Christmas special: Bollywood films that celebrated the festival

Bollywood movies love to depict festive celebrations with great grandeur on the big screen, be it Holi, Diwali or Ganesh Chaturthi. But that’s not all! Bollywood movies also celebrate Christmas with a similar magnificence. While the festival is an extravaganza which Tinseltown celebs enjoy to the hilt, here's a look at some films that took the celebrations and merriment to the silver screen.

Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, 'Anari' stars Raj Kapoor, Nutan, Motilal and Lalita Pawar. The film saw Kapoor essay the role of a painter, who is eventually hired by his landlord, to work as a clerk in his office. In the song ‘Nineteen Fifty-Six’, the cast celebrates Christmas and usher in the new year. Sung by Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar, the song is performed by the gorgeous Helen. While everyone is rejoicing festivities, Raj looks visibly uncomfortable caught in a place and attire in which he can’t quite be himself.

'Shandaar' starring Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore and Vinod Mehra, is a story about a kind-hearted business tycoon who takes a liking to an employee's daughter after his own daughter was killed in an accident. The film has a song titled ‘Aata Hai Aata Hai’ which could be referred to as a Hindi version of ‘Jingle Bells’. In the song, there’s a Santa Claus played by Sanjeev riding on a sledge and celebrating Christmas with little kids. The song is sung by Kishore Kumar, penned by Rajinder Krishan and composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal.

The Lakshmi Narayan and Vikram Makandar starrer 'Julie' is the story of an Anglo-Indian family. The film highlights the restrictive social conventions regarding inter-caste marriage and unwed motherhood in India. It also throws light on taboos like women drinking and having sexual relationships before marriage. The movie has a very peppy and happy-go-lucky track titled ‘My Heart is Beating’ that depicts a family enjoying Christmas together as they sing, drink and dance. Sung by Preeti Sagar, this song had one of the first English language songs in a Bollywood film.

Helmed by Siddharth Anand, the Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra starrer 'Anjaana Anjaani', is a fun ride where the protagonists are two strangers whose paths cross when they decide to take their lives. Giving life another go, they decide to help each other and set a 'deadline' to take their lives on the approaching New Year's Eve. In the interim period, they choose to fulfil each other's last wishes and together they set on a journey to Las Vegas. The film is shot in December and thus Christmas festivities and New Years are depicted in the film. Ranbir celebrates Christmas with his colleague’s family while Priyanka celebrates the festival with her folks.

'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' marked the directorial debut of Shakun Batra and starred Kareena Kapoor Khan and Imran Khan. It is a romantic comedy where Bebo essays the role of a hair stylist and Imran plays an architect who loses his home in Vegas. A series of events lead them to meet on Christmas Eve over a few drinks. This is depicted in the title song of the movie as its background score. The two roam around on the streets of Vegas and go crazy sharing laughs together. The title track is a Christmas retreat itself as it is lively, peppy and has a catchy beat to it.

Directed by Abhishek Verman, ‘2 States’ stars Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, who play a Punjabi boy and Tamil girl respectively. They discover love on their college campus. However, their diverse cultures make its culmination a challenge. Adapted from Chetan Bhagat's best-selling works, the film, just like the book before it, is light-hearted. It has a simple narrative told humorously. Romance in the cross-cultural situation has been depicted beautifully in the film. The lovebirds have a small Christmas celebration in the movie.

‘Dilwale’, directed by Rohit Shetty, brought together Bollywood's favourite jodi - Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Coming together after half-a-decade, the two recreated their onscreen magic once again as they play lovers torn apart by their family's dispute. Shah Rukh and Varun Dhawan, who play brothers, are shown going to church on Christmas day where they bump into Kajol and her younger sister played by Kriti Sanon. It is there that Varun confesses his love to Kriti and the rest is history.