What will you get if you remove all the cheesy item songs, done and dusted story lines and re-hashed dialogues from all these new-age Bollywood romcoms doing the rounds over the last few years? What remains when you remove all the drinking games and skimpy clothes, the late night parties and live-in quirky houses, the sleaze and the on-screen lip-to-lip kisses?
It is no new formula. We've all seen it in our heydays with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayengay, Dil Toh Pagal Hain, Kaho Na Pyar Hain, Dil Chahta Hain and Hum Tum to name a few. And most recently we've enjoyed the boy meets girl or boy meets boy or lots of boys meet lots of girls stories in Love Aaj Kal, Zindagi Na Milegi Doobara, London Paris New York, Anjana Anjaani, Ek Main Aur Ek Tum, Break Ke Baad, Cocktail, English Vinglish, Cheeni Kum, I Hate Luv Storys, Yeh Jawaani Hain Deewani, Rockstar and in the latest addition to this list - Queen.
Whether it is a doting daughter asking her strict father for permission to live her life on her own terms before she settles for a family of four or it's three lads living their best life and shirking away all responsibilities or a typical Indian housewife's struggle to be accepted and loved just the way she is, we have all laughed and cried, cheered and hooted with these on screen characters.
Whether it's the story of love lost and reclaimed across different eras or undertaking dares with your best mates or standing on the edge of life ready to cut it short. Whether it is a drunken marriage escapade or an escape from everything to do with marriage itself or a humble young Indian bride's attempt to get over a wedding that never happened.
There is only one remedy to all these celebrations and problems. Only one answer to all of life's most pertinent questions. It will solve your most pressing issues. Give you the independence you were afraid of dealing with. Help you value those individuals you depend on. Make you realise that there is much more to the world than the bubble you live in. Gift you experiences you never thought existed. Give you courage and make you humble. And most importantly let you know that you don't have to know someone forever to befriend them. That strangers are not always weird and that there is so much good in the world to share.
Do you still not spot that holy grail? That one single strand running across all these movies? That one big message that you should have taken back home after you saw them?
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