies and has dreams of her own. The film follows her story, her relationship with her parents, how she sees the world around her, and the love of her life, Madhu (Nischith). Though their love comes to a tragic end, Roopa’s heroine finds a way to process the grief and choose life over death.
Trisha and Vijay Sethupathi in 96: C Prem Kumar’s debut directorial became all the rage, thanks to the nostalgia for the ‘90s that it evoked in audiences. Trisha and Vijay Sethupathi played high school sweethearts Janaki and Ram, who meet again at a school reunion decades later. They discover that a small misunderstanding had separated the two of them back then, but life has changed too much for them to get back together again. The scene when Janaki makes up the life they would have had if not for the misunderstanding, has both the actors delivering terrific understated performances. The soulful music by Govind Vasantha added to the pathos of the story. The young actors who played Janaki and Ram in the film, Gouri G Kishan and Aadithya Bhaskar, also won praise for their performance. A lot of merchandise based on the film came out, including Jaanu and Ram dolls!
Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi in Premam: Alphonse Puthren’s film on the three stages of a young man’s life had three heroines, but it was the love between George (Nivin Pauly) and Malar Miss (Sai Pallavi) that has lingered. After his high school crush fails to take off, we meet George again as a rowdy college-goer who’s forever getting into scrapes. He rags the new professor Malar along with his friends, mistaking her for a student. The exchanges between George and Malar are not profound but they still leave an impact on the viewer. When Malar meets with an accident and suffers from memory loss, their blooming relationship comes to an abrupt halt. But years later, when she comes to George’s wedding, we realise that at some point, her memory had returned. The ‘Malarey’ song between the two of them still evokes beautiful memories of the film.
Rajinikanth and Radhika Apte in Kabali: Pa Ranjith’s directorial saw Rajinikanth play his age for the first time. The actor played a Malaysian Tamil don who goes in search of his missing wife, Kumudhavalli (Radhika Apte). The reunion between the two is beautifully visualised, with Kabali finding Kumudhavalli and the latter stunned into speechlessness at the sight of him after so many years. The ‘Mayanadhi’ song which follows has the two of them catching each other’s eyes and enjoying their togetherness after so long despite the party crowd around them.
Krishna and Milana in Love Mocktail: Krishna made his directorial debut with this film in which he also played the lead. Like Premam, this film too is about the different stages of a man’s life, and follows the story of Krishna from his schooldays’ crush to a college relationship that doesn’t work out and finally a mature romance. Milana, who is the actor’s real-life girlfriend, played Nidhi, an independent woman who comes into his life when he’s older and wiser. Unfortunately, their happiness doesn’t last long either due to circumstances. Raghu Dixit’s music was a big plus for the film which won rave reviews for its recounting of urban romance so well.
Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika in Dear Comrade: Vijay and Rashmika came together again on screen after the success of Geeta Govindam. Directed by Bharat Kamma, Dear Comrade received a mixed response at the box-office. While some felt the film was too similar to Vijay’s previous outings, others loved it for its unusual storyline about a woman cricketer (Rashmika) and her fight against sexual harassment in the sport. Though Vijay as Bobby plays his usual angry young lover role, the real surprise was Rashmika’s Lilly. The film captures their changing relationship and how Bobby stands by Lilly in her journey.
Fahadh and Nazriya in Bangalore Days: Anjali Menon’s fun-filled film about cousins had a failing marriage at its centre. The one between Divya (Nazriya) and Das (Fahadh). While Divya is persuaded by her parents to set aside her ambitions and marry Das, he has still not moved on from the death of his girlfriend. At first, Divya prepares to leave him, but when she finds out the reason for Das’s pain, she decides to stick around. However, Divya doesn’t do any of the ‘loyal wife’ pandering that we’re used to seeing on screen. She enrols for the course that she always wished to do and Das eventually comes around. She also takes efforts to give him closure without imposing herself. The couple married in real life soon after the film.