Aashiqui (1990)

Produced by the man who is credited with pioneering the audio-cassette revolution in India, this hit anticipates a mid-90s low-budget genre with minor stars relying on music as its major selling factor. The pop singer Rahul (Roy) falls in love with the orphaned Anu (Agarwal) who lives in a hostel run by a tyrannical warden (Alter). The couple overcome this problem by eloping, but face a more serious crisis when Anu is selected by a multinational design company as a model and makes lots of money. Rahul's infantile masculine pride is saved when he makes a hit record and becomes wealthy too. The music was a major hit (notably Nazar ke saamne sung by Anuradha Poudwal and Kumar Sanu) establishing its composers and the lyricist Sameer. Bhatt later made Papa Kehte Hain (1995), the debut production of Plus Channel, a manufacturer of TV software which converted the Gulshan Kumar low-budget musicals into its most consistent mid-90s formula, aided by the entry of satellite TV and numerous top hit Countdown-type programmes which now form the major publicity outlet for such films.