OMG, I just watched the Pakistani drama Khaani recently (first 21 episodes only as the last 10 no longer focused on the romance) and the story was so compelling!!! This is exactly the kind of intense obsessive romance that I'm looking for: One where the the leading male's more villainous (preferably the most powerful person) and becomes utterly obsessed with the heroine. Of course, the acting and chemistry have to be top noch too.

Khaani's unique in that the villain is actually the male lead, so he's the hero as well. But I saw him as the villain because he's pretty much the main antagonist of the series and never gets the h's love.

Seriously, the villain's one of the most obsessed I've ever seen and it doesn't hurt that he's absolutely gorgeous/sexy as hell and shares explosive chemistry with the h. All their scenes together are gold and I just couldn't get enough of the way he looks at her like he wants to devour her. The actor is phenomenal (gave hell of a devilish performance) and I loved all of his facial expressions (his eyes just ooze emotion and dude's seriously got swag), esp. when he's around the h. He seriously can't bear to be away from the h once he falls for her. The lead's chemistry left me breathless and as a drama veteran, it's been a long time since I've felt this way about a pairing. I literally lived for their every encounter.

My only problem with this series from the first 21 episodes I've watched was that I felt that the transition from bafflement/fascination to obsessive love was too fast. I would have liked to have more exposition, more stalking/encounters with the h on the part of the male lead before he realizes his feelings. The drama really rushed through this phase as the villain realized his feelings literally right after the scene where he's pondering over when he'll finally lose his patience with the h. It was really jarring when he declared his love practically out of the left field. I really wanted more fun scenes where he's still unaware of his feelings, yet can't stay away from the h. A continuous buildup like that leading to an explosive encounter where he finally understands that he's in love would have been way better. This part definitely needed more dragging out and I feel an Indian or Kdrama would definitely have worked on this a lot more. I actually wouldn't mind if this transitional phase dragged on for as long as possible, so long as there's dozens of hot scenes with our leads:) Still, the actor was so swoonworthy and I was too invested in their romance that I had to continue watching, lol.

Here are two mvs: One featuring the twisted romance and the other is the official ost mv:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kk2xXIJvlQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Erx5Vbh5U

Ugh, now I need more quality "heroine standing up to the hot villain" storylines like this one. One where the villain doesn't fall right away and you get to see the "falling" process in detail. I watch to see another hot/sexy male lead villain just like this one!!! Khaani really is unique since the villain is also the leading male and there's no outright "hero" character for half the drama. I don't consider the guy the heroine ended up marrying a male lead since he doesn't even come in until the halfway point. So, I really can't think of any other dramas where the villain is also the default hero of the drama. The only ones I can think of are in my favorite Thai lakorns: “Roy Leh Sanae Rai” 2002, “Sawan Biang”, and “Game Rai Game Ruk”. I also loved how the heroine sticks to her resolve and isn't weak to his advances. Khaani's romance plot was so compelling and intense!

Are there any more quality "heroine standing up to the hot villain" Indian dramas with a hot, intense, and obsessive villainous male lead like this one? One where the villain doesn't fall right away and you get to see the "falling" process in detail. And one where the heroine has a backbone and doesn't submit to him.

Other non-indian shows are, of course, also welcome as long as it fits this thread!

Okay, I found some Indian serials subtitled in English on youtube by Colors TV and Set TV and would appreciate any insight on how well they fit my thread request:

Haasil

Rang Rasiya

Madhubala

Beintehaa

I know Haasil has an obsessed villain, but I'm not sure about the quality of the drama or if he comes off as hot/attractive as it seems everyone loved the hero more.

Madhubala seems to have what I want as the leads have awesome chemistry and the hero is pretty villainous/hot. The series is also well-known. But, how intense is the romance: Does the male lead become possessive/obsessive after falling for the female lead?

I know Beintehaa is supposed to be a really good romance, but does the male lead ever become possessive/obsessive over the heroine? Does the romance ever get intense/passionate?

Thanks in advance!

Hey

I think Indian shows could be tiring because they are kind of long. I have watched most of these shows mostly irregularly.

Hassil doesn't have the same popularity as other shows on the list.  the main guy mostly played villain roles in tv shows. He does fall for the girl and I don't want to overshare so as not to give spoilers.

Rangrasiya is not about obsessive love at all as far as I remember. It's more of a guy who doesn't trust women because of his past and a girl who is a damsel in distress. 

