When stars surprised their fans

Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi (1971) used the backdrop of the Hindi film industry to show the difference between infatuation and love. Jaya Bachchan (then Bhaduri) played the young Kusum, nicknamed Guddi at home, who believes the film star Dharmendra was the only man for her. Dharmendra, playing a version of himself, helps Guddi and her family find the right man, who has been waiting for her all along.

In his early film Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994), Shah Rukh Khan played the hapless Sunil who loses out on the girl to his friend Chris. But fear not, Sunil meets another suitable candidate in the closing scenes of the film, who seems quite perfect for him. The 'other' girl ends up being Juhi Chawla, the pair was seen onscreen after the hit Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992) and was a welcome surprise to fans who thought Sunil might not get his happy ending after all.

The cult classic Andaz Apna Apna (1994) has so many hilarious scenes and dialogues, it's hard to pick just one. But this scene comes awfully close. Amar, played by Aamir Khan, daydreams that he runs into the Juhi Chawla (his frequent co-star in previous films) on the side of the road and begins a romantic relationship with her. Govinda also makes an appearance as Juhi's very handsy co-star.

This may count as Kajol's shortest onscreen role, clocking in at a brisk 12 seconds. In Mahesh Bhatt's Duplicate (1998) starring Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Sonali Bendre, Kajol shows up at the train station (where else?) wherein Khan's character Bablu, a chef, is lamenting the troubles in his life and proposes to the first girl he finds on the platform, namely her. Kajol promptly turns him down and goes off to find her Raj.

In the Hindi remake of  Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey (2000) with leads Vivek Oberoi and Rani Mukerji, director Shaad Ali needed to cast two stars to fill in the suspenseful third act of the film. The original featured Arvind Swamy and Khushboo, while Saathiya found Shah Rukh Khan and Tabu as the Yashwant and Savitri Rao, a couple in conflict.

For her first film, Zoya Akhtar cast her brother Farhan as the male lead Vikram who wants to make it big in Bollywood. She also cast his childhood friend Hrithik Roshan as the superstar Ali Zaffar Khan whose dismissal from a project means Vikram's dreams come true. There were several superstar cameos in the film but Roshan's performance rang very true as the see-sawing artist who's confident yet insecure.

The Hinglish hit by director Abhinay Deo featured Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapur and Vir Das in the lead roles. To add to the film's hilarity, superstar producer Aamir Khan appeared as the blingtastic Disco Fighter in the item song number that played during the film's end credits. In his brief look as the disco dancer, Khan stole the show and had audiences clamoring for his own feature as the Disco Fighter.

Gauri Shide's directorial debut English Vinglish brought back Sridevi back to the big screen after eight years. As the kindly fellow traveler alongside first-time flyer Shashi, Amitabh Bachchan calms her nerves and introduces her to the delights of in-flight servicing. The film also reunited the two co-stars who hadn't shared a screen since 1993's Khuda Gawah.

In between Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela (2013) and Bajirao Mastani (2015), Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone appeared as onscreen love interests once again as  Gabo Eucharistica and his wife, Fanny. Unfortunately for Singh, he dies early, paving the way for his best friend, Savio, played by Arjun Kapoor, to reunite with Fanny.

Rajkumar Hirani's P.K. had Aamir Khan essaying the extraterrestrial who longs to return home but is keen to inform humans about some hard-hitting truths about the way of life on this planet. Primarily a research scientist, Khan's P.K. makes a successful return trip, this time bringing back some new friends, including an extraterrestrial who just happens to be Ranbir Kapoor, who's just as eager to learn about Earth.