This is it! Last chance! Based on reader interest in these films, and suggestions put forth, and generally what I think I/you will like, this is my list of Romances for Valentine’s Week Festival. If you read this list and go “oh ick, I hate ——” or “oh man, she didn’t include my favorite movie —-!”, now is the time to speak up. (also, don’t panic, I decided to do a whole Ramesh Sippy Week in honor of Shimla Mirch)
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania NEW REVIEW
Because people CARE. If you write impassioned pleadings about a movie, I will write a new review. So this will be the start of Valentine’s Week.
Running Shaadi
My favorite recent romance, I don’t care what you say. Taapsee is a stubborn delight, Amit Sadh is dreamy, and I love the plot.
Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal
The most beautiful Malayalam romance I have seen yet. Old-fashioned filming, natural light and poor film quality, but such a lovely story once you lose yourself in it, and the visuals have their own charm too.
Kandukondain Kandukondain
One of those where I am just going to keep posting the review until everyone has seen it. If you like Jane Austen, or Tabu, or AR Rahman music, or Aishwarya Rai dancing, you should watch this movie.
Mr. and Mrs. 55
Guru Dutt up in here! Okay, it’s a bit regressive, but in a charming screwball comedy way. A rich girl has to get married to get her inheritance, her aunt hires an impoverished cartoonist to be her fake husband, and then guess what happens?
Charlie
Such a beautiful poetic kind of romance. Two people who search for each other because they are meant to be together, but at the same time are afraid to meet.
Once Again
Shefali Shah! Neeraj Kabi! That’s enough to sell me on it.
The Music Teacher
I don’t know why I am watching this, but you all said it was good, so I will.
Marjaavaan
Sid M. in a tragic angsty romance with lots of shirtless scenes! Join me in the cheesiness!
Sammohanam
Supposed to be actually clever and fun, a film company rents an average house as a set, the young son of the household and the pretty actress star of the film start up a something-something. But can it last?
Sillunu Oru Kaadhal/ Ek Dan Pandaram
Suriya and Jyothika (real life couple that everyone loves in real life) play a married couple. But can Suriya forget his first love Bhoomika Chawla?
Doosra Aadmi
Such an interesting film! A love triangle between very young married couple Rishi-Neetu, and cool older woman Raakhee that Rishi meets through work. There’s a lot of character building and backstory and you end up sympathetic with everyone involved. Oh, and there’s bonus Shashi.
Jab Jab Phool Kile
Let’s get some Shashi up in here! His first hit film, the movie that inspired Raja Hindustani, Shashi plays a humble boatman who falls in love with rich tourist Nanda. But can he make her happy?
Dhadkan
I don’t know, everyone says I need to watch it. And Suniel has a lot of chest hair, which is always fun.
Silsila
The classic! The best! Real life love triangle writ large onscreen, best consideration of romance versus married love ever, and Jaya’s hair is hypnotically beautiful.
Tum Bin
A romantic classic of the 90s that I have never seen and which stars no one famous!
Aa Gale Lag Jaa
Love triangle between Sharmila, Shashi, and Shatrughan Sinha. The plot seems….unlikely. More coincidences and hidden truths revealed and so on than is strictly speaking “realistic”. But who among us is in this for realism? Also, bonus adorable crippled child.
Okay, which of these do you really really like and totally definitely want me to review? Which of these do you think I should cut? What is missing that you want to vote for?
dontcallitbollywood 
I love that you’re going for unexpected romances! Great list.
I’m downloading Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal, Kandukondain Kandukondain, and Aa Gale Lag Jaa for my trip, wheee!
Shashi is so beautiful in Jab Jab Phool Kile, my God. The character is problematic as hell but if you just want to stare at his dreamy face, this movie is perfect.
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Whee! I am almost positive you will like Kandukondain, and pretty sure about Namukku (although you will need to get past the odd film quality of Namukku).
I always want to stare at Shashi’s dreamy face! So it does sound perfect.
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I love Jab Jab Phool Khile so much. Luckily most of it is okay, so I pretend the terrible bits don’t exist, it’s great. The ending still makes me want to smother Raja with a pillow though.
lol if you think Raja’s problematic I can’t wait for your take on Prem in Aa Gale Lag Jaa.
