Challengers (2024). It’s no surprise that two tennis players would fall for Zendaya. It’s no surprise that they’d ruin their careers (and lives) trying to be worthy of her too. What is surprising in Luca Guadagnino’s story of competition and conjugation is that the two men have a more exciting bromance with each other than with the woman they love. It tweaks the old dynamic and makes the matches much more exciting to watch.

Manmarziyaan (2018). The old cliché: Married woman chases an old lover, with the help of a sweet, smitten husband. But unlike Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Woh 7 Din (1983), the story’s less formulaic. Rumi cheats on Robbie with Vicky. They get caught. Robbie gives her an out. She picks Vicky, then changes her mind. But the film ends on a cliffhanger. Hope there’s a sequel, because we’re low-key invested in the newly mature Vicky.

The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022-). Romancing two brothers should be a red flag. But that’s never stopped pop-culture from using it as a trope. This show keeps its simple. Belly, newly grown up, and hot, returns to the beach home where she and her mum have summered with another mum for years. The woman’s sons, Conrad and Jeremiah are both smitten. The older one is broody, the younger one is kinder. They’re both hot, as if that makes it easier to choose.

The Archies (2023).The Betty-Archie-Veronica triangle, with a faux-desi, faux-vintage spin. Zoya Akhtar sets her story amid the Anglo-Indian community in 1960s India. Archie is as confused as in the comics. The romance is as cutesy as you’d expect. But unlike the comics, in which Archie marries Veronica, the two girls in the movie team up and teach him a lesson.

Never Have I Ever (2020-2023). Devi, an Indian-American teen, cares deeply about her social status. So, will she pick Paxton (older, hotter) or Ben (caring, witty)? There’s more to consider here. Devi loses her father early on in the show and must process grief along with growing up. We love her high when she dates the man of her dreams, when she’s plagued by insecurities, when she does stupid things like sleeping with a friend.

Haseen Dilruba (2021). Rani is forced into an arranged marriage with Rishu. But Rishu’s cousin Neel is fit and charming – the stuff drama is made of. Rani, however, also develops feelings for Rishu. Then, Rishu finds out. Then, Neel accidentally gets killed in the altercation. Then, a typical Bollywood solution: Pass off Neel’s charred body as Rishu’s. No one goes to jail and Rishu and Rani uphold their vows. Nothing like murder to bond over.

Sex Education (2019-2023). Maeve and Otis are meant to be. Or are they? Over the first few seasons, the awkward, pimply boy gets noticed by the wild high-school hottie for how much he knows about sex. They decide to make a business of it. What could go wrong? Of course, they fall for each other, out of sync. Enter Ruby, Otis’s once-unattainable hook-up, who’s also fallen hard for him. Everything runs hot and cold here.

Roohi (2021). BFFs Bhawra and Kattanni are in the strange business of kidnapping women and marrying them off to men paying them for the job. It’s all fun and crime until they kidnap Roohi for a client, only to jointly fall for her. Roohi, meanwhile is damsel by day and kind of a demon by night. Naturally each man is attracted to a different side of her. This is a triangle with no victims – the happy threesome end up together.

Mismatched (2020-). Their families have set them up for marriage already. So, Rishi and Dimple decide to test the waters by least being friends. But the world is full of temptation. Harsh is not as die-hard a romantic as Rishi, and has more in common with Dimple. The triangle comes with a twist: Each character realises (despite cheating and a kiss on a hot-air balloon) that love is not about choosing, but knowing yourself first.

Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017). Picture this: You’re a young woman, fleeing yet another attempt at a forced marriage. Somehow, you have time to pick up a book, believe the story is about you and fall for the author. You convince the publisher to help you meet him. But the publisher is crushing on you, and writes letters on the author’s behalf. Then, the writer turns up and he likes you too. It all ends well, but gets more entangled and hilarious before that.

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