Boy meets girl, falls in love; hardly could their love bloom, in comes their family status — the rich and poor divide — and of course, a villain. Unflagging efforts get under way to separate them. But everything fails. They overcome every obstacle and the love story ends happily. Thus goes the story of a typical run-of-the-mill Bollywood movie.

But now the trend has changed; the storyline has taken a different turn, and so has the taste of the audience. Today, films draw their inspiration from a motley of subjects: a cricket match, a journey by road, an extra marital affair, a bank dacoity, quest for power, suspense thrillers and psycho experiences,et al. Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Kaante, Aankhen, Aks, Moksha,Road, Company, Kaun, Filhaal, Satta, Jism, Kasoor ... the list goes on. Romantic stories like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge are all time hits. But now the Indian spectators want something different, maybe they are influenced by the endless themes and subjects pictured in Hollywood movies.

Hollywood influence is reflected in movies like Kuch to Hai and Dhund (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Kyunki Main Jhoot Nahi Bolta (Liar, Liar), Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai (My Best Friend’s Wedding), Aks (Face Off) etc.

The Hollywood trend perhaps started with highly successful dubbed movies like Jurassic Park, Titanic, Speed, Twister etc, and people realised good films can be made from varied subjects. At the same time, Indian filmmakers also understood they could no longer fool the people with the stereotype ubiquitous plots. Films like Road and Kaun have shown how a movie is possible with limited characters.

Again, suspense and horror thrillers have taken Bollywood by storm. Films like Kuch to Hai, Raaz, Kasoor etc. have attracted huge masses. Some are hits while the rest are a miss. While we are talking about hatke stories, the modern audience all of a sudden prefers movies based on old stories like Devdas, Ashoka. On the anvil is Akbar Khan’s Taj Mahal — an eternal love story.

Dil Chahta Hai, courtesy Farhan Akhtar, and Aamir Khan’s Lagaan are the trendsetters of such bindaas movies. Leela falls in this group and well praised by generation X with a who-care-attitude. It is not that love stories are not made anymore. Love stories will always have a separate place but the audience is getting bored with the ghesa peeta musical romantic plots. This year’s releases like Saathiya, Aap Ko Pehle Bhi Kahi Dekha Hai, Kash Aap Hamare Hote, Chura Liya Hai Tumne, Khushi are all love stories but only Saathiya clicked, and that shows the difference.

The formula of new Bollywood masalas are, in fact, a mix of sensationalism digging deep into the dark side of a person’s mind. An ‘A’ certificate stirs the inherent curiosity and keeps the audience hooked to their seats. The right funda: erotic dialogues with bombshell Bipasha, films with sexual overtones or a sizzling dance number — enough to get an ‘A’ seal. In fact sex sells. Titles like Jism, Kaante, Kuch To Hai, Dhund are crowdpullers. Publicity and controversies can certainly boost the initial draw of a film (take the case of Ek Chhoti Si Love Story and Mira Nair’s Fire and Kamasutra).

Then there are directors like Madhur Bhandarkar making more serious movies like Chandni Bar and Satta by which talented actresses like Tabbu and Raveena have carved a niche for themselves. Astitva, Daman, Filhaal, Leela are some other films which have stirred the brains of moviegoers. Though such films are watched by a limited audience, they are well praised. Of late, several Indian directors have made a mark with English movies like American Desi, Monsoon Wedding, Bend it like Beckham. But,they can’t be counted among the mainstream Bollywood filmmakers.

Then, today we have top stars playing all kinds of roles. There is no fixed Jagdeep for the comic role,no Danny or Amrish Puri to play the baddie and no Helen to dance to the tune of a sizzling number. There are a beeline of top actors opting for the negative roles: Akshay Khanna in Humraaz, Ajay Devgan in Dewangee and Akshay Kumar in Ajnabee, Amitabh in Ankhen and Manoj Bajpai in Road. When it is the chemistry between David Dhawan and Govinda it becomes a comic family entertainer, paisa vasool films. Then we see Pooja Batra, Shilpa Shetty, Urmila, Raveena and others do the item numbers, a space earlier specially reserved for Helen or Bindu.

Today, for the success of a Bollywood movie the hero no longer needs to be in his twenties and a dancing star, as had become the trend for quite a few years.

A glaring example is Big-B. He is in his sixties and still gets a nomination for the best actor award. There is a beeline of upcoming actors like Abhishek Bachchan, Tushar Kapoor, Dino Morea, John Abraham, Zayeed Khan, Fardeen Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Vivek Oberoi etc. Some are star kids, some are not. However, it is a long way for them to match their seniors — Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and of course the Big B — forget overtaking them. Strange as it may be, but the senior group is giving more hits than their juniors, maybe with the exception of one or two. Similar is the case with the female newcomers like Esha Deol, Bipasha Basu, Antara Mali, Sanjana, Gauri Karnik and many more to join them.

While selecting tiles for their films, producers and directors sometimes prefer long lines from old film songs or dialogues like Pran Jayee Par Shaan Na Jayee, Kash Aap Hamare Hote, Hum Ko Tumse Pyaar Hai, Main Hu Prem Ki Diwani. Sometimes they prefer very short and haunting names like Bhoot, Road, Kaante, Kaun, Dhund etc.

There is an increasing crowd from the modelling world all set to prove their acting skills. After setting the ramp on fire, their aim is to set the silver screen ablaze. Names like Bipasha Basu, Dino Morea, John Abraham, Rahul Dev, Diya Mirza, Priyanka Chopra, Lisa Ray, Lara Dutta and, of course, trendsetters Aishwarya and Sushmita are very familiar to the viewers.

On the pipeline are Vikram Bhatt’s Footpath, Aitbar, Hum Ko Tum Se Pyaar Hai, Anurag Kashyap’s Allwyn Kalicharan, Madhur Bhandarkare’s Aan, Shekhar Kapoor’s Paani and lots more.

Let’s wait and watch what the audience has to say about these.