You knew this was coming. Nicholas Sparks’ magnum opus of misery is the single most referenced film when people say they hate love stories. Why?

Streaming services are finally noticing us. The success of shows like Fleabag (which deconstructs romance) and The White Lotus (which exposes the horror of romantic vacations) proves there is a market for people who watch love stories with a forensic eye of distrust.

The 2010 romantic comedy (often abbreviated as IHLS) serves as a colorful, meta-critique of the very genre it belongs to . Directed by Punit Malhotra and starring Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor, the film arrived at a time when Bollywood was beginning to poke fun at its own candy-floss clichés while simultaneously leaning into them. The Plot: A Clash of Cynicism and Romance