Film

Girlfriend

Name: Girlfriend
Genre: Romance, Drama
Released: 2004
Cast: Isha Koppikar, Aashish Chaudhary, Amrita Arora, Sumit Nijhawan, Shantanu Chappana

Romance
Drama
Very dark

A 2004 Indian drama about desire, jealousy and identity when a man disrupts a relationship between two women. Technically bold for Bollywood at the time, it's uneven—some scenes crackle with genuine tension, others feel clumsy or dated. For viewers curious about how Hindi cinema tackled queer themes in the early 2000s, or who want to see Bollywood try something genuinely risky.

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Chandni Bar2001

Another Madhur Bhandarkar film about desire and transgression in Mumbai's underworld. Raw, unflinching performances and a willingness to show messy human behaviour without flinching. Also explores identity and survival in ways mainstream cinema wouldn't touch.

But Extremely dark, exploitative at points, and the subject matter (sex work, violence) isn't treated with gloss. Difficult to sit through.

Courage Under Fire1996

Deepa Mehta's landmark film about two women falling in love within the confines of their marriages in Delhi. Lyrical, tender, and infinitely more sophisticated about sexuality and constraint. Essential viewing for anyone interested in queer South Asian cinema.

But Released to massive controversy in India. Some find its pacing slow; others bristle at its particular vision of queerness as tragedy and longing rather than joy.

Rang De Basanti2006

A milestone Bollywood film that broke box-office records by making youth rage and political awakening thrilling. Aamir Khan and an ensemble cast deliver genuine charisma. A cultural moment in Indian cinema.

But Its treatment of political action veers into problematic territory; some find its nostalgia for pre-liberalisation India dated now. Also very long.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Girlfriend

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Margarita with a Straw2015

Both attempt to portray queer female desire in Indian cinema, but Margarita is made with far greater understanding and tenderness—a corrective that shows how far representation had come in a decade.

A film about a young disabled lesbian of Indian descent navigating sexuality, independence, and identity across New York and India. Tender and explicit without being clinical. Kalki Koechlin's performance is revelatory. Everything Girlfriend was reaching for but didn't quite grasp.

But A low-budget indie that moves at its own pace. Some find its intimacy uncomfortable; it refuses the comfort of conventional framing around disability and queerness.

Dil Se..1998

Mani Ratnam's obsessive romance about a man pursuing a woman who keeps vanishing. Visually stunning, musically gorgeous, genuinely unsettling in its portrait of desire as stalking. Redemptive for seeing cinema try to capture something darker than usual.

But The narrative is deliberately fragmentary and the ending is bleak. Can feel frustratingly opaque if you want conventional narrative satisfaction.

Ek Hasina Thi2004

A revenge thriller with Urmila Matondkar as a woman transformed by betrayal. Taut, clever, with a female lead allowed to be vengeful and complex. Strong proof that Hindi cinema could do genre well.

But The twist, while effective, requires you to accept a fairly contrived setup. Some scenes are tonally jarring.

Dor2006

A quiet, powerful film about two women—one a widow, one separated—whose lives intertwine across class lines. Tender and unsentimental. Gritty in its refusal to make their connection neat or redemptive.

But Very slow. Plot summary makes it sound like a conventional tearjerker, and the payoff is deliberately small and private rather than cathartic.

Hey Ram2000

Kamal Haasan's ambitious, audacious film about love and religious violence in Partition-era India. Formally inventive, deeply felt, a love story wrapped in historical tragedy. The kind of risk-taking Hindi cinema rarely attempts.

But Wildly uneven, narratively messy, and nearly three hours long. Some sequences don't work; others feel like fever dreams. Not an easy watch.

Lamhe1991

Yash Chopra's visually sumptuous film about a man who loves a woman and then falls for her daughter. Psychologically strange, gorgeously shot, genuinely uncomfortable to watch—which is rather the point. A melodrama with teeth.

But The age gap and its romantic framing disturbs modern viewers, and rightfully so. The narrative tries to have it both ways: condemn the obsession while wallowing in its visual beauty.

Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.2007

An ensemble comedy-drama about three couples on a honeymoon minibus, each relationship unravelling in different ways. Observant, funny, occasionally touching. A rare Bollywood film that treats marriage as genuinely complicated.

But Unevenly plotted; some couples' stories are richer than others. The comedy doesn't always land, and the dramatic moments can feel tacked-on.

Absence of Malice1981

Both explore how a third party's arrival destabilises an existing bond and how jealousy and accusation spiral beyond anyone's control. But where Girlfriend is melodramatic and uneven, this is glacially controlled.

Paul Newman in a tight political thriller about accusation, reputation, and how quickly lives can be destroyed. Economical, smart, with genuine moral complexity. Shows how love and loyalty warp judgment with quiet precision.

But Bleak in its view of institutions and love alike. The pacing is slow by modern standards; it's a '70s-style character film masquerading as a thriller.

I Am Love2010

A love triangle that ends catastrophically, but told with the formal sophistication and visual language Girlfriend attempted to find. Shows how a similar narrative structure becomes profound rather than melodramatic when vision matches ambition.

Luca Guadagnino's hypnotic film about a woman discovering desire outside her gilded marriage, set in Milan's elite. Visually ecstatic, its exploration of female sexuality and social transgression is sensual and dangerous. Slow cinema that rewards patience.

But Extremely slow, very long, and its pleasures are abstract rather than plot-driven. Tilda Swinton's restraint might read as coldness if you're not attuned to microexpressions.