Why 3 works

Whoever said teen tigda kaam bigda has not looked to Bollywood for confirmation. Some of the industry's most memorable movies have been those that tell the story of three protagonists. Three lives intercept to create cinematic legend. Be it a love triangle or three guys plotting to make a quick buck, there is a trio present

Three musketeers
The drama that a love triangle brings with it has forever held the fascination of audiences and filmmakers alike. The candy floss of romance is sent into a tizzy when a third wheel makes its grand entry. For the audience, the thrill of waiting to watch which brother gets the shy girl or which friend makes the ultimate sacrifice and gives up the object of their affection, is unparalleled. Why do you need two people reaffirming their love for each other when a third can come in to the equation and make them doubt this very emotion? Jealousy, betrayal and sexual tension is at its height in a love triangle.

Says Dinesh Raheja, Sunday MiD DAY columnist and editor of Bollywood News Service, "The triangle gives you a chance to work with many options. One of them is unrequited love and it makes for good drama who will the guy or girl eventually choose."u00a0

This yoyo of love hits close home as a huge percentage of us have been part of a love triangle or at least hope that we are so lucky as to have two gorgeous people fight for our love. The moviegoer is a demanding customer who thrives on drama, who roots for, yet pities, a broken heart. So from Raj Kapoor's Sangam to Kabir Khan's New York, the love triangle finds a place in cinema and eager eyeballs. Says Khan, "The interaction between three people is more interesting. One person is always left out. With four people, the dynamics work out evenly."

Between friends
The less cruel of filmmakers do not wish to leave out anybody. They have all three protagonists in on the fun. No, we are not that accepting a society, where we let polygamy or polyandry enter the screen. Smart directors completely do away with a love triangle and introduce the element of brotherhood and friendship platonic and same sex none-the-less. There is no third wheel here; all cruise along the highway to a life-long friendship. And three is the magic number.



Like in a love triangle, the dynamics are different than what would be between just two friends. There is always a mediator, generally the jovial of the trio who brings the sulking parties to a climatic reconciliation.

In Dil Chahta Hai, Farhan Akhtar gave the age told tale of dosti an urban twist. Says Raheja, "Before the '70s, Bollywood did not have too many three-hero films. They explored so many aspects with two heroes that they then decided to explore movies with three heroes. In Dil Chahta Hai, Akshaye Khanna had the older woman aspect, Aamir Khan had Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan had his story with Sonali Kulkarni. These three tracks made one cohesive story." It stuck with the audience for the three distinctively different personalities and clearly defined roles that each had in the friendship u2014 Aamir Khan was the flirt, bad guy gone good who provided all the fun moments; Saif Ali Khan the simpleton, confused in love who played mediator and Akshaye Khanna, the quiet artist who fell for the forbidden older woman. Three types of friends that we all need and crave, three people so real, you know them. All this neatly packaged gave you a cult film.

Priyadarshan's Hera Pheri had three bachelors belonging to the lower strata of society hatching a plan to make some fast cash. The three had such great chemistry onscreen that a sequel was made with a few more to follow. Three seemed the ideal number here too, with, apart from each getting a larger share of the loot, they did not trample on each other's jokes and comic timing. Four would have crowded the screen and who knows, it might have gone the Krazzy 4 way down the bad comedy drain.

It was a clever choice for Manmohan Desai with Amar Akbar Anthony. He just had to bring up his protagonists in India's most prominent religions Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.

Why should guys have all the fun?
In a rare instance for a filmmaker, Madhur Bhandarkar made Fashion with three female actors as the focal point. He says, "I liked the idea of one supermodel, one struggler and one who was never really successful. How one model topples the other and takes her place because this does happen. From the audience point of view, it's the emotional bonding that attracts them to the film." Bachna Ae Haseeno also had three female actors vying for the attention for one hero. The story, though not revolving around them, showed Ranbir's interaction with them and the lessons in love that each teach him.

Different angles of a love triangle
Beginnings: One of the first movies to draw up this love triangle was Mehboob's Andaz (1949) starring Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Nargis. Raj Kapoor leaves Dilip Kumar with no choice but to confess his feelings for his good friend Nargis. But she being the bharatiya nari, loves only her husband who for his part relentlessly doubts his wife's platonic relationship, which ends up with her in jail for killing an insane Dilip Kumar. Says Raheja, "In Andaz, the whole concept of a platonic friendship is very difficult for the husband to understand." Funnily enough, since then, there have been two movies of the same name, all trying to find a solution to the doomed love triangle.

