How Bollywood Perfected the Love Triangle
Long before ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ and ‘Challengers,’ India’s biggest films thrived on this messy formula. Why can’t we look away?
As Challengers hit theaters in 2024, audiences flocked to see how the raunchy love triangle would unfold. Would Tashi (Zendaya) pick the safe and comfortable Art (Mike Faist), the dangerous and arrogant Patrick (Josh O’Connor), or her one true love (tennis)? And this summer, everyone is talking about the last season of The Summer I Turned Pretty, as Belly remains torn between her first love, Conrad, and her fiancé, Jeremiah.
But the drama is nothing new for Bollywood fans. We held our breaths during Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), as Aishwarya Rai’s Nandini struggled to choose between her husband and her on- and off-screen ex. In Student of the Year (2012), we watched as Alia Bhatt’s Shanaya wavered between the hard-working Abhi, while dating the privileged Rohan. And in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Kajol’s Anjali grapples with her feelings for her first love Rahul, while preparing for her wedding with Aman. These films weren’t just messy love stories — they were inimitable hits. Years before the West’s recent obsession with love triangles, there was always Hindi cinema.