The red carpet of Mumbai’s Liberty Cinema lit up like a Diwali night as the who’s-who of Bollywood gathered for the special screening of Gustaakh Ishq – Manish Malhotra’s much-awaited debut as a producer. What was billed as “just another screening” quickly turned into a full-blown celebration of love, fashion, and everything we secretly miss about the 1990s.

A Cast That Reads Like a Bollywood Dream Team-Up Poster

Walking in together, Karan Johar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, and Sidharth Malhotra made the paparazzi forget how to blink. Add cameos by Ranveer Singh (who arrived in a loud retro shirt, naturally) and Deepika Padukone in a classic polka-dot saree, and you had the kind of star power that hasn’t been seen under one roof since the days of Hum Aapke Hain Koun.

The real show-stopper? The lead pair of the film – fresh faces Arjun Rao and internet sensation Riya Sen – looking straight out of a 1997 Yash Raj poster, complete with windy hair and shy smiles.

Manish Malhotra Finally Turns Producer – And How!

Known for dressing practically every Bollywood bride and groom for three decades, Manish Malhotra stepped behind the camera this time. “I’ve always designed for love stories,” he told reporters on the red carpet, “Now I wanted to tell one from the beginning till the interval popcorn.”

Gustaakh Ishq marks his first full-length feature as producer, and if the 4-minute trailer that played before the screening is anything to go by, he’s brought every bit of his signature glamour into the storytelling. Think pastel palaces, chiffon sarees fluttering in mustard fields, and cassette tapes that still work perfectly after 25 years.

Love Letters, Landlines, and Longing: The ’90s Are Back

The film is unapologetically nostalgic. No WhatsApp blue ticks, no dating apps – just handwritten letters that smell like itr, phone calls that get cut because “STD rates are high,” and a hero who waits outside tuition classes on his Luna.

One guest whispered after the screening, “I haven’t felt this mushy since I secretly watched Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in 10th standard.” Another added, “I actually cried when the landline rang in the climax. Who cries over a landline in 2025? Me, apparently.”

Fashion That Took Us Straight to 1995

Leave it to Manish Malhotra to make a film screening feel like Couture Week. Kareena revisited her Poo era in a backless choli, Janhvi channeled early-2000s Karisma Kapoor in a shimmer mini, and trust Karan Johar to show up in a velvet bandhgala that screamed “I invented romance in Indian cinema.”

Even the film’s costumes, visible in the trailer and the posters displayed outside, were pure serotonin – bell-bottoms, tiny bindi, scrunchies, and those half-sleeve shirts tucked in with pride.

Final Verdict from the Stars Themselves

As the credits rolled and the lights came up, the applause was deafening. Karan Johar posted on Instagram minutes later: “Just watched love in its purest, most gustaakh form. Take a bow, Manish and team!”

If one screening can make today’s Gen-Z stars tear up over dial-up internet and pagers, imagine what the film will do to the rest of us when it releases next month.

One thing is clear: Gustaakh Ishq isn’t just a movie. It’s a time machine dressed in chiffon – and we’re all ready to climb in.

Read Also: Nayanthara’s Heartwarming Birthday Celebration: Rare Photos with Twins Ulag & Uyir Melt Millions of Hearts

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