The best on-screen celebrity couples in recent movie history

From Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan to Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio—whether you call it on-screen chemistry or charisma, there are certain celebrity pairings that create magic whenever they appear on screen. Sometimes the films they star in become so iconic, that their leads are forever inextricably intertwined. Here, Vogue looks at some of the most popular couples on screen.

Most popular on-screen couples in Bollywood movies

Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh

Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh in Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela

The now-husband and wife first got introduced to each other on the sets of Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela in 2013 and the on-screen chemistry got translated into real life romance for the two soon after. This Sanjay Leela Bansali pairing was brought to the screen again with Bajirao Mastani in 2015, and in 2018, Padmaavat saw them in lead roles again, if not as a couple. 

Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor

Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor first made their on-screen debut as a couple in Bachna Ae Haseeno in 2008, a film that allegedly sparked off their real-life romance. But their subsequent break up refreshingly did not affect their professional choice of working together. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani released in 2013 and became the iconic romance adventure film that ever millennial binge-watched. Their new-found found friendship also gave us another Imtiaz Ali classic, Tamasha in the year 2015.

 Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan

 
Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan in Badrinath Ki Dhulania

The two made their debut in Bollywood together with Student of the Year in 2012 and became the most watched out for next generation of actors. Both have confessed to be close friends off-screen, and have appeared in the rom com flick Humpty Sharma Ki Dhulania in 2014, and again in Badrinath Ki Dhulania in 2017.

Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit

 
Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan in Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!

The iconic family drama of Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! maybe not have been Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit’s first on-screen stint as a couple, but it sure was one to go down in the history of Indian cinema. Their earliest appearance was in the 1991 film Saajan, post which the two also appeared together in Dil Tera Aashiq in 1993. The iconic actors also acted with Shah Rukh Khan in 2002 film, Hum Tumhare Hai Sanam.

Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in Welcome

2007 proved to be quite the breakthrough year for this duo, first with Namaste London which went on be a huge hit at the box office and when Welcome released the same year in December. And the third time charm seemed to work when Singh is King came out in 2008, making the two the comedy genre’s go-to pairing.

Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh

Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh in Band Baaja Baaraat

Indians like to do their weddings big, fat and grand, and Band Baaja Baaraat was one of those few films which got the theme spot-on. The movie also saw the debuts of two of Bollywood’s biggest stars, Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma. Even though they constantly denied rumours of being together, the spark of their on screen chemistry worked well their next production of Ladies vs Ricky Bahl in 2011, and the duo was unmissable even among the ensemble cast of family drama Dil Dhadakne Do. 

Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol

Image: Alamy Stock Photo

Bollywood’s best-known film coupling Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol have been in an impressive 11 movies together. Their partnership began with Baazigar in 1993, with other popular hits including Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and My Name is Khan (2010).

Most popular on-screen couples in Hollywood movies

Amy Adams and Christian Bale

Image: Rex Features

Amy Adams and Christian Bale’s award-winning formula has garnered them three Oscar nominations apiece, including 2010’s The Fighter (which Bale won) and American Hustle (2013). Most recently, the duo have collaborated as husband-and-wife team in this year’s Oscar contender Vice, a biopic about US vice-president Dick Cheney.

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling

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They most recently played aspiring actor Mia and jazz obsessive Sebastian in 2016’s multi-Oscar award-winning film La La Land (including a win for Stone and a nomination for Gosling), but this wasn’t the first time Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling starred opposite one another. The duo were also love interests in 2011 rom-com Crazy, Stupid, Love, as well as starring together in 2013 crime movie Gangster Squad.

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper

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Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper first appeared on screen together in 2012 film Silver Linings Playbook, the dark romantic comedy that won Lawrence an Academy Award for Best Actress. But the duo actually first worked together in the much-delayed film Serena, released in 2014, portraying a newlywed couple during the Depression. Lawrence and Cooper also starred together in black comedy American Hustle, alongside Adams and Bale.

Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks

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The ultimate rom-com king and queen, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have starred alongside each other in four films, including timeless classics Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You’ve Got Mail (1998). Their most recent project was 2015 film Ithaca, the release of which marked the 25-year anniversary of their first movie together, Joe Versus the Volcano.

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio

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Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio will forever be known as Rose and Jack in Titanic, which won a record 11 Oscars in 1998—matched only by Ben-Hur (1959) and Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003). The pair—who are still firm friends more than 20 years on—were reunited on screen in 2008 in Revolutionary Road, which saw them play a young American couple grappling with the suffocating conformities of 1950s suburbia.

Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler

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First winning over hearts in 1998’s The Wedding Singer, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore showed off their effortless on-screen chemistry again in 2004 tear-jerker 50 First Dates. Ten years later, Sandler and Barrymore paired up in another rom-com, Blended, which saw them play two single parents who end up being at a South African resort together with their respective families.

Julia Roberts and Richard Gere

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When Julia Roberts stepped in to the thigh-high boots of Hollywood sex worker Vivian Ward in 1990 classic Pretty Woman (a role famously turned down by Meg Ryan) not only was she instantly propelled to superstar status, it also ignited a lifelong friendship with her co-star Richard Gere, who played a wealthy businessman and unlikely love interest. The Roberts and Gere partnership proved so successful that they were brought together again in the 1999 film Runaway Bride, with Gere recently hinting there are more collaborations to follow.

Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg

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While Kristen Stewart rose to fame for her on-screen—and off-screen—romance with Robert Pattinson in Twilight, she has found a new cinematic partner in the form of The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg. They first starred together in 2009 comedy Adventureland, later working together in 2015 action film American Ultra. Most, recently they both appeared in Woody Allen’s 2016 film Café Society. Both actors later defended their decision to work with the director despite the sexual abuse allegations against him, which he has always denied.

Also read:

Bollywood’s Power Couples

Timeless love stories: 13 pictures of unforgettable Hollywood couples

On-screen couples who took their relationship off screen