New Delhi: Days after the release of Param Sundari, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor, data visualisation platform India in Pixels by Ashris dropped a map tracing Bollywood’s inter-state love stories.
India in Pixels shared the map on its Instagram. Gurugram-based software engineer and founder, Ashris Choudhury, uses statistics to map patterns.
This time, the platform highlighted a pattern in Hindi films: the male lead usually comes from the north or west, while the female lead belongs to the south or east.
In the Maddock Films’ production as well, Malhotra plays Param, a Punjabi man from North India, while Kapoor’s Sundari belongs to Kerala, fitting into the trope.
It joined a long line of north-south romances on screen, a tradition that goes all the way back to 1993 film Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke. Later, we saw the same arc in Chennai Express (2013) and 2 States (2014).
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Exceptions are unpopular
The report also flagged another recurring on-screen mix, Punjabi-Bengali couples, in films like Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani (2023) and Vicky Donor (2013).
“The exceptions are rare, but those films aren’t as popular as the main stereotypical pairings,” the caption of the Instagram post read.
“Take Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002) for example (Tamil Brahmin woman, Bengali Muslim man). Or, Raanjhanaa (2013) Tamil Brahmin man and Muslim lady pairing operated outside the standard matrix.”
Film business expert and producer Girish Johar admits that the lead pairs of films always stem from big markets to win the “game of resonance” and “cultural familiarity.”
“Whether it’s the North Indian/Punjabi market or the South Indian region, both are key territories in the film business,” Johar explained. “These cultures have distinct identities that have become widely recognized and celebrated,” he said.
According to him, filmmakers often rely on this familiarity, as audiences from these regions can easily relate to the stories. Even the non-natives can connect to these plots, thanks to the well-established cultural imagery.
He extended this logic to the popular Punjabi-Bengali combination as well.
“Bengali women are often perceived as intellectual and feminist, so when such a character appears on screen, it strikes a chord with the audience,” he added.
Johar highlighted that, otherwise, if a filmmaker chooses a character from a lesser-known town or region, fewer people will be able to relate to them.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)