Shakun Batra's Gehraiyaan is about how a torrid affair between a young woman's fiance and married cousin stirs a storm in their personal lives.
The relationship drama, starring Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa, hopes to look at the complexity of the situation as realistically and neutrally as possible.
While we wait for Batra's latest to drop on Amazon Prime Video on February 11, Sukanya Verma looks at how Bollywood has dealt with affairs of the heart over the years.
Andaz
Mehboob Khan's epic love triangle is as dramatic as it gets.
High-society heiress Nargis pays a heavy price for her free-spirited ways, which is misunderstood for love by buddy Dilip Kumar and triggers jealous rage within her beau Raj Kapoor.
Though she marries the latter, poor timing, nagging suitors and suspicious spouse ensue in tragic consequences for every one.
Guide
Waheeda Rehman's dancer dumps her abusive husband to live-in with a good-humored tourist guide Dev Anand in Vijay Anand's adaptation of R K Narayan's book.
But the latter's greed ruins their harmonious partnership and lands him behind bars.
Eventually though, a spiritually awakened Dev and regretful Waheeda do reunite one last time.
Daag
Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore are newlyweds forced to live apart after he kills his wife's attacker.
When Khanna is believed to be dead, Tagore moves on to a hill station where she encounters him once again, only this time he is Raakhee's husband.
This doesn't stop the two from rekindling their relations again, but three is always a crowd in this early Yash Chopra offering.
Basera
Basera is stuff of serious twists.
Raakhee and Rekha play sisters.
Rekha shares a flirtatious relationship with her handsome jijaji Shashi Kapoor.
When Rekha loses her husband immediately after marriage, a shell-shocked Raakhee has an accident and loses her mind.
Rekha weds Shashi Kapoor in her absence and has a son.
Raakhee regains her senses a decade-and-a-half later and Rekha goes back to pretending things are the way she left them.
You get the drift.
Drishti
Govind Nihalani explores the nature of infidelity in marriage with Dimple Kapadia and Shekhar Kapur taking turns to cheat on each other and end their marriage.
But when they begin to see things from a new perspective after a passage of time, a reconciliation seems entirely possible.
Arth
Based on Mahesh Bhatt's personal experiences, Arth is the story of a marriage crumbling when a film-maker (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) betrays his unsuspecting wife (Shabana Azmi) and gets into a reckless relationship with his neurotic heroine (Smita Patil).
How the better half picks up the pieces and learns to stand on her two feet only to have her ex-husband pleading her to return in vain forms Arth's scoring point.
Grihpravesh
Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore's lived-in marriage, mundane routine and overdue dreams of buying their own home are threatened by the arrival of a confident young colleague.
There's an undeniable attraction between Sanjeev Kumar and Sarika that grows into much more until Sharmila decides to let go of her household requirements and give her marriage it all.
Silsila
Former flames Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha famously cheat on their respective spouses Jaya Bachchan and Sanjeev Kumar in Yash Chopra's casting coup special take on extra-marital affairs, best known for mirroring real-life speculations about the leads.
Despite its boldest intentions, Silsila shies from breaking convention and opts for a sanskari happily-ever-after.
Masoom
Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi's domestic bliss takes a hit on learning he has a son from his brief affair with an ex-classmate.
It's a traumatic time for both -- the guilt-ridden husband and devastated wife -- but the kid's innocent presence helps them bridge the differences and inspire Shabana towards a magnanimous gesture.
Shekhar Kapoor's judgement-free take on the subject of extra-marital affairs is a rare one from Bollywood.
Ijaazat
Gulzar's poetry imbues every frame of Ijaazat and its whimsical, poignant and accepting portrayal of messy love.
Naseeruddin Shah lets go his crazy ardour for wild child Anuradha Patel to settle down with the subdued Rekha.
Though everyone is in the know and graceful about the new status quo, the shadow of the past looms too large on the present to create a stable future for anybody.
The upshot is bittersweet.
Maya Memsaab
In Ketan Mehta's adaptation of Madame Bovary, Deepa Sahi's discontent, titular character's restless quest for romance results in a dull marriage to Farooque Sheikh and a series of doomed affairs with men as varied as Raj Babbar and Shah Rukh Khan that, ultimately meets a mysterious, tragic end.
Lamhe
Yash Chopra made everyone roll their eyes in the early 1990s when Anil Kapoor falls in love with both mother and daughter, played by Sridevi, in his often said to be ahead of its times, Lamhe.
While the mother Sridevi is oblivious to his feelings, the daughter is a smitten kitten mistaking her mum's picture in his room to be her own.
Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi
Akshay Kumar's roving eye hits its peak as he romances a pair of sisters in Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi.
On one hand, he befriends Raveena Tandon, and on the another, actively seduces Rekha to avenge his missing brother.
Though upset, Raveena willfully plays along until she has to make a choice and go against her lawless badi bahen.
Gharwali Baharwali, Saajan Chale Sasural, Judaai, Biwi No 1
David Dhawan exhibits a strong distaste for monogamy in comedies that have a good laugh at the expense of the wronged wife whilst glorifying the bechara husband in films sandwiched between the wrangling women in films like Biwi No 1, Gharwali Baharwali and Saajan Chale Sasural.
Raj Kanwar's Judaai takes the ultimate male fantasy to a warped level when bourgeois wearied Sridevi sells off docile Anil Kapoor to Urmila Matondkar's eager buyer in the lure of a better life.
After Sridevi has had enough of wealth, she insists on having Anil back, a request pregnant Urmila gladly agrees on and leaves the country.
How's that for 'It happens only in India.'
Aitraaz
Akshay Kumar takes his former girlfriend-turned-lady boss Priyanka Chopra to court on charges of sexual assault.
Wife Kareena Kapoor doesn't doubt her hubby even for a second and instantly decides to fight his case by shaming PC for her ambitions and libido in this dumbed-down Disclosure.
Jism
A remake of Double Indemnity that put Bipasha Basu and John Abraham's scorching chemistry on the map, Bips plays a bored trophy wife of a millionaire (Gulshan Grover) who gets up, close and personal with JA and convinces him to bump off the pati and usurp all his wealth.
Her gold-digger reality doesn't bode well for her nor her hot paramour.
Dil Kabbadi
Inspired by Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives, an eclectic ensemble of Irrfan, Konkona Sensharma, Rahul Bose and Soha Ali Khan portray two sets of urban married couple whose role as cheating and wronged spouses ensues in much trial, error, hilarity and insight.
Bewafaa
Confused Kareena Kapoor loves hippy musician Akshay Kumar but marries dead sister Sushmita Sen's workaholic husband Anil Kapoor to raise his kids.
Latter's lack of interest and return of ex-flame rekindles old passions and lead to much dharam sankat.
Turns out, she's Team Pati Parmeshwar in this regressive Dharmesh Darshan rehash of Gumraah.
Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna
With KANK, Karan Johar moved away from his trademark fancy family fares to direct an unconventional relationship drama where Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji do not let their married status come in the way of their sizzling affair.
Guilt of breaking their partner's heart estranges them briefly but when Preity Zinta and Abhishek Bachchan voluntarily get out of the way, nothing can stop a reunion.
Cocktail
Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone share a no-strings attached relationship until he develops the hots for her 'already married but abandoned by groom' roomie Diana Penty.
Saif breaks up with one and goes steady with another.
But Deepika's chill attitude soon wears off and there's tension, guilt and break-up.
After pity dating each other for a while, Deepika decides to reunite the pining lovers in cringe-worthy Bollywood style.
Rockstar
Imtiaz Ali's slice of impossible love chronicles the tragic fate of Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri's alliance.
If discovering his feelings for her right when she's about to marry another wasn't bad enough, pursuing her in Europe right under her husband's nose is a sure shot recipe for disaster.
Getting her pregnant while she's fighting a terminal illness is the final nail in the coffin, no matter how much Rockstar romanticizes this morose development.
Tanu Weds Manu Returns
In the sequel, fiery Kangana Ranaut accuses her husband of being mental unstable.
After R Madhavan is tossed in a London asylum, Ranaut resumes her rapport with local admirers in Kanpur.
On release Madhavan, too, finds love in an athletic Kangana lookalike resulting in jealously and love triangle that's resolved through heaps of conventional melodrama.
Manmarziyan
Stealing a march over similarly themed Woh Saat Din and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Anurag Kashyap's 'loves one, marries another' premise starring Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal and Abhishek Bachchan shows the impulsive girl returning to her unreliable ex and going the adulterous path all the way.
The husband isn't entirely guileless and keeps tabs on his wife, resulting in annulment.
All of a sudden, Taapsee realises her husband is the 'one', marking the beginning of a beautiful new friendship.
Pati Patni Aur Woh
Kartik Aaryan's remake is not too different from the original.
Bored of small-town existence and craving excitement, the philandering husband paints a promiscuous picture of his lovely wife Bhumi Pednekar to Ananya Pandey's stylish city girl.
Only this time, the girls gang up against him and plan their own brand of revenge.
Unfortunately, it doesn't end in him deserving to be single.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
