In the 80s parallel cinema was soaring and mainstream going through its darkest phase mainly because of the video piracy. Most of the stars were busy with South Productions and the busiest actor in the film firmament around this time was Jeetendra, dancing his way to Himmatwaala and more. Mithun Chakraborty was an actor on the rise. Three record breaking films that launched three superstars were Aamir Kha in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak / 88, Madhuri Dixit in Tezaab and Salman Khan in Maine Pyaar Kiya / 89.
The 90s was a decade of star kid debuts. Pooja (Mahesh) Bhatt, Raveena (Ravi) Tandon, Karisma (Randhir) Kapoor, Ajay (Veeru) Devgan and some outsiders like Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar managed to make an impact. Three generations of actors and trends co-existed during the nineties: Rishi Kapoor, Sunny Deol, and Govinda. Formula films co-existed with the artistic so A Love Story was patronized by the classes and Roja and Bandit Queen by both the classes and the masses. Director Sooraj Barjatya introduced the ‘feel good’ cinema set in a rural Maine Pyaar Kiya. Aditya Yash Chopra exercised the same formula in an urban Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge /95.