In a way Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal triggered the marriage mood in the film fraternity. For a long time, one assumed that the stories were just rumors but when they held a chatt mangni followed by a pat shaadi news, the fragrance of their love filled the air. Strangely, it all began at Karan Johar’s TV show Koffee with Karan where the director asked Katrina to name an actor, she would make a good pair with. Katrina’s spontaneous response was, ‘Vicky Kaushal’.

A few weeks later, Vicky came on Karan’s show and Karan showed the clip of Katrina singling him out for attention. Vickywas not prepared for this and began blushing. It is the law of universe that whenever attraction is expressed it is always reciprocated, well most of the time. I don’t know the exact forward story of the love story, like how they met, where and why but they did soon after. It is called law of attraction – and after a few dates, a few family meetings and the couple were ready to walk around the fire. Their detractors complained that they have nothing in common.  I disagree. Vicky and Katrina have struggled to reach on the top. They’ve seen their family’s struggle. They have seen hardships and these are more than enough reasons to keep them together.

For most of us Dil Toh Pagal Hai was a story of love and friendship but I view it as a story of opportunities. On the surface Karisma Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan are a team and Akshay Kumar and Madhuri Dixit another team but something is not right, something is out of place and therefore when Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan meet it is magic! There are constant signals- symbols that they are on the right track and must follow the heart and that they do despite all the obstacles and the challenges is a wonderment, Adhbhuta Rasa.

And finally Veer Zaara, a perfect depiction of Shanta Rasa. Shah Rukh Khan is unfairly detained in Pakistan jail and the lovers are separated for decades, till Rani Mukherji sets him free. True love triumphs when Veer discovers Zaara/ Preity Zinta at his home, both have aged with time but love has not diminished.

Shah Rukh Khan’s obsession with ka ka Kiran/ Juhi Chawla in Darr is without doubt Bhaya Rasa. It is a love beyond logic or reason and borders on violence.  The hero follows the heroine to her home, her college, even her honeymoon and will go to any extreme to draw her attention.

While Kabhi Kabhie remains Yash Chopra’s most fragrant love story, Amitabh Bachchan’s portrayal of Amit post Raakhee’s marriage to Shashi Kapoor is a manifestation of Vibhatsa Rasa.  The romantic poet who sang kabhi kabhi mere dil mein is now a bitter man filled with remorse and regret. He is unenthusiastic and filled with contempt for his wife and her extended relatives. He is solely responsible for his choices but he plays the victim.

Rudra Rasa for me will always be Ittefaq because it tells the story of a wife/ Nanda who seeks revenge with her husband. She is in love with another man and together they murder Jagmohan. Rajesh Khanna who has escaped from the jail the same night becomes the scapegoat. Nanda is angry because she does not want to live with Jagmohan, her beloved is angry because he wants to be with Nanda and Rajesh Khanna is angry because they are exploiting him and he cannot prove his innocence.

Sridevi as both mother and daughter in Lamhe are examples of Veer Rasa. Pallavi/ Sridevi heralds from a small village who befriends a young city boy/ Anil Kapoor and shares her secret/ her baby with him. When the little girl grows up, Sridevi again, she is infatuated with her guardian/ Anil Kapoor and has the courage to express her love however audacious it may sound. It is a love story of conviction and faith, Sridevi believes her love for Anil Kapoor is real and eventually he submits to her conviction.

Chandni is an example of Hasya Rasa because Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi are bursting with joi-de-vivre. Rishi Kapoor’s purpose of life is to make his beloved feel special and spread happiness. All their interactions before the accident are filled with fun and laughter until destiny plays a cruel joke on both.  

Yash Chopra’s Daag based on Gulshan Nanda story reflects Karuna Rasa for all the three protagonists – lovers Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore, now separated and Raakhee, because of her haunting past.  Rajesh Khanna meets the desolate Rakhee on a faraway location and lends his name to her child. It is a complex story of complex situations and characters.

Yash Chopra once told me that wherever he went, people wanted to tell him their love stories. “Because I make romantic films, everybody feels obliged to share their stories with me.” said the filmmaker. “How do I tell them that it is great characters that make a great film?” Yash Chopra chose his subjects intuitively but today, as I sit to write this column, I discover that his cinema reflected all the nav rasas associated with love.

For my generation of audience, Chopra’s Silsila is the ultimate Shringaar Rasa where the hero/ Amitabh Bachchan and heroine/ Rekha first spot each other in a shaadi barat and there is instant attraction. In the forthcoming scenes the attraction grows to attachment and then passionate romance/ ye kahan aa gaye hum in Amsterdam. Marriage and society cannot keep the lovers apart, they defy conventions but like all legendary love stories, even this one ends in a tragedy and the lead pair return to their spouses.

All creativity is eventually team work and Pyaar ki kashti mein is proof of that. My brother wanted to shoot on a ship in mid-ocean because those were the days of Titanic hangover. We tried several options for the tune but nothing pleased him, then one day, I heard him humming a tune and that was the beginning of this song. It is not easy to balance on a sailing ship but the chorus dancers did a splendid job. Na tum jaano na hum as the best song of the film because Lucky Ali is not into music for the race but for the passion, he sings from the heart and connects to everyone’s heart.

Dil ne dil ko pukara was our last song and I told my brother let us experiment with a new voice and he agreed without protest. It meant he had exhausted his energies but Babool Supriyo’s rendition had all of us happy. People often ask me how is it to work with my brother and I say we have our worst fights when before the film and come closer after the release. Hrithik and I do assignments too but our best is always reserved for our home banner.

Director Saawan Kumar Tak wrote the lyrics of Jaaneman Jaaneman but omitted the song in the final edit but 15 weeks post the release, when the film remained rock steady at the box-office, we put it back and the collections improved. There’s an interesting story about Asha Bhosle connected with this song. One of the lines Udhar ja raat hain, sabera hain idhar is very similar to RD Burman tune, so she got emotional and could not deliver but she did not give up, said, “Isse yaad rakhungi yeeh ek line, ne bada sataya…”

Ek pal ka jeena was a discotheque number but with a philosophic message written by a new lyricist, Vijay Akela. On the day of the shooting, Hrithik had a splitting headache and in between shots literally holding his head. When I met him in the makeup room he said, “Chachu if I didn’t this headache, I would have performed the so much better”. The dance and his trademark step became a rage but he still feels he didn’t give his best.To be continued