I grew up on Bollywood movies, so I love, love, love romance scenes, especially scenes that capture yearning/longing. And so naturally, some of my favorite kinds of romance tropes made their way into my novel The River’s Daughter. So, without further ado, behold some of my favorite movie-tropes featuring yearning/longing.

(If you’ve been following me on TikTok, you might have seen my recent mini-thesis / compilation video on this!)

The romance tropes I love…

Most of these (unsurprisingly) come from Bollywood movies, but there are some surprise appearances on this list…

Trope: Eyes meeting across a room

It’s probably because I grew up on Hindi movies, but ugh, I love that electric moment when two people lock eyes in a movie/show. It doesn’t even have to be in a love-at-first sight kind of way! It can just be a shared look that communicates something that no one else can feel—even if onlookers happen to see what’s happening…

A favorite example of this is the scene in “Nagada Sang Dhol” when Ranveer Singh’s Ram and Deepika Padukone’s Leela are looking at at one another.

Another favorite example: Rory and Jess looking at eachother at the Dragonfly Inn (Gilmore Girls).

The across-the-room gaze where you can see and feel the chemistry and yearning on screen has always been one of my favorite romance tropes on screen, and I wanted to capture that feeling in my novel. So…

How the “eyes meeting across the room” trope shows up in The River’s Daughter

Without giving away too much, pretty early in the story our heroine Sahira Raazaan locks eyes with those of a forbidden stranger: Syfir of the Mehr’an people. They’re outdoors, so it’s not really across a crowded room but the sensation of all else melting away is a defining characteristic of the moment.

Trope: The body knows before the mind

I love when in books, movies, or shows, characters seem to know something—almost instinctually, physically, viscerally—before they understand it intellectually. I especially love this trope in romance stories, where a character feels physically drawn toward another person but they aren’t consciously aware of what they’re feeling or what it means.

A favorite example is the rain scene in Pride & Prejudice.

Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy has just confessed something to Keira Knightly’s Elizabeth Bennett, and she is seemingly, unthinkingly, moving closer to him—she feels the pull toward him in her bones, but she doesn’t seem to be consciously aware of it.

How the “body knows before the mind” trope shows up in The River’s Daughter

In The River’s Daughter, there’s a scene where (mild spoiler alert) Sahira finds her feet taking her toward the forest… Before she even allows herself to stop and think about where she’s going, why, and who she’s hoping to see.

~But her feet know.~

Trope: Something is keeping them apart

At the risk of breaking down the mystery of romance writing here, what’s a romance story without an obstacle? If you like yearning in movies/stories/books, then you do NEED something keeping the lovers apart. That’s how you can have room for the yearning (also, absence/obstacles make the heart grow fonder).

Bollywood understands this: Mujhse Juda Hokar (sad version!) is my favorite song from Hum Aapke Hain Koun* because it captures that feeling of yearning for one another so well.

*Though as an aside, I don’t generally like miscommunication tropes / under-communication tropes in stories (even though that’s like the core of Hum Aapke Hain Koun)

And of course, the original story of Mirza Sahiba which is the inspiration of The River’s Daughter perfectly captures the power of big obstacles (family, society, tradition, expectation).

How the “some obstacle is keeping them apart” trope appears in The River’s Daughter

First, the obvious: our FMC Sahira is literally engaged to someone who is not the main love interest in the novel.

But besides this obstacle there are plenty of other obstacles in their path… here’s a non-exhaustive list of the obstacles keeping our FMC apart from her primary love interest:

• Existing relationship (Sahira’s engagement to Tavin)
• Existing commitment on behalf of family (Her father has promised her to Tavin’s family)
• Duty & honor (Her family’s reputation is already questionable following mom’s disappearance, and marriage to Tavin would help redeem her family’s honor)
• Societal expectations (The town does not approve of the Mehr’an people; Sahira is expected to marry Tavin)
• Fate (Can’t say anything about this here because of massive spoilers)

So yes, in The River’s Daughter, duty, family, society, an existing relationship, etc, all stand in the way of love.

Trope: Moonlight, the river, and you

As a die-hard fan of 90s Bollywood, screen romance in the moonlight with the river reflecting its glow is the epitome of a romance setting.

The entire river sequence between Aishwarya Rai’s Paro and SRK’s Devdas in “More Piya” captures this feeling perfectly.

How the moonlight and rivers show up as a romance trope in The River’s Daughter

I can’t say much without giving away some crucial moments in the story, but suffice it to say my love of a moonlit river setting is very much honored in the story.

But I will say that if you like the river moments in “More Piya,” you’ll probably appreciate the river scenes in The River’s Daughter.

Why These Tropes Matter in The River’s Daughter

All of these moments (eyes meeting across a room, the body knowing before the mind, obstacles, and moonlight) are woven into The River’s Daughter.

These are tropes and moments that I’ve loved not in the Bollywood movies I’ve grown up on. Romance is at its best when it blends those tropes (connection, attraction, yearning, and beauty) and that’s what I’ve woven into my own novel.

If these are tropes you like too, you might love the world of Jaraan…

Get The River’s Daughter anywhere books are sold.