Beauty and the beast: The love triangle dispels any notion that the better looking of the two suitors goes home with the guy or girl. True love triumphs. Bimal Roy captured the sufferings of a beautiful Nutan in Bandini as she turned down the affections of jail doctor Dharmendra while pining for her true love, activist Ashok Kumar.

Decades later Sanjay Leela Bhansali captured another beauty's turmoil in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Holding up the values of the Indian marriage system, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan chose her mellow husband over the effervescence of her former lover.

Kulbhushan Kharbanda came back with his tail between his legs to his plain Jane wife Shabana Azmi after his sexy mistress left him in Arth. The filmmaker understood that after all this drama and heartbreak, the right choice better be made; one not based on which of the two you could make better looking children with.u00a0u00a0

Deja vu: Real life love triangles have been inspiration for gossip and more so movies. In one of the most famed instances, real life translated into celluloid for the actors of Yash Chopra's Silsila. A demure yet strong Shobha (Jaya Bachchan) looked on as her writer husband Amit (Amitabh Bachchan) courted his former flame Chandni (Rekha) only to have him back, neatly tucked in her daaman. Vikram Bhatt's Ankahee was said to have been based on his relationship with Sushmita Sen. The audience loves getting a voyeuristic glimpse into the dealings of these otherwise notoriously private stars. Not many moviewallahs have ventured here in recent times, though.

Eureka!: The complications of a love triangle seem to tire the filmmakers themselves and to make matters easy, they have one or two of the characters killed off. In the climax of Raj Kapoor's Sangam, Rajendra Kumar is torn between his love for Vyjayantimala and his loyalty to Raj Kapoor. While the latter two are in the midst of a heated argument, Kumar's character, Gopal, shoots himself, possibly making the choice very easy. In Karan Johar's directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, he kills newcomer Rani's character for a now sombre Shah Rukh Khan to fall in love with the saree-clad Kajol, playing on the strengths of the duo's chemistry. He revisits this tact in Kal Ho Naa Ho with a dying SRK giving up Preity Zinta to Saif Ali Khan but not without a warning that she would be his in the next life.

Aao twist karein: Hope springs eternal. Even the most cynical viewer would not want a lover who fought so hard to return empty-handed. So directors give it a little twist of fate at the end. In last year's comedy, Dostana, John and Abhishek's characters do not get the girl but there is always Dostana 2. Says the director, Tarun Mansukhani, "The story was about two guys pretending to be gay. I wanted to break out of the two guys for two girls mould. So there were three of them. The triangle can go from au2013b, b-c or even c-a." A chance meeting with Akshay Kumar at the end of Dil Toh Pagal Hai gives an inkling of a romance between him and the third wheel, Karisma.

Game of numbers
Reshma Jain, editor Marwar and number specialist, states the significance of the number three: "Three denotes abundance, creativity and a coming together. In tarot, three is the card of the empress, which depicts a chilled life. If it's the number three or the third phase or cycle in life, it depicts beauty. It's a vibrant yet gentle number. There is competition but it's not negative. It's a complete, good life. Whenever it's the number three, there will always be two or more people attracted to the other. Be it a love triangle or three friends, there are many varied emotions. There is jealousy, frustration etc. It is not stagnant. In Silsila you are frustrated for Rekha, Amitabh and Jaya. Number three sees a lot of action."

Behind the scenes
Filmmakers insist that the onscreen chemistry amongst the three actors is a reflection of what happened off-screen. They believe that the interaction behind the scenes is of paramount importance for the camaraderie to be reflected on celluloid. Says Khan, for New York, "On sets, the bonding between the three actors was very strong. The interaction between Omar and Sam vis-a-vis Sam and Maya vis-a-vis Maya and Omar was very important. The dynamics have to fall into place. It's very little in screen time, some 20 minutes, but you have to connect with the three people." Bhandarkar dismisses any claims of a catfight on the sets of Fashion by stating, "There was absolutely no problem. I work in an ambience where there is humour. The bonding between Priyanka, Kangana and Mugdha was superb. They used to even share their make-up. We used to share food and crack jokes."u00a0