Valentine's Day special: Must-watch romantic movies

As long as the medium of cinema has existed, love has formed an integral part of our films. Be it an affection of a friendly nature or of the romantic kind, love definitely does run the world. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we bring you a list of the most memorable romantic films that make for compulsory viewing.

‘Mughal-E-Azam’ recreated the popular story of Mughal prince Salim who falls in love with a beautiful courtesan Anarkali. Their love is taboo, and it causes a divide between Salim and his father the Emperor Akbar. Their doomed love results in separation, but only after a huge spectacle. Dilip Kumar and Madhubala immortalized the roles of Salim and Anarkali respectively, and ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ is a modern classic entrenched in the history of Bollywood.

A handicapped poet, who operates under a pseudonym, corresponds with a fan and falls in love with her. When the poet’s foster brother meets the same girl, he also falls head over heels for her. The poet decides to give up his on the girl and thus presenting us a tale of selfless love and a legendary Pankaj Udhas song for heartbroken days.

The film starring Salman Khan and Bhagyashree created so much of buzz that a popular news magazine dubbed the movie as the 'film of the decade'. Most youngsters wanted to sport that 'friend' cap and in an age when there were no multiplexes, no social networking sites, a film packed with dollops of love, friendship, longing and power-packed action gave romance a new life.

Based on the short story ‘The Last Leaf’ by O. Henry, Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘Lootera’ is one of the most acclaimed romantic Bollywood films of the 21st century. In an unconventional pairing, Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha as star-crossed lovers showcased the best of their acting chops in this film. With Amit Trivedi’s stellar music to soothe your heart, ‘Lootera’ is a treat in every way.

Two NRIs unexpectedly fall in love while on a tour in lush landscapes abroad. But the culmination is traditional. A film that redefined young romance for India, it is perhaps the only film that is synonymous with romance for everyone. With iconic scenes and characters, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ is an instant classic and continues to hold a high place in Hindi cinema.

‘Jab We Met’ proved to be the epitome of the modern day romance. There's nothing theatrical about the film, and the characters are mature to handle their love and its declaration sensibly. But most importantly, it’s not only about two people falling in love after a few hiccups, but about helping each other become better and happier human beings. Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor became nationwide heartthrobs for their performances and director Imtiaz Ali delivered his first bona fide blockbuster with this film.

A wise man onCe taught us that we live only once, die once and fall madly in love only once. This man happens to be the king of romance - Shah Rukh Khan. His film 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' will take you down memory lane and give you a chance to relive your carefree college days. It aptly depicted the message that friendship is love and it is the kind of bond that stays with you till the end of time.

Are you determined to be with the one you love even though they come from a different culture? Well, ‘2 States’ can act as your handbook. Based on Chetan Bhagat's novel of the same name, ‘2 States’ captures the beauty of love beyond culture and language. It’s a well-narrated story of two lovers born and brought up in different parts of India who give it their best shot to end up together.

Does love know any language? Not really. In the early 80s, language meekly submitted to the power of love as Vasu (Kamal Haasan) and Sapna (Rati Agnihotri) took romance to a new intimate level. Believe it or not, teenagers across small-town India spent hours switching off and switching on lamps in their rooms. Just to have a 'real' feel of that 'reel romance.' Needless to say, the film with a tragic love story went on to become a mega-hit.

In a movie that is a collection of hard-hitting soulful songs, the fresh on-screen pairing of Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur was just what the film needed. This movie will make you realise that love is beyond ending up together, rather sometimes if you love someone, you have to put their ambitions before yours. With chartbusters like ‘Tum Hi Ho’ and ‘Sunn Raha Hai Na Tu’, the film is an ultimate romantic tale.

‘Veer-Zaara’ focuses on the people of two warring countries, rather than the politics. Circumstances are the only villain, and yet their romance is timeless because they keep it alive with their good deeds. Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta played the titular characters in this epic saga of separated lovers and the film enthralled viewers with a beautiful story and melodious compositions by the belated music director Madan Mohan.

A tragic ending to a young love story can tug your heart in ways even the heart won't understand. Directed by Mansoor Khan, this film popularly known as ‘QSQT’ was a star crossed love story between Raj (Aamir Khan) and Rashmi (Juhi Chawla) against a background of a family feud and came as a breath of fresh air. In no time, songs like ‘Aye mere hum safar’, ‘Papa kehte hain’ were on everybody's lips and every teenager across the country secretly nourished a desire to visit Mt Abu.