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Is Prem also Shashi? If so, I’m fine with whatever he does
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Yes. You don’t know what you’re saying yes to. Though Prem is great if you just ignore the entire first half of the movie.
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Wow, a new review of HSKD. I’m excited!
Kandukondain Kandukondain has been on my watchlist forever and maybe I’ll get to it after I finish Made in Heaven.
Yay, Sammohanam!
I’ve seen Sillunu Oru Kaadhal because I like Suriya but I didn’t really like the movie. I do love the New York Nagaram song though.
I’ve seen the Telugu remake of Tum Bin and if it’s anything like the original, then it’s going to be a pretty depressing movie.
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Well now I don’t want to watch Tum Bin or Sillunu! I may drop them.
But yes, you SHOULD watch Kandukondain! It’s gorgeous and I think you will really like it. And Young Ajith is super sweet. There’s probably even a Telugu version floating around you could watch.
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Cut Tum Bin, but I think you will enjoy Sillunu.
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And if I don’t, it’s your fault.
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 12:50 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Tum Bin is probably not worth it but I know that my opinion of Sillunu is actually kind of unpopular so maybe you’d still like it.
Lol, there is a Telugu dub of it on youtube that I was planning on watching.
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Can there really be a romantic classic of the 90s that you haven’t seen? How classic is classic?
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Not that classic! It was low budget, but the soundtrack ended up being a surprise hit so a bunch of people watched the movie. And as you can see, even Angie is saying I shouldn’t bother with it.
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 1:09 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You reminded me an english lesson in my high school when the teacher was annoyed with one of the girls and said: How can you not know this? Even Angie got it right.
What I was saying is that if the choice is Sillunu Oru Kaadhal or Tum Bin, cut Tum Bin because in my opinion SOK is more up your alley.
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But if you are choosing based just on which film is more satisfying for you?
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 2:35 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Also, you are so good at English! I don’t know what that teacher was thinking.
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Thank you 🙂
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Is Doosra Aadmi available anywhere that isn’t Prime or American Netflix? I’m desperate to see it.
I would have recced you some but somehow I couldn’t think of any romances. It’s not really what I remember from movies for some reason, but I can tell you wacky minor plot points and weird wardrobe details until the END OF TIME. Probably any actual romances I can think of are Govinda ones, anyway.
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Does this link work for you? Believe me, it is worth the $2 rental.
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 1:19 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Nope! The joys of European rights.
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That’s stupid! Itunes?
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 1:22 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I don’t have that. It’s the worst.
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Do you have Google play? It is available through that too.
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Oh, I’ve watched a lot of Sunil Dutt ones. You can basically pick anything of his from the 60s and it will be him romancing some woman who is considered socially unacceptable for some reason, they’re all great.
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You should get together with Datablue, another occasional commentator who went through this massive months long Guru Dutt festival and kept giving us fascinating updates on the Wednesday posts.
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 1:23 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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lol I’ve gone through all my obessions though. If I could get back into one maybe I’d actually watch something. Gah.
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Have you considered Street Dancer 3D?
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 1:27 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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No, you know how I feel about Varun doing a fourth rate imitation of Govinda’s entire career.
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But, have you at least watched his Shirtless Dance of Torment video? Did Govinda ever do a Shirtless Dance of Torment?
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 1:50 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh yeah, I’m sure he has. He’s been both shirtless and tormented enough, and occasionally actually shirtless and tortured.
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He’s done several videos of shirtless sexual (and wet) torment, come to think of it. That’s even better.
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By the way, does stupid European Netflix have Raees? If so, I found the place you need to watch. Go 13 minutes in and watch until you are done.
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 2:18 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh wow. That was eh, something I never knew I needed. Thank you, world.
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I know, right? Someone on set had a very particular fetish and a very seductive way of presenting it.
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 2:26 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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lol absolutely.
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So if I can be selfish and lobby for my favourites:
Definitely Marjaavan because it’s so bad it’s good and romance parts are cute, and I want to talk about it.
Once Again, because I have been trying to finish it for months and maybe your upcoming review will help me. + Shefali and the best
Sammohanam because it’s sweet and funny.
