PIX: Bollywood's torrid affair with 'Ishq'

Bollywood's soft spot for breezy love stories is no secret.

With most of its subjects designed around a boy and girl, how they fall in love and win against all odds, it demands a title most romantic in nature. Naturally, there's no shortage of movie names with love, prem, pyaar, mohabbat or ishq.

But nothing's trending like Ishq at the moment what with both Friday releases carrying a version of the all-important word in its title -- Ishaqzaade and Dangerous Ishhq.

While one marks the debut of producers Boney and Mona Kapoor's son, Arjun alongside Parineeti Chopra under the direction of Habib Faisal for the YRF banner, the latter is Karisma Kapur's comeback vehicle exploring a relationship spanning 500 years.

On that note, here are some other instances of Ishq-titled flicks in Bollywood.

The brazen, distasteful humour of this Akshay Kumar-Kareena Kapoor starrer, aspiring to do a Mars vs Venus against the glossy setting of Hollywood, ensured everyone keeps away from the farce. 

Abhishek Chaubey's directorial debut for the Vishal Bhardwaj produced Ishqiya garnered acclaim for its sly narrative, nifty characterization, masterful treatment and memorable performances from its lead cast -- Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan.

The creative team reunites with his under-production sequel, Dedh Ishqiya starring Madhuri Dixit and Kangana Ranaut.

Nikhil Advani's version of Love Actually may have been a star-studded affair with the likes of Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, John Abraham, Govinda, Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan and Juhi Chawla headlining its cast.

Only the mediocre script and contrived treatment did no one any favours.

Around the time when Govinda and Rani Mukerji teamed up over forgettable rom-coms (Hadh Kar Di Aapne, Pyaar Deewana Hota Hai) came another titled Chalo Ishq Ladaaye.

This tacky remake of Billy Crystal-Danny DeVito starrer-Throw Momma from the Train that is best remembered for Zohra Sehgal and Johnny Lever's droll antics.

With its loosely-reminiscent of Grease storyline and a peppy soundtrack, Shahid Kapur's debut co-starring Amrita Rao and Shenaz Treasurywala clicked well with its target audience -- a young, college-going crowd.

After working on Vikram Bhatt's super hit horror Raaz, erstwhile couple Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea got back together to make a dated Hindu-Muslim romance.

Needless to say, the film sank without trace.

Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn, Juhi Chawla, Kajol and Anu Malik's mostly 'inspired' soundtrack makes some solid contribution in Indra Kumar's loud comedy-turned-louder-melodrama of chaos and misunderstanding for it to enjoy a super hit status at the box office.

Rishi Kapoor's supreme conviction as Akbar Illahabadi encouraged quite a few filmmakers to sign him in Muslim socials like Deedar-E-Yaar, Tawaaif and Yeh Ishq Nahi Aasan.

In the latter, RK plays a man named Salim harbouring strong to medium range of affections for three women -- Padmini Kolhapure, Deepti Naval and Yogeeta Bali.

Ishq Ishq Ishq, produced, directed by and starring Dev Anand is about a man and a woman falling in love only to make a creepy discovery that he's her maternal uncle.

As an aside, nephew and well-known filmmaker Shekhar Kapur made his screen debut, although only a minor role, with this film.

It's a familiar story.

Two friends, one girl. Dharmendra, Sadhana and Bishwajeet form a love triangle in Ishq Par Zor Nahi high on S D Burman's mellifluous score with popular songs like Yeh dil deewana hai and Sach kehti hai duniya.