Dating : RHTDM: How It Was A Better Love Story Than You Remember

Rehna Hain Tere Dil Mein is one of my all time favorite romantic movies. Madhavan and Diya Mirza both gave endearing performances in the film. The story was overall entertaining and the music was sublime. But I love the film for something much more subtle, something quiet, something that goes unnoticed if you are not paying enough attention.

Around halfway through the film, there’s a scene where Rajib (played by Saif Ali Khan) is restrained by friends of Maddy (the protagonist) in a parking lot as Maddy wears a brass knuckle getting ready to punch Rajib. Maddy had been a trouble maker all his life and thus was not one to shy away from violence, despite trying a couple of times to our surprise, Maddy just can’t bring himself to punch Rajib and eventually urges him to flee. In the next scene, he tells his friends and also the viewers the reason why he was unable to punch Rajib. He says Rina (the female lead and the love interest) does not love him anymore. She loves Rajib. And this is in my opinion the defining moment for Maddy’s character. He loves Rina to the point of self-destruction and believes Rina loves him too, but under the circumstances, Rina would much rather marry Rajib, the man her family had selected for her and the man that Maddy impersonated to get close to Rina.

If you have ever been in love, you can relate to Maddy’s helplessness like me. It is hard for most of us to let go of the love we once had because it is so rare and pure. However, it takes two to love and the other person’s views, opinion and intention matter as much as ours. You cannot force love, no matter how pure your intentions maybe. This is frustrating, I know, but we must accept and let go like Maddy did in the film. This is intriguing, particularly because it is contradictory to what conventional wisdom suggests, that if you love someone, you must never give up. Since it’s a Bollywood film and the viewers paid good money to watch it, of course, there had to be a happy ending. Rina and Maddy do not only end up together but it is Rajib who brings them together, that too on the day of their wedding nonetheless. It is important to remember that life is under no such obligation to offer us a happy ending. For me the film ended, when Maddy had accepted his fate and understood that all the love in the world would do them no good if it wasn’t Rina who found a reason to come back.

Love is fierce. Passionate. It is also acceptance, respecting the other person’s will, and knowing when to stop.