The nineties started with the big bang of a completely different style of romance provided with Maine Pyar Kiya. A fresh new boy , a coy and pretty young girl and a snow-white kabootar were all it took to sweep an entire nation with romantic hysteria. The songs were everywhere. There were MPK buttons, clips, mugs, shirts and even posters on bikes. Everyone wanted to be sixteen and love in hiding. Everyone wanted to receive messages through a pigeon. How romantic.

Then the change began. After a spate of failures made on an identical theme, it was time for another change. Switzerland was becoming the favorite destination for love. The Raveena Tandons, Shilpa Shettys and Akshay Kumars of the world were emerging as the new heartthrobs. Romance meant a purple-clad Govinda capering with a flame-clad Karishma Kapoor in Stuttgart or Geneva, shocking the wits out of the innocent locals. Catchy music and shocking body movements were the expressions of love. The deeper love got, the more frantic the gyrations were. Out-thrust bosoms and gyrating pelvises were in. The faster the beat, the more in love one was supposed to be. Of course, this trend was ably supported by the young heroes who were more concerned about their body building and dancing abilities than their acting abilities. Because after all , wasn't love all about show business?

As the decade progressed, it became more and more showbiz, more color, more noise and of course, more glamour.

Somewhere in the midst of this all, that small, tender but powerful pull that one person experiences towards another was lost. Is this love? Inching closer to soft-porn, love in the nineties decade can only move one way - out of the window. There's too much ruckus to feel anything… there're too many locales, too much beauty with limpid eyes, too much designer clothes and jewellery, too much attitude, too much spunk, too much confidence, too much traveling in foreign lands… and all this will lead to only one thing - jetlag.

The energy levels were dropping. A Kaho Na Pyar Hai, a new face, changed things once more. So by the end of the decade, love was historical, Asoka (and the dubious character of Kareena in the film), Devdas and his Paro ( Miss World and the King of the Stutter)… the wheel has come a full circle in these five decades.

So can we please look forward to some matured, quieter, peaceful, placid and deep feelings?