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.