Happy Birthday Leonardo Di Caprio: Remembering the times he stood out as the King of Romance

Happy Birthday Leonardo DiCaprio: The Hollywood actor turns 43 today.

On February 28, 2016, a collective sigh of happiness went up in the air when Leonardo DiCaprio broke his Oscar jinx and went on stage to receive the much deserving award that had been avoiding him for years. Very few people in the industry possess the power to make a bad plot appear presentable. Much like the chameleon, Leo has the ability to transform himself into any form and yet come out so natural as if he was born with that identity.

One often presumes that a tall, dark, handsome and rich husband is basically everything that women desire in their life. In 1997, Titanic happened and our dear Leonardo DiCaprio basically managed to prove everyone wrong. It’s been years and yet Jack Dawson’s zest for life still seems so addictive. On Titanic, he met, ‘poor little rich girl’ Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) who basically had everything one wants in life. Money. Rich fiance. And basically, all the privileges life can gift you. That was Rose’s life on the outside. From inside, she was bound in chains and was being dragged to America to marry her fiance Caledon Hockley.

She was frustrated to the extent that she wanted to jump off the bridge and end her life. Just when she lost hope in finding love Jack came to her rescue. Literally and metaphorically. The boy with limited income, who earned money in fits and starts, had a happier life than Rose. She falls in love with Jack who brings out her inner yearning. James Cameron made Titanic the backdrop of a wildly over-the-top weepie romance. Our heart still weeps when we watch him bidding Rose goodbye. Rose chose a life with Jack over life with the Cal, thereby proving what a woman really wants is something more than a fat purse.

Years later Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet collaborated again for Revolutionary Road. Now, this wasn’t the couple who stretched their arms near the ship or drank cheap beer at a party. The film shows the more realistic side of a husband-wife relationship. Frank and April are an ideal couple who live with their two children in the suburbs of Connecticut. However, there are issues in their marriage, and April suddenly decides to move to Paris. Frank here is a husband who seeks love from his wife. He confesses to her about his extramarital affair only to see some jealousy in Alice’s eyes, a hint that he is not completely unwanted in her life.

In 1996, Leonardo DiCaprio starred in Romeo+Juliet. Back then, it was almost difficult to imagine any other actor for that part. Perhaps none but Leo would have been the perfect guy to play the part of Romeo. With a touch of tenderness in the eyes along with a lot of passion, the actor probably has every kind of charm one seems in an iconic lover such as Romeo. Never has Romeo looked so mesmerising and enchanting. No other actors could have done justice to this modern take on Shakespeare’s iconic romantic character Romeo except Leonardo.