But love can buy me money

When the Beatles sang Money can''t buy me love they knew the reverse was true. They got together for the love of music, reached out to a generation that could sell everything for love, and then fell out with each other when they had too much money.
Like the Beatles, and like every other pop symbol, Bollywood understands the value of Brand Love.
And so from Alam Ara to Mughal-e-Azam to Hum Aapke Hain Kaun to Munnabhai MBBS, Bollywood has been giving us that "pyar bhari, jadu ki jhappi".And we love it.
Today, Bollywood is a Rs 3,000-crore industry, and produces over 250 films a year - most of which are love stories and all of which, including action thrillers like Kaante and Company, have a love angle.
"Films are an audio-visual drug and we use it as a catalyst to ignite that feeling of love," says filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.
He''s been in the business for years, so he must know: "In real life love comes and then fades away, but it leaves behind memories that we cherish. A film or a song reignites those memories, you feel an upsurge of emotions, a retingling of the nerves. Life is beautiful once more."
And so, you go and see another film, maybe even the same one again. "Yes," says Bhatt, "It''s like a hungry man going through the bin for leftover food. The human heart is always hungry for love, there''s never enough in real life so we try and find it in fiction."
Which proves why love stories have been Bollywood''s greatest hits. "Nothing," says Taran Adarsh, editor Trade Guide, "beats the success of a Hum Aapke Hain Kaun or a Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Trends change, new styles in clothes, in food may come and go, but our desire for love remains the same. It''s the same the world over. And that''s why Titanic is the biggest international hit ever."
If love has many faces in life it has to have as many in films too. The Mother and her love is another emotion Bollywood thrives on. So when you think Maa you think Mother India.
And even today Deewar is watched over and over again for that one sequence where Shashi Kapoor says, "Mere paas maa hai", and Amitabh Bachchan looks on with a sunken death-like stare because he thinks he''s lost his mother''s love.
Maa ke baad? Naturally Desh. We''ve had at least five films on Bhagat Singh, and our own Mr Bharat in Manoj Kumar who used the genre to draw us into theatres with hits like Upkaar, Purab Paschim, Kranti.
In the 21st century alone, Bollywood has had two big patriotic grossers - Lagaan and Gadar - one of which made it to the Oscars.
Yet, it''s romantic love that rules the box-office. Can our films do without it? "The more cynical the world becomes, the greater the pull of love," says ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar.
"And as our lives become more routine and orderly, the more we get attracted to the disorderliness of this passion."
Yes, it''s charming to believe dil par koi zor nahin hai, while the pressures of life and livelihood push you into dull routine. And so we come to the Taj.
Three filmmakers are in the process of making extravaganzas on the Shahenshah''s grand passion.
Bharat Bala''s film has Aishwarya as Mumtaz Mahal, Robin Khosla''s Taj Mahal with Bhagyashree is ready for release and Akbar Khan''s Taj Mahal - An Eternal Love Story is in production with a Rs 65-crore budget.
Will any of them capture the magic of Pradeep Kumar''s call in Jo wada kiya woh nibhana padega? Maybe yes, maybe no. But love will continue to be a moneyspinner as long as life is.