ABSTRACT

In histories of Indian cinema, the film Maine Pyar Kiya (“I am in love”) (Bharjatya 1989) is often cited as a landmark film. Situated at the transition between a faltering industry stuck in a rut of predictable action movies and the emerging era of family-friendly romance, Maine Pyar Kiya (hereafter MPK) is said to have initiated the revival of the musical love story that would blossom in the 1990s. Alongside Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (“From Armageddon to Armageddon”) (Khan 1988), the tragic love story that launched the career of actor Aamir Khan, MPK propelled the brawny actor Salman Khan into stardom. Joined soon after by Shah Rukh Khan, the three “King Khans” dominated commercial Hindi cinema during a period of explosive social, economic, and political change in India.