5 Netflix films with one sided love that we wished could have a happy ending

Incomplete love stories have a unique way to leave an ache in our hearts. It makes us wonder what might have been different to have an alternative happy ending. And Bollywood filmmakers have given us many such one-sided love instances that never got completed.

Although these stories make us long for a different ending, they keep the audience gripped with their storyline, believable performances, and sparkling chemistry. From Aman in Kal Ho Naa Ho to Ayan in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, on Netflix tells those tales and explore emotions like joy, heartbreak, yearning, and a lack of control over situations.

Here are five films where the characters seemed perfect together but couldn’t be.

5 Netflix films with one-sided love that we wished could have a happy ending

1. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016)

• Runtime: 158 minutes
• Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma, Ranbir Kapoor
• Director: Karan Johar
• Release date: October 28, 2016

Rarely does anyone make films with a love triangle or one-sided love better than Karan Johar. He came out with his best when he made Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, about Ayan, who falls in love with his friend Alizeh. However, the cliche happens when she chooses to ‘just be friends’ and marries someone else.

Ayan’s intense love and heartbreak leaves him broken in more than expected ways. He does everything from trying to make her jealous to creating music from the emotional pain of his heartbreak. It makes us wish if that they could have been more than friends.

3. Pad Man (2018)

• Runtime: 140 minutes
• Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
• Director: R. Balki
• Release date: February 9, 2018

People often fall in love with someone who they know can never love them back giving us memorable one-sided love stories. Pari in Pad Man does the same when she develops affection for Lakshmikant, who she knows is in love with his wife.

As he works on improving menstrual hygiene for women and particularly his wife Gayatri, they work together on the project. Although, Pari’s story cannot find a happy ending their respectful and simple moments together make us wonder what would have happened if Pari and Lakshmikant could have an alternative ending.

3. Sukhee (2023)

• Runtime: 127 minutes
• Cast: Kusha Kapila, Shilpa Shetty, Amit Sadh
• Director: Sonal Joshi
• Release date: September 22, 2023

In many cases, one-sided love remains far from complete is because its far from a reality. Sukhee is a housewife busy in her daily chores who steps out from the role on a journey of self-discovery with her old friends. During this journey, she meets Vikram.

He was an unpopular guy in her school and is later introduced as an attractive man. Vikram seems to be the right partner for Sukhee, and their chemistry is felt through subtle moments between them. However, her marriage, kids, and family responsibilities stand in the way of a possible love story.

4. Haseen Dillruba (2021)

• Runtime: 136 minutes
• Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey, Harshvardhan Rane
• Director: Vinil Mathew
• Release date: July 2, 2021

Many one-sided love stories stay the way they are because its ethically wrong to the world, regardless of feelings. Rani in Haseen Dillruba faced the same situation when she was married yet fell in love with Neel.

They have a strong physical connection, but she doesn’t share an emotional connection with him. So, though he is attractive and a breath of freshness in her life, his unreliable personality makes their happy ending fizz out from the plot.

5. Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)

• Runtime: 187 minutes
• Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan
• Director: Nikkhil Advani
• Release date: November 28, 2003

The most popular one-sided love that made everyone weep for a happy ending was undoubtedly between Naina and Aman. He walks in as magic in her life, solving all her problems, making her accept her feelings, and feeling the happiness she had locked out of her life.

He brightens up her life, and she falls in love with him just as he does. But, we don’t get our ideal couple because he has a life-threatening illness and can’t accept the love to leave her alone in life. He painfully distances her and makes her find an ideal partner in her friend Rohit for a happy future, showcasing the strength of one-sided love.

These films portray how beautiful stories are often incomplete, and some ideal partners are not meant to be couples. The what-ifs and possibility of an alternative ending make us think of hundreds of reasons to get our favorite characters together. But, it also reinforces the understanding that life’s circumstances can often come between those who are just too good to be true.

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