Bollywood Love Story Movies Worth Rewatching

Bollywood romance is not one genre. There is the family-approved epic, the doomed obsession, the slow-burn friendship, and the messy modern one where nobody runs through an airport. Here are the films that still earn a rewatch, grouped by which kind of love story you are in the mood for.

The grand ones

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) — Aditya Chopra's debut, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, and the longest theatrical run in Hindi film history at Mumbai's Maratha Mandir.

Veer-Zaara (2004) — Yash Chopra's cross-border romance with Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta, built on Madan Mohan's unused compositions.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) — Sanjay Leela Bhansali at his most operatic, with Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn.

Devdas (2002) — the most expensive Hindi film of its time, and still the definitive version of the doomed-lover story.

The ones that hurt

Rockstar (2011) — Imtiaz Ali and A.R. Rahman, with Ranbir Kapoor as a musician who needs heartbreak to make anything worth hearing.

Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001) — a box-office disappointment that became a cult favourite entirely through television and the internet.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) — Karan Johar's hardest film, about two unhappy marriages rather than one happy couple.

The gentle ones

Barfi! (2012) — Anurag Basu's near-silent romance with Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz.

Jab We Met (2007) — Kareena Kapoor's Geet is still the most quoted character Imtiaz Ali ever wrote.

Wake Up Sid (2009) and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) — Ayan Mukerji's two films about people falling in love while figuring out their twenties.

The modern shift

Tamasha (2015), Dear Zindagi (2016) and Gehraiyaan (2022) moved Hindi romance toward therapy-literate, less tidy storytelling. Not everyone liked it. All three keep getting rewatched.

If wedding-season romance is what you are actually after, our Bollywood wedding songs playlist and most iconic dialogues pair well with this list.