Is Love Worth It? Does It Ask Too Much Of Us?
Paromita Vohra
Aug 1, 2025, 20:23 IST IST
After unpacking all the patriarchal propaganda, the imagination of a new idea of romance eludes us. But we really, really want it. Films like Saiyaara and Animal grapple with this yearning
As we waited for cabs after a late night at work, in the quiet city dark, I wondered aloud to my two colleagues, one 50 and married, the other 25 and in a relationship: Is love unfashionable right now?
The 50-year-old looked perplexed. The 25-year-old instantly responded: 'Yes, at least among all the people I know. No one talks about being in love or falling in love with anyone. And when you ask them about it they look dismissive.' They say, 'Please, this is all so cringe.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
13 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Son of Sardaar 2 Box Office Collection Day 1: Ajay Devgn's comedy struggles with Rs 6.75 crore debut amid poor reviews
Ajay Devgn's latest comedy outing, Son of Sardaar 2, co-starring Mrunal Thakur, Ravi Kishan, and Deepak Dobriyal in lead roles, finally hit theatres on Friday. The film opened to a decent response at the box office, collecting around Rs 6.75 crore (India net) on its first day, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. The film recorded an overall Day 1 occupancy of 22.56%, starting with just 10.24% during morning shows, improving to 17.88% in the afternoon, 21.84% in the evening, and peaking at 40.27% during night shows, nearly double its early-day performance. In terms of regional performance, Tier-2 cities like Lucknow and Jaipur led the occupancy charts with 39% and 37%, respectively. Meanwhile, traditional strongholds for Hindi films like Delhi-NCR and Mumbai lagged slightly behind, recording 30.50% and 20.25% occupancy respectively. What's striking, however, is how Son of Sardaar 2 opened significantly lower than Ajay's last release, another sequel, Raid 2, which had a solid opening day collection of Rs 19.25 crore. In comparison, the new film's first-day figure is also less than half of Shaitaan, Ajay's recent horror blockbuster, which had opened at Rs 14.75 crore. That said, it still fared better than Maa, starring Kajol, which managed Rs 4.5 crore on its opening day last month. Also Read | Triptii Dimri and Siddhant Chaturvedi's Dhadak 2 seethes with the rage of filmmaker Shazia Iqbal Despite the modest opening, Son of Sardaar 2 did manage to outperform its immediate competition, Shazia Iqbal's Dhadak 2, which collected just Rs 3.35 crore on its opening day, according to Sacnilk. Both films, however, are struggling to draw audiences in the face of stiff competition from Mohit Suri's romantic musical Saiyaara, which is currently in its second week and has already amassed a staggering Rs 285.75 crore. Interestingly, Son of Sardaar 2 was initially scheduled for release last week. However, in light of Saiyaara's unexpected box office dominance, Ajay chose to delay the release by a week to avoid any sort of indirect clash, a strategic move in contrast to 2012, when the original Son of Sardaar released opposite Yash Raj Films' Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Back then, despite immense pressure, Ajay went ahead with the clash, which ended up affecting both films' long-term box office performance. Whether the sequel can sustain and grow in the coming days remains to be seen.
Indian Express
13 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Dhadak 2 Box Office Collection Day 1: Siddhant Chaturvedi-Triptii Dimri starrer is no Saiyaara, opens with Rs 3.35 crore
Dhadak 2 Box Office Collection Day 1: It sure is an exciting time for fans of Hindi cinema, with Dhadak 2, Son of Sardaar 2, and Saiyaara all competing with each other at the box office. However, Dhadak 2 has started its theatrical run with modest numbers. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri movie earned Rs 3.35 crore on its opening day. Interestingly, it fell short of the number posted by its predecessor, Dhadak, which came out seven years ago. Starring Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor, Dhadak earned Rs 8.7 crore net on its first day in theatres and closed its theatrical run after earning Rs 74.19 crore nett in India, and Rs 113 crore worldwide. The source material for the first film was the Marathi movie Sairat, which earned Rs 3.7 crore net on its first day. While the opening day numbers aren't all that disappointing, the fact of the matter is that Dhadak 2 is competing with far too many other films in the marketplace. The Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda-starrer Saiyaara is still going strong and is again expected to have a big weekend. Son of Sardaar 2, starring Ajay Devgn and Mrunal Thakur, is now also in the race, with Kingdom 2 and Fantastic Four chipping away at whatever crowd is left. ALSO READ: National Film Awards: '12th Fail' is best film, Massey-Shah Rukh and Rani win best actor awards Genre-wise, Saiyaara is Dhadak 2's direct competitor, and the Mohit Suri directorial has already crossed Rs 440 crore worldwide. The occupancy rates of Dhadak 2 averaged out at 22.85%, with the morning and afternoon shows bringing in rates of 15.02% and 22.29%. The evening and night shows improved on the numbers a bit and achieved 22.03% and 32.07%, respectively. The NCR region had 432 shows available and averaged an occupancy rate of 32.5%, while Mumbai had 339 shows and averaged an occupancy rate of 22.75%. Saiyaara still looks to be the biggest challenge for all the films currently on the docket. The makers of Son of Sardaar 2 even cut the price of their tickets by 50% to provide the viewers with some extra incentive. Directed by Shazia Iqbal, Dhadak 2 will be hoping to have a good weekend and rake in some formidable numbers before it starts bleeding shows. The cast of the film includes Siddhant, Triptii, Saurabh Sachdeva, Vipin Sharma, and Manjiri Pupala.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Saiyaara box office: Ahaan Panday-Aneet Padda starrer remains super strong despite Son of Sardaar 2 & Dhadak 2 arrival
Saiyaara earned around Rs 4.50 crore yesterday and currently stands with a total collection of approximately 290 crore read more Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda starrer Saiyaara continued to remain steady at the box office on its 3rd Friday despite the arrival of two prominent sequels in the form of Son of Sardaar 2 & Dhadak 2. The musical romantic drama earned around Rs 4.50 crore yesterday and currently stands with a total collection of approximately 290 crore. It is expected to enter the Rs 300 crore club by tomorrow and become the 2nd film of 2025 to achieve this feat after Vicky Kaushal-Rashmika Mandanna's Chhaava. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The film would have entered the prestigious club by now, but the surprising & humongous response towards Mahavatar Narsimha impacted the collections of the Mohit Suri directorial. _Saiyaara_ will enjoy a free window along with new and holdover releases until the arrival of two biggies, War 2 featuring Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR & Kiara Advani and Coolie starring Rajinikanth, Aamir Khan and Nagarjuna, which are releasing during the Independence Day weekend. Not only fans and audiences, Saiyaara garnered praise from celebs like Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Aamir Khan, Mahesh Babu, Arjun Kapoor, Ameesha Patel, Siddharth Anand, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Karan Johar, Anurag Basu and Anil Kapoor, among others, for its storyline, direction and performances. Before the release of the movie, director Mohit Suri spoke about Saiyaara's comparison with Aashiqui 2 in an interview with Firstpost. He said, 'When I made Zeher, they said it looked like Murder. When I made Ek Villain, they said it looked like Murder 2. When I made Malang, they said it looked like Ek Villain. When I made Aashiqui 2, they said it looked like Woh Lame and Rockstar. So I think when I go ahead and make my next film, they'll say it looks like Saiyaara. I think when they're comparing it to my own work rather than somebody else's, it's good.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
