Who doesn’t love a classic friends-to-lovers trope? There are many Hindi movies in which two characters start as friends and gradually develop romantic feelings for each other. Some of these stories are truly heartwarming and showcase how friendship is a strong foundation for a beautiful relationship. Here’s a look at Bollywood movies available on Netflix that are about friends turned lovers.
7 Bollywood movies on Netflix that explore the friends-to-lovers trope:
1. Dil Dhadakne Do
- Running Time: 2 hours 53 mins
- IMDb Rating: 7/10
- Movie Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
- Movie Star Cast: Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Anushka Sharma, Farhan Akhtar
- Director: Zoya Akhtar
- Writer: Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Farhan Akhtar, Javed Akhtar
- Year of release: 2015
First on our list of Bollywood movies that are about friends who became lovers is Dil Dhadakne Do. One of the film’s highlights is the relationship between Priyanka Chopra’s Ayesha and Farhan Akhtar’s Sunny. They were childhood friends who loved each other until Sunny went to America and Ayesha got married to someone else. When they meet on a cruise trip, old feelings resurface.
2. Barfi
- Running Time: 2 hours 31 mins
- IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
- Movie Genre: Romance/Comedy
- Movie Star Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D’Cruz
- Director: Anurag Basu
- Writer: Anurag Basu, Sanjeev Dutta
- Year of release: 2012
Another popular Hindi movie about childhood friends who ended up with each other is Barfi. It follows the story of Ranbir Kapoor’s Barfi, a deaf and mute man, who falls in love with Priyanka Chopra’s Jhilmil, an autistic woman. The actors received a lot of acclaim for their performances, and the film also won the hearts of the audience.
3. Wake Up Sid
- Running Time: 2 hours 12 mins
- IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
- Movie Genre: Romance/Comedy
- Movie Star Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Konkona Sensharma, Anupam Kher, Supriya Pathak
- Director: Ayan Mukerji
- Writer: Ayan Mukerji, Niranjan Iyengar
- Year of release: 2009
Wake Up Sid is another movie available on Netflix in which friendship turned into love. It showcases Ranbir Kapoor’s Sid, a lazy and spoiled guy, meeting Konkona Sensharma’s Aisha, who is new to Mumbai. They become friends when they spend a lot of time together, as Sid helps Aisha adjust to a new city. Ultimately, they realize their romantic feelings for each other.
4. Main Hoon Na
- Running Time: 2 hours 59 mins
- IMDb Rating: 7/10
- Movie Genre: Action/Comedy/Drama
- Movie Star Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Suniel Shetty, Amrita Rao, Zayed Khan, Kirron Kher
- Director: Farah Khan
- Writer: Farah Khan, Abbas Tyrewala, Rajesh Saathi
- Year of release: 2004
Main Hoon Na is one of the most popular movies about college romance on Netflix. In the film, Amrita Rao’s character Sanjana and Zayed Khan’s Lakshman are best friends. Their introduction song, Chale Jaise Hawaien, is unmissable. The two end up together with the help of their friends and also go to prom together.
5. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
- Running Time: 3 hours 29 mins
- IMDb Rating: 7.4/10
- Movie Genre: Family/Drama
- Movie Star Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Hrithik Roshan
- Director: Karan Johar
- Writer: Karan Johar, Sheena Parikh
- Year of release: 2001
In Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, a Bollywood masterpiece, Hrithik Roshan’s Rohan and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Pooja become friends when they are young. Years later, when Rohan travels to London to reunite his family, they become a couple. Even Shah Rukh Khan’s Rahul proposes a hand of friendship to Kajol’s Anjali before confessing his feelings to her.
6. Hum Saath-Saath Hain
- Running Time: 2 hours 56 mins
- IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
- Movie Genre: Family/Drama/Romance
- Movie Star Cast: Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Mohnish Bahl, Sonali Bendre, Reema Lagoo, Neelam Kothari, Mahesh Thakur, Alok Nath
- Director: Sooraj R. Barjatya
- Writer: Sooraj R. Barjatya
- Year of release: 1999
Hum Saath-Saath Hain is an evergreen Bollywood movie that is immensely loved by the viewers to date. Two of the three lead couples in the film, Salman Khan and Sonali Bendre’s Prem and Preeti, as well as Saif Ali Khan and Karisma Kapoor’s Vinod and Sapna, were childhood friends.
7. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
- Running Time: 2 hours 57 min
- IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
- Movie Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
- Movie Star Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji
- Director: Karan Johar
- Writer: Karan Johar
- Year of release: 1998
We end this list of comfort movies having the friends-to-lovers theme with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It is the film that taught us ‘pyaar dosti hai (love is friendship).’ Shah Rukh Khan’s Rahul and Rani Mukerji’s Tina also started their love story with friendship. Kajol’s character Anjali, Rahul’s best friend, also harbored feelings for him.
Are there any other Bollywood movies about friends turned lovers on Netflix that you enjoy watching? Let us know in the comments below.
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