This Valentine’s Day watch five unusual movies with your partner!

New Delhi: Filmmakers are willing to experiment with varied content as the audience is ready to accept different types of movies. This Valentine’s Day, discover some of these refreshing perspectives with our pick of unusual love stories.

Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz: This Yoodlee Films production took a different route from the skin-deep love we often see in the cinema. With poetic conversations woven into a sensitive story about two supposedly imperfect people who are perfect for each other, Onir’s ‘Kuch Bheege Alfaaz’ was a clear departure from cliched songs and dances. It features Geetanjali Thapa and  Zain Khan Durrani.

The Lunchbox: At a time of hurried emojis and brief texts, this epistolary romance written and directed by Ritesh Batra felt like a waft of fresh breeze.  Produced by Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap, and Arun Rangachari and many Indian and international studios, this story of urban loneliness and a serendipitous connection struck a chord worldwide and became an instant favourite on the festival circuit. With stunning performances by Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the film was screened at International Critics’ Week at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award also known as Grand Rail d’Or.

Love Aaj Kal: This 2009 film was Imtiaz Ali’s foray into a romance for the ages. Produced by Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan, the film compared the meaning of love and relationships across generations and took us on a journey across various emotions, geographies and phases of life to come full circle. The film was not a linear, boy meets girl romance but a coming- of -age story where the protagonists played by Saif and Deepika Padukone go through a circuitous route to find themselves before they can find each other. 
 
Band Baaja Baaraat: This 2010 Yash Raj comedy starring Ranveer Singh in his debut role and Anushka Sharma is still enjoyable and fresh because of its contemporary, aspirational theme. Despite its title, the film was not about protagonists dreaming about getting married or falling in love. The film was also the directorial debut of director Maneesh Sharma. 

Comedy Couple: This is a millennial love story about two aspiring comics.  Saqib Saleem and Shweta Basu Prasad play Deep and Zoya, and their comedy sets are full of insights into their personal life and the world they live in. This Nachiket Samant directorial is a good-natured take on urban living and the various problems couples go through, to make it to the big in an increasingly intolerant world and the place of love and art in it.