Madhubala has great actors and amazing chemistry and guy does become kinda villain for his love. I watched the show so long ago but yes he does fall for her slowly and a girl after getting a lot of crap does get a backbone. The romance was intense on-screen as actors actually did not like each other in real life. 

Beintaah is all about love which has no boundaries and in this, the girl is an obsessive lover rather than a guy. Guy first fall for her sweet acts but later realise what she actually is. But in India, everyone loved her as she is a good actress with a huge fan following. 

In fact, the second season is going to release soon

@SweetEtika

Thanks so much for the clarification! What can I say, in fictional romance, I just adore obsessive psycho male leads, lol. They make the romance more  intense/passionate and are just fun to watch.

As I suspected, Madhubala’s dynamics seem to fit my requirements the most! Love obsessive male leads, esp. ones who don’t start out that way and you get to see the transformation in detail. My favorite phase in a romance is always the transitional one btw “denial-acceptance” and they’re always usually too rushed. In this aspect, I think the long length of Indian dramas would be favorable as long as they drag out that phase for as long as possible, lol.

That’s disappointing to hear that in Beintehaa, the girl’s more obsessive/possessive than the guy -not into obsessive female leads at all and only want the guy to do the chasing.

I wish Geet Hui Sabse Parayi still existed on the Viki site. It used to be almost all subtitled and seemed to have awesome dynamics btw the leads: Heard the “denial-acceptance” was done really well and the male lead becomes very possessive towards the female lead. Plus, he’s really hot :)

I also found two other famous subtitled dramas that supposedly have possessive/obsessive male leads: Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon and Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan

I know the male leads aren’t quite as villainous like in Khaani or Madhubala, but do they become obsessive/possessive when they fall for the female lead? Thanks so much for all your help!

I know Indian dramas go on forever, so I’m just choosing the best ones that fulfill my requirements and will stop watching once the leads are happily married.

Hey,

Yes, you should watch Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon  it was one of the most popular shows in ITV.

The leads chemistry and overall storyline were great. He does become possessive for her. This show has a huge fanbase. The guy is not a villain but definitely fits into a hot businessman and also possessive one. 

 Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan was based on college romance and it was popular but I had not watched it.

Nowadays I more into mature stories rather than teenage or college romances. As a teenager, I love watching this type of shows not anymore but maybe you will like it. 

Geet Hui Sabse Parayi was kind of slow-paced show as main lead slowly developed feelings for each other. Yes, the is shown was first main lead role for the actress and she is same as Madhubala one.

Another show which has this kind of possessive love was Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani . This show was  inspired by Twilight. The main actor was same as  Madhubala one. 

 SweetEtika:

Hey,

Yes, you should watch Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon  it was one of the most popular shows in ITV.

The leads chemistry and overall storyline were great. He does become possessive for her. This show has a huge fanbase. The guy is not a villain but definitely fits into a hot businessman and also possessive one. 

 Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan was based on college romance and it was popular but I had not watched it.

Nowadays I more into mature stories rather than teenage or college romances. As a teenager, I love watching this type of shows not anymore but maybe you will like it. 

Geet Hui Sabse Parayi was kind of slow-paced show as main lead slowly developed feelings for each other. Yes, the is shown was first main lead role for the actress and she is same as Madhubala one.

Another show which has this kind of possessive love was Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani . This show was  inspired by Twilight. The main actor was same as  Madhubala one. 

Thanks for answering my questions again! After researching, My only gripe with Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon is the male lead seems to have a mother/sister complex and it seems like he'd always prioritize his sister, Anjali, over the female lead. In a  fictional romance, it's definitely not attractive when the hero blatantly states that his sister's his number one priority, even over the heroine, like she'd always have to play second fiddle. I've seen complaints about this in some forums (the posts were really old tho) and hope he eventually changes his perspective and the female lead becomes his top priority...

I've heard of Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani too, but it's sadly not subtitled. 

Two other non-subbed dramas that seem to have obsessive/possessive male leads are Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi (I heard he gets extreme) and Dil se di dua saubhagyavati bhava (definitely an outright villain as he's abusive as well as obsessed). But, I can't watch due to lack of Eng subs.

Yeah, nowadays I also rarely watch teen/youth dramas, but Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan  is loosely based on the Hana Yori Dango manga and since I was a huge fan of both the Taiwanese/Japanese drama versions, I'll probably give it a watch at some point. Esp since people are raving about the leads' chemistry and good chemistry is hard to come by these days, lol.

