Furthermore, Mohabbatein reinvented the "campus film" genre in Bollywood. Before it, colleges in Hindi cinema were places for rowdy fights ( Kranti ). After it, colleges became landscapes of emotional awakening ( Student of the Year , Main Hoon Na ).

Mohabbatein was one of the highest-grossing films of 2000 and won several Filmfare Awards, including Best Actor (Critics) for Shah Rukh Khan and Best Supporting Actor for Amitabh Bachchan.

The three love stories parallel Raj and Megha’s story. Narayan Shankar expels the students for breaking rules. Raj challenges him to a showdown on the annual parents’ day, arguing that love creates strength, not weakness.