Sillunu Oru Kaadhal because I’m curious what you will say about it.
Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal – Haven’t seen it but I’m tempted after reading it’s your favourite malayalam romance. Is it sad?
Movies I would love to read about but I’m not sure you will like it:
Music Teacher – I still don’t understand well what happened in the end and I’m sure you would clarify my doubts. I loved Divya Dutta’s character and I think you will like her too, but the hero should be punched in the face, and the ending is open and I know you don’t like it.
Dhadkan – I loved that movie, it’s so over the top, but I ask myself is it worth watching if you can dedicate your time to other, better film?
Tum Bin – I love Tum Bin 2, but the first movie I hardly remember because I’ve seen it many years ago.
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Thank you for taking this so seriously! And have you seen this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmFMe45a-tE
Namukku has a very happy ending, but does go dark on the way there. And really, be ready for a different kind of film quality from what you are used to. I think it’s beautiful, but you have to accommodate yourself to natural lighting, bad VHS transfers, and regular houses as sets.
Good to hear your thoughts on the three to reject! I want to watch Dhadkhan someday, but maybe there is no hurry.
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 3:50 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I looooooove Mr and Mrs 55!! It seems like Guru Dutt’s only really light-hearted movie? Or am I forgetting something? But, all the magic of Guru Dutt without the depression! And maybe a Silsila review will inspire me to finish it—I don’t know why I can’t get into it. I am down for anything with Sharmila. Another vote for Once Again—it’s so different from the others and will make an interesting palate-cleanser.
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One thing I find lovely is that even in Guru’s “sad” films, there are happy moments. Mr. and Mrs. 55 is just a whole movie of those light moments. I guess CID is a little bit light too, although Waheeda’s story is kind of sad. And maybe there are other happy Guru movies, I just don’t know them.
Finish Silsila! It’s so fascinating!
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 4:56 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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On strike until you add in Ho Mann Jahaan.
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Fine! I’ll think about it!
On Fri, Jan 31, 2020 at 12:23 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Should I lobby for Shimla Mirchi? Because I started watching. (I don’t know why but I wait days for a movie, but as soon as I complain here the movie appears. Or your blog has some superpowers or Imraan Khan’s father reads you)
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Aha! Read the disclaimer in the intro! I decided to do a whole Ramesh Sippy week sometime.
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Oh, and clearly my blog has powers! Or at least you on my blog have powers. Start complaining more about Made in Heaven season 2, let’s see if we can make that happen for my selfish happiness.
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I am meh on Tum Bin and Dhadkan but I also feel bad advocating against them because I don’t want to take anything away from those who want read you reviews on them.
It would be interesting to get your take on Doosra Aadmi and discuss it in comments. It is worth watching just for Neetu, Rakhee, and the storyline! It is one of those movies that I can recognize as a legitamately interesting movie, with a unique storyline that was way ahead of its time. I am glad I watched it once but probably not a movie I would watch again. Also, it will be interesting to see if you really feel sympathetic toward all the characters in the movie.
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Okay, I am less sympathetic to Rishi than the other characters. But then, he is stuck because his life is changing so fast and Raakhee is definitely going after him and spinning him around, and he got married too young. Of course Raakhee is in the wrong too, but also she is grieving so I can forgive her. It really is a well-crafted film.
On Fri, Jan 31, 2020 at 9:46 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Hmm interesting and I can see that. To me, I really don’t have any sympathy for Rishi. This was the movie where he kind of reminded me of all the roles Ranbir plays with woe is me and my non-real issues while not taking any responsibility and blaming it on everyone else, especially his wife. I might watch this film one more time before your review to check whether I see things differently now.
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What really jumped out at me was how much more together Raakhee was than Rishi and Neetu. It really wasn’t fair for her to go up against Neetu, or to flirt with Rishi. Rishi shouldn’t have forgotten Neetu, but Raakhee was playing at a whole other league than him. Maybe it’s one of those age things? Seeing it when I was closer in age to Raakhee versus Rishi made me see Rishi as a helpless youngster.
On Fri, Jan 31, 2020 at 1:05 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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