Thanks again for chatting with me and giving me insight regarding all these Indian dramas. It's nice to talk with an expert on this subject. After nearly two decades of watching Korean/Chinese dramas (several Thai ones as well) on/off, I've pretty much seen all the quality ones featuring this favorite trope of mine. The last really good one that had this was "Ten Miles Peach Blossoms." Currently, nothing that's out is satisfying me and I'm looking to seek fresh content from a different country.

It's not enough for a series to satisfy my standards: The drama, itself, has to be good with an actual plot and leads that have chemistry. Since I've never seen a romantic Indian drama, I know there's a decent list of good ones for me to choose from, esp. ones with the "obsessive love" angle, as I heard it's been overused to the point of being a cliche.  

I'm excited more Indian dramas are being completely subtitled in English (there were like none a few years back) and will be looking forward to watching the best ones with this trope!

First, thanks for posting this because this show sounds amazing and I'm about to watch it now. I kinda love this trope too. 

I was looking for something to binge watch a couple years ago and I randomly stumbled across a Youtube channel that had all the episodes (with subs) to this show called Bairi Piya. I did not plan on sticking with it but ... I was hooked and now after reading this, I kinda watch watch it again. Are the characters mad hot?   No. Is the story insane? YES.

This main guy is like this rich, powerful lord (THERE'S A TWIST) and he sees the female lead - who's super poor - and BOOM. He has to have her. It is nutsssss, I began watching as a sane individual. So like, you know, he's gross, eww, this is terrible, feminism, and like less than 20 episodes later I'm like YEAH BOY trap dat girl freaking get her and make her yours. The main lead is def a villain and I love it.

I think I would have lost interest if the female lead was passive, but she fights him the whole way through the drama. She never really gives in until he starts changing and seeing the difference between love and obsession. 

Be warned. This is a considerably older serial. it is a Hindi serial - so it definitely drags but just skip past like all the intense zoom ins and like you'll be done with 252 episodes in like a week.

@jess4163

Yes in Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon the Main lead does give more importance to her sister after his mother died and also there will be a plot twist in future which makes him care for her sister more and distrust Khushi. 

Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi is a recent show as compared to another one on the list and yes he does get possessive for the FL but he also gives priority to his mother a lot in this. That's where the misunderstanding arises actually.

Indian shows do have a close mother-son or siblings bond is mostly all of them until it is based on college campuses.

I know in  Dil se di dua saubhagyavati bhava the lead was most crazy and definitely a villain and in this, you actually see another lead in FL life later.  It was mostly based on domestic violence or toxic relationships people these days are in. 

The title Saubhagyavati bhava is actually  a blessing given to the woman to remain married forever and is irony in itself when the ML was batshit crazy.

If you want you can watch this show for amazing acting done by leads but it doesn't turn romantic in end. 

@glassesNeet

Yes, Bairi Piya would perfectly fit this trope and as a kid, I did not like the ML as he was a villain in my eyes and I loved Radhe with Amoli. Also, the guy who played ML is such a good actor that he was a good guy in his previous show and I  just can't unsee that. 

Later with all that plot twist which i had seen quite a lot growing up watching Hindi Shows, i lost interest

I just looked for Bairi Piya on YouTube, but couldn’t find any with subs. That channel was probably deleted. Too bad...

@jess4163

Yes nowadays each major channel in Hindi have their own apps and all shows are on that but subtitles maybe are not available in older ones. 

 SweetEtika:

@jess4163

Yes nowadays each major channel in Hindi have their own apps and all shows are on that but subtitles maybe are not available in older ones. 

Lol, I can see that and it's hard determining whether or not dramas are subtitled unless you click on the links and start watching. Nowadays, if I find any Indian dramas fitting this trope that's subtitled, I'm going to download everything onto my hard drive for future viewing. Who knows when it gets taken down and the subs disappear forever...

@glassesNeet 

Thanks, by the way, for recommending Bairi Piya. Who knows, maybe the subtitled version will turn up again someday. I think the ML is actually pretty attractive/manly. His features aren't perfect, but I do find him semi-handsome. The FL is absolutely gorgeous! And she seems very delicate/fragile, which makes her the perfect contrast to the ML's manly build. They look hot together.

I just don't like that he's married while going after the FL...eww!

There is another Pakistani show...kinda old but the guy is super obsessed and eventually kidnaps her for marriage. As in Khaani, H is the main lead and the antagonist...I'm not sure about subs though. It's called Tair-e-Lahoti...btw I'm into the same trope! Watched plenty of shows with the same kinda H! Would you want to try a Turkish show?