Bollywood has thrived on romantic scenes that hold the burden of making films successful. Arguably the best of the lot, 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' showed a couple that was matched oh-so-perfectly that the film is running till date. But that was two decades ago and if romance hasn't changed since then, there is a reason to worry. While the judgment of talent is inevitably left on box office results, Hitlist reminds you of the times you yawned in the cinemas this year during romantic scenes that was hardly impressive by any yardstick.
'Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania'
In a nutshell: After all the PR noise about Varun Dhawan dating Alia Bhatt, the makers decided to get to the romantic scenes really fast after the story began. Kavya and Humpty share a kiss after a night of clubbing that he takes very Seriously: he becomes her Man Friday. Friendship leads to "loveship" and that ship drowns in the deep waters of the audience's imagination.
Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt in 'Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania'
Oh, really?: The definition of 'madly-in-love' got stretched to a limit where Kavya calls Humpty to fight the bad guys because her NRI fiance prefers to ignore them.
'Ek Villain'
In a nutshell: India is known for its diversity but the irony lies in the fact that we Indians have mastered the art of molding all things foreign into desi style. Like the Korean film titled I Saw the Devil which became 'Ek Villain'. While there's no denying Mohit Suri's talent of giving an Indian touch to bright and beautiful things, we feel he gave romance a little too much of a kooky touch.
Shraddha Kapoor and Sidharth Malhotra in 'Ek Villain'
Oh really?: Guru (Sidharth Malhotra) showers his love on a terminally ill Ayesha (Shraddha Kapoor) by spraying birthday snow from their rooftop. And she pretends to believe it's snowing. We are still figuring out who was dumb and who was even dumber!
'Hasee Toh Phasee'
In a nutshell: They have done away with dancing in the fields, eliminated the rapists and made the dialogues sound more natural. Hats off to filmmakers for all that, but why not think of a less predictable climax? The daughter is ashamed of facing her father, not because she fell in love with a boy of a lower status but because she had stolen money from dear daddy, which gave him a heart attack. In an enjoyable twist of events, Nikhil (Sidharth Malhotra) was to get married to Meeta (Parineeti Chopra)'s sister but he falls for her instead.
Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra in 'Hasee Toh Phasee', which revisited cliches such as rain for romance
Oh, really?: Bollywood has always associated rain with romance. In this film, Sidharth ushers Parineeti out of the wedding celebrations and takes her on a drive. Other than the car stopping does anyone remember the sudden change in weather?
'Dishkiyaoon'
In a nutshell: A wannabe gangster, overplayed by Harman Baweja, takes a while to settle in the audience's minds because he doesn't match the character that the backdrop of the story assigns him. Unfortunately, like all female leads in a majority of gangster films, Ayesha Khanna was just there.
Harman Baweja and Ayesha Khanna in 'Dishkiyaoon'
Oh, really?: Playing instruments is a disgraceful thing when one has no clue about what they are doing. Remember that chillingly unromantic sequence where Ayesha plays an entire song on the guitar by strumming just one chord? Yes, that happened.
'Heropanti'
In a nutshell: Like most action films, this one also exhausts its creative energy in the action-packed sequences, leaving no scope for an elaborate romantic scene to flower.
Kriti Sanon and Tiger Shroff in 'Heropanti'
Oh, really?: An opening in the wall of the attic where Bablu (Tiger Shroff) and his friends are held hostage, according to the filmmakers, was the way to make the lead actor get the first sight of his lady love's belly. So 80's. Blah.
'Ungli'
In a nutshell: The genre that this film strives to fit into is one that demands many twists that are supposed to surprise the audience. But the only surprise is that the film is by Rang De Basanti's writer, Rensil D'Silva. It is not that the story was lacking but there was a lack of a good directorial effort that flourishes only in the unimportant scenes.
Oh, really?: A bomb scare at a girl's hostel forces the inmates to evacuate and Emraan Hashmi pulls one of them to a corner and tells her that it was his doing to get her alone. Dangerous, stupid love, innit?
