Five Bollywood Romantic Comedies With A Real Message To Society

For years, romcoms has been setting unrealistic expectations, promoting gender stereotypes and male superiority.

Rom-coms in the name of fairness and healthy romantic comedy, these films have aged poorly and do not always send the best message to society. Society sees women as they are portrayed in romcoms: victimised, submissive, and always in a heterosexual relationship. But it is also a truth that the audience is more inclined towards romcoms since a very long time and therefore we need more romcoms that are not merely romantic comedy but also convey the real message to society or they should be really good at romantic storytelling.

Here are some Bollywood romantic comedies with a message:

1)Badhaai Ho:

It is a 2018 rom-com directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma. It stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao, Surekha Sikri, Shardul Rana, and Sanya Malhotra.  It is a story of a middle-aged couple who get pregnant much to the disappointment of their sons. Despite the awkwardness, accepting an unfamiliar situation.

In the film, Ayushmann Khurrana can be seen as Nakul Jeetendra Kaushik, Neena Gupta as Priyamvada (Nakuls’s mother), Gajraj Rao as Jeetendra Kaushik (Nakul’s father), Surekhs Sikri as Duragamati Kaushik ( Nakul’s grandmother), and Sanya Malhotra as Renee (Nakul’s girlfriend).

Initially, Nakul’s immense dejection may appear exaggerated at first but the truth is that young man’s realisation that despite his marketing job, his affable demeanor, and smart girlfriend, he is not as progressive as he imagines himself to be which makes us ponder if we are.

Ayushman’s character’s anger and awkwardness and anger feel very real. Priyamvada’s eyes do much talking as she looks at her husband and children, Surekha Sikri’s character plays a fierce and immovable yet open-minded mother-in-law and Jitender, a family man who is so fond of his wife and honest to his profession, all the characters portrayed have conveyed a separate incredible message.

Badhaai Ho is simply refreshing and triumphantly, a film about the parents which gives an amazing message to our orthodox society.

2) Toilet: Ek Prem Katha

It is a 2017 romcom directed by Shree Narayan Singh starring Akashay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Anupam Kher, Sudhir Pandey, and Divyendu Sharma.

This satirical comedy is in support of governmental campaigns to improve sanitation conditions in India, with an emphasis on eradication, especially in rural areas. The leads of the film are Akshay Kumar as Keshav Sharma and Bhumi Pednekar as Jaya Sharma (Keshav’s wife). The story began in an Indian village, where people go to fields to defecate in the open.

Keshav meets Jaya, an educated girl, falls in love with her, and eventually convinces her to marry her. But after the wedding, Jaya demands about needing a toilet instead of defecating in the open but Keshav made a couple of temporary adjustments rather because of which Jaya got frustrated and left him. Then, he desperately sets out a mission to win his love back by standing up to the age-old traditions and values of India. In the end, on the day of the hearing of the divorce case of Keshav and Jaya, the judge gets an official notice about the construction of toilets in their toilet, and the story ends with a happy ending.

Moreover, this film is a real life story of Anita Narre, who left her husband’s house because of the same issue. The film is not only about the Clean India mission but it also carries a great message about Women Empowerment.

Suggested Reading: 7 Bhumi Pednekar Films That Have A Social Message

3) Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan

It is a 2020 rom-com, a sequel of Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, directed by Hitesh Kewalaya starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao, and Maanvi Gagroo. It is a story about a gay couple, who have trouble convincing the parents of their relationship.

The leads in the film are Ayushmann Khurranna as Kartik Singh and Jitendra Kumar as Aman Tripathi, who is an advertiser from a middle-class family. They both love and live in Delhi together, but things got more difficult when Aman’s family decides to get him married to a girl, but got they learn about Kartik and Aman, and the road to achieving this happy ending got a little too rough still Kartik decides to not step back until he marries Aman.

In the end, the parents realised that their son’s happiness is more important and their beliefs need to change and the best part is the next day, the Supreme Court in its landmark, decriminalises homosexuality. The film can be viewed as entertainment with a remarkable message and step on the stereotypes surrounding same-sex relationships, especially in a country like India. The casting of the film could still have done better with real-life LGBTQ people playing the role on-screen.

Suggested Reading: Here Are Some Binge-Worthy Romantic Shows To Put on Your Weekend WatchList

4)Padman

It is a 2018 biographical romcom directed by R.Balki featuring Akashay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, and Radhika Apte in lead. The film is inspired by the life of social activist Arunachalam Muruganatham from Tamil. It was released on 9 February 2018.

It casts Akshay Kumar as Laxmi Kant Chauhan( Arunachalam), Sonam Kapoor as Pari Walia, and Radhika Apte as Gayatri Chauhan (Shanthi Muruganatham).

The story starts with the marriage of Lakshmikant and Gayatri. Laxmi is deeply in love with his wife and will go to any length for her happiness and comfort. When Gayatri was on her periods and Laxmi saw her using an unhygienic rag, he got worried for her. Gayatri tells him he should not interfere. But Laxmi wanted to make things better for her, he purchased sanitary napkins for her but she asks him to return them because they were too expensive. He decides to make them himself for less money and convinces her to use them but they are not better, he tries to gain but failed. He is then criticised by the villagers for such initiative, his family disowns him. But his hope survives and he creates a machine that can make affordable sanitary pads and raises awareness.

Laxmi never failed to push his limits and his spirit to raise such sensitive social issues even without any resources and even lesser exposure to the ‘progressive world’ is commendable and an inspiration.

5) 3 Idiots

It is a 2009 coming of age film directed by Rajkumar Hirani. It was loosely adapted from Chetan Bhagat’s novel Five Point Someone, the film stars Aamir Khan, R.Madhavan, and Sharman Joshi in the titular roles. Narrated through parallel dramas, one in the present and the other ten years in the past. The story follows the friendship of three students at an Indian engineering college. It is a satire on the Indian educational system and peer pressure.

It casts Aamir Khan as Rancho, who vanishes after graduation and whom his two friends hunt for ten years, R.Madhavan as Farhan Qureshi, who narrates the film, and one of the trios whose father persuades him to study engineering in the end he is shown to have published several books of photographs, Sharman Joshi as Raju Rastogi, another of the trio who comes from an impoverished family, however, in the end, he is a settled married man who is a wealthy business executive and engineer.

Kareena Kapoor plays the character of Pia , an intelligent medical student. Despite her father’s disapproval, she and Rancho fell in love. Finally, after their reunion, Rancho admits that he is still in love with Pia, and the two of them decide to marry.

The film had a significant social impact not only on the Indian education system but also on education systems throughout Asia; it focuses on self-actualisation, circles around parental expectations, student choices, teachers' traditional attitudes toward learning, and societal influence on students. The film was a wake-up call, particularly for the education system, society, and parents, and it also influenced young minds to go in the right direction.