The advent of OTT and the ease of using a tablet has made content accessible for many of our parents. In my home, the pater and the mater have taken two completely different trajectories. While the pater has gravitated towards historical shows with sword fights and blood, the mater has discovered the joy of romcoms at her fingertips.

Not a stranger to romcoms — VCR nights meant Roman Holiday for the mush and Ben Hur for the muscle — these days my mother is on top of any new romcom movie hitting the OTT platforms even before we get wind of it. Subtitles bridge the language barrier, something the mater has become very proficient in following. The days of “ki bollo re (what did she say)?!” are over (yay!).

The days of “ebar ki dekhbo (what can I watch next)” are here (nay!). Her questions about what else she can watch — she has even finished watching Nobody Wants This and Lonely Planet — led to the start of a tradition we hope to continue. Mother-daughter Sunday romcom brunch once a month is now a thing, and we’ve got the year planned out already.

If your mother is complaining about not seeing you enough, this is the most enjoyable way to keep them happy. So sit your mother down for a mother-daughter date, choose your food (romcoms make me hungry) — we did sandwiches, cheese platter and Irish coffee the first day, its finger food and mimosas for the next — and watch a movie from our list of must-watch romcoms (this is in no way exhaustive).

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

What better movie to kick off our Sunday romcom brunch date with than this Nora Ephron delight about an independent bookshop owner in New York City and the big bad chainstore owner who puts her out of business. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks warm the cockles of the heart as two people who get on like fire anonymously over the internet but hate each other in real life. The “I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly”... had all three of us, mother and two daughters, sighing loudly with hand on heart.

Available to rent on Amazon Prime and YouTube.

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

The movie for our second romcom brunch date has got to be the one that launched Ephron’s career, crowned Meg Ryan as the romcom sweetheart, gave us a treasure trove of quotable quotes — “I’ll have what she’s having” — and defined the genre. The subtitles are going to be a useful tool for this movie full of witty banter as Ryan’s quirky Sally Albright and Billy Crystal’s cynical Harry Burns work out if men (straight ones) and women (straight ones) can really just be friends.

Available to rent on Amazon Prime and AppleTV.

Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001)

This one is a no-brainer. It has Colin Firth (the mater has a crush) telling a woman, who is not always put together, that he likes her just the way she is (swoon!). It has a 30-something mess of a woman (Rene Zellweger) whose social gaffes are legendary, there is blue soup, wardrobe malfunctions, ugly Christmas sweaters, smug marrieds, copious amounts of alcohol and tubs of ice cream. Hugh Grant’s deliciously rakish charm is another plus point for this movie that is as relatable today as it was when it first released.

Available on Amazon Prime.

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

The late Heath Ledger wooing Julia Stiles by singing ‘Can’t take my eyes off you’ at the football field is all that is needed to cement a place in any romcom list. This teen movie, loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, might have all the tropes you can expect but is elevated beyond just another high school movie by the performances. Ledger and Stiles play two characters who are so done with “dumb high school” and whose chemistry is scorching.

Available on Disney+ Hotstar.

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

This anti-romance will always be a favourite for all the shenanigans of a jealous Julia Roberts desperate to break up the wedding of her best friend, Dermot Mulrooney, and Cameron Diaz, after realising that she is in love with him. But the one who stole the show was Rupert Everett as Roberts’ gay bestie, who shows up to help his friend in need and then again to be her moral support when things don’t go her way. It shows why sometimes friendship is what matters more.

Available to rent on Amazon Prime.

Notting Hill (1999)

This whole movie is like a fairytale where a popular actress falls in love with a local bookshop owner only to have paparazzi, scandals and more causing misunderstandings until the final happily ever after. Julia Roberts plays the actress Anna Scott while Hugh Grant plays Will, the travel bookshop owner. And no one can forget the epic half-naked Spike (Rhys Ifans) who was Will’s flatmate. From “oopsy daisy” to “I am also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her”, this movie charmed our socks off.

Available on Netflix and JioCinema.

Never Been Kissed (1999)

This may not be a classic but it had us mooning over the English teacher played by Michael Vartan, just like Drew Barrymore in the movie. Barrymore goes undercover at her old high school for a story, reliving the nightmare of her student days. The student-teacher romance may feel a tad problematic but one cannot deny the fun and sweetness of the film. That kiss on the football field is what dreams are made of.

Available on Disney+ Hotstar.

Only You (1994)

The 1990s was a good time for romcom and Only You is a personal favourite even if it is not a classic. Marisa Tomei (you know her as Aunt May) and Robert Downey Jr (you know him as Tony Stark) romanced across the Italian countryside in this fantasy-filled love story that sees Tomei the schoolteacher chasing a man named Damien Bradley, who is meant to be her true love, but ends up falling in love with Downey Jr’s Peter. Yes, the spark we saw between Aunt May and Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War had a history.

Available on Netflix.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 days (2003)

This is the most recent film on our list of romcom favourites and sees Kate Hudson tangling with Matthew McConaughey. She is a columnist researching on how to attract and then lose a guy in 10 days. He is a chauvinistic man who bets he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. Barbs and sparks fly thick and fast. If you can keep the happy feeling of seeing them kiss and make up on the bridge at bay then you need some serious intervention.

Available on Netflix.

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Yes, there is yet another Nora Ephron film on the list and yes it is similarly witty and funny and gives you a warm fuzzy feeling. Tom Hanks plays a bereaved father mourning the loss of his wife. A radio show and a manipulative eight-year-old son lead to love between Hanks and Meg Ryan, a tenacious journalist who treks across the country to find her true love. It might all feel a bit stalkerish, but you can’t deny that your heart melts every time you see that scene atop the Empire State Building.

Available on Amazon Prime.

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

The Richard Curtis film about a hapless British man falling for an anything-but-hapless American woman is a must on any romcom list. Hugh Grant forever created a space in our hearts not just for himself as a leading romance hero but also for the sweet-natured, bumbling yet charming romantic lead stereotype. But this film about a slew of weddings and one funeral (“Stop all the clocks…”) is also an ode to friendship that makes you laugh and cry.

Available on Amazon Prime.

Clueless (1995)

This adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma is a great critique and showcase for 1990s teen culture and is funny, sweet and witty. Alicia Silverstone plays the genre-defining character of Cher Horowitz, a spoiled Beverly Hills princess who is definitely not self aware but has a big heart. She tries to set her friends up and ends up finding love with Paul Rudd.

Available on Netflix.