Wake Up Sid to Mohabbatein: Celebrate International Youth Day with these Bollywood films that capture the essence of youth

Wake Up Sid

Ayan Mukerji's directorial debut stars Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role alongside Konkana Sen Sharma. Ranbir plays the part of a lazy college youth who lacks ambition and lives on his father's money. He then decides to leave his comfortable life and moves in with his friend Aisha Banerjee played by Konkana. He faces challenges and in the process finds ambition and purpose in life. The coming of age film depicts how human relationships grow and progress through challenges and time. It is available on Netflix.

Jaane Tu..Ya Jaane Na

Imran Khan’s debut film Jaane Tu..Ya Jaane Na is a Bollywood cult classic and features Imran Khan and Genelia D'souza (now Deshmukh) in lead roles. The coming of age film is about a group of college friends who navigate their life, friendships, love and career, all at the same time. Jay and Aditi played by Imran and Genelia respectively are best friends who later fall in love. They find their way towards each other after going through separation and other relationships. The film captures modern love and college romance beautifully on screen. It is available on Netflix.

Rang De Basanti

A story about youth, rebellion and revolution, Rang De Basanti is an iconic Bollywood film. The Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra-directed film captures youth energy flawlessly on screen. The film features Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Soha Ali Khan among others in lead roles. The friend group navigates through life and college by having fun and not thinking much about the future. They get a chance to feature in a documentary based on India's freedom struggle. The inspiring journey makes them find their ambitions and fight against injustices that are prevailing around them. They take the matter into their own hands to fight corruption in the government system. The story is inspiring and makes one channel their energy and fight against all injustices.

Student of the Year

The Karan Johar-directed 2012 romantic drama was a blockbuster hit. The story features three college students Abhimanyu, Shanaya and Rohan played by Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan respectively. It focuses on class differences in society and the friendships that take place piercing through those differences. A love triangle takes place between the three and rivalry soon emerges to win the award of Student of the Year. The film captures beautiful and fun-filled moments of college students and the subtle challenges that one goes through to make it to the top. It is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander

The 1992 Mansoor Khan-directed film is a romantic drama. It features Aamir Khan as Sanjay, and Ayesha Jhulka as Anjali among others in lead roles. From being a young carefree young man to becoming a person with ambition and winning the bicycle race, Sanjay comes a long way and the film is about the journey of his transformation. The film was a blockbuster hit and is a Bollywood cult classic. It captures friendships, love and human relationships in the most subtle circumstances. It is a must watch and is available on Zee5.

Mohabbatein

Mohabbatein features a star cast with Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Jimmy Shergill, Uday Chopra among others in lead roles. The 2000 romantic drama was a blockbuster hit which tells a tale of three college students on their journey of finding their true love. The story revolves around different plotlines focusing on the individual characters’ love story. One of the common hurdles they face comes in the form of Narayan Shankar, played by Amitabh Bachchan, who is the principal of the college. It captures the essence of college romance, friendships and relationships that one forms in their youth. A must watch to witness a great love story that is available on Amazon Prime Video.

Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar

The 2007 released romantic drama was the debut release of Ruslaan mumtaz and Hazel Crowney. Though it was not a big success at the time, it has received a massive fan following over the years and has become a cult classic. Capturing the true essence of school romance, the story revolves around Rohan and Ayesha who fall in love. A simple love story deep rooted into reality of insecurities and possessiveness, the couple gets separated and the chase to find each other is the remaining plotline of the film. It is subtle, real and daring in it's narration and makes one reminisce about their college and school romances. A must watch that is available on Zee5.