The times sure are changing. Gone are the days when most Hindi films would end with a snapshot of a gleeful bride and groom tying the knot in the presence of an extended doting family.

The Mumbai studio-based Hindi film trade is rewriting its script. Movies now begin with what happens the day after a boy meets a girl and they fall in love. In Bollywood of today, mistrust and infidelity are the reigning themes.

So much so that even a 400-years-old tale, "Othello", penned by William Shakespeare, has found relevance in this week's release "Omkara" by composer-cum-filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj.

The film has bowled over critics and has all the makings of raking in big bucks, given its backdrop in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.

Power performances by Ajay Devgan as a man besieged with mistrust, Kareena Kapoor who essays the role of his wife and Saif Ali Khan who spins a web of lies and deceit along with Naseerudin Shah, Konkana SenSharma and Viveik Oberoi have set Mumbai talking.

The bedroom politics that ensue in this flesh and blood drama in the backdrop of India's cow-belt have brought mainstream Hindi cinema closest to real life than ever before.

For some time now, Bollywood has been trying desperately to crack the code for a commercially successful though critically sound film. As if on cue, most filmmakers have latched on to films with betrayal and infidelity as the themes that save the day.

What began as plots that pivot on lust and libido in films like "Jism," "Hawas" or "Murder" where brave new heroines break conventions and shed clothes, are now more realistic depiction of human relations and modern Indian marriages.

Not so long ago, dream merchants had found promiscuity as the favourite excuse to unleash skin show. For some time it seemed audiences were showing remarkable maturity of thought, flexibility of morals and an eagerness to cater to the Satan within.

"Body knows no love, it only respects desire," screamed the taglines of the skin shows and crowd of cinegoers nodded in affirmation. Then came a slew of sex comedies where men would sow wild oats in Bollywood, as in "Masti" and "No Entry".

Now the skin shows and brazen sex comedies are giving way to mass entertainers that are nearly a reflection of today's society - a society that no longer identifies with glossy family dramas in which the united Hindu family is unabashedly celebrated and propagated.

Recently, a $370,000-budget film by Rajat Kapoor about a couple swinging in Mumbai titled "Mixed Doubles" that was expected to fade out grossed $730,000.

Even the most commercially successful filmmaker of our times, Karan Johar, has swayed away and with "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" ("Never Say Goodbye"), he enters alien, high-risk territory - the modern Indian marriage.

After making "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" with a tagline of "It's all about loving your parents," he has gone to "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna", which is being sold as "a love that broke all relationships".

The success or failure of "Kabhi Alvida..." will test how much audiences are willing to let go of the favourite family fantasy.

In "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" for the first time Indian cinema's favourite romantic idol Shah Rukh Khan is depicted as the faltering husband of Preity Zinta. Set for release worldwide on Aug 11, with a budget of more than $10 million, it is one of Bollywood's big budget expensive and awaited films this year.

"Kabhi Alvida..." also stars leading screen goddess Rani Mukerji as a married woman who falls in love with Shah Rukh in spite of a doting husband Abhishek Bachchan.

A scene in the film has Amitabh Bachchan asking his daughter-in-law (Rani) to leave his son. Aishwarya Rai, similarly, almost committed infidelity in "Shabd" with a much younger Zayed Khan.

Clearly, realistic portrayals of marriage -- happy and otherwise -- are very much on the mind of Bollywood these days. Love is no more depicted as childlike in its innocence and naïvely disconnected from complications, emotional or sexual, says author of Bollywood-based books Anupama Chopra.

She adds that there are no national records available, but experts agree that divorce rates have risen significantly.

Over the years much media coverage has been devoted to urban stress, the new empowered Indian woman, the phenomena known as DINK (double income no kids) and DINS (double income no sex), the emergence of marriage counselling and, of course, high-profile celebrity break-ups.

Marriage is very much on the minds of Bollywood dream merchants. Likely to release next week is a Salman Khan-starrer "Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar". The star-crossed popular actor was also part of "No Entry", in which several husbands try to cheat on their wives and "Shaadi No.1", a blockbuster comedy, in which he betrays his wife and children.

"Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar" will be superstar Salman Khan's first release after he was found guilty of killing an endangered deer species. In the past, the actor's popularity has gone up every time he has faced turmoil in personal life.

His fans dig his image as a rebellious man who wears his heart on his sleeve. It remains to be seen whether this time around they come out in droves to watch his latest release for signalling their support for him. The film is not yet certain for release on Aug 4, given the increase in the actor's trips to courts and jails.

The film also stars Shilpa Shetty and is directed by K.S. Adhiyaman, who had made multi-starrer "Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam" that brought together Shah Rukh Khan, Salman and Madhuri Dixit.