Love might be fireworks, but friendship is the fuse.

We’ve heard it in movies, we’ve seen it in real life: two people fall madly in love… and then, one day, they quietly drift apart. No drama. No big betrayal. Just a growing silence, a tired routine, and a version of each other they no longer really recognise.
So what happened? More often than not, they stopped being friends.

1. Love without friendship can feel like a job

Romance gets the spotlight, but friendship is what keeps the show running. When couples stop laughing together, sharing stories, teasing, and genuinely enjoying each other’s company, love begins to feel like a set of responsibilities instead of a connection.
You’re not meant to feel like colleagues running a household. You’re meant to feel like allies in chaos. The fun stuff matters: banter, jokes, pointless conversations at 1 a.m. It’s not extra. It’s the glue.

2. The emotional safety fades

Friendship in a relationship means being able to be your weird, honest, sometimes-irritating self and still be loved. It’s where vulnerability lives. Without that foundation, disagreements become personal, silence becomes dangerous, and connection starts to feel… conditional.

3. You stop being curious about each other

Friendship thrives on curiosity. The moment you believe you know everything about your partner—what they’ll say, think, and choose—you stop listening and asking. And slowly, they stop sharing.

So, how do you bring the friendship back?

Here’s the good news: friendship isn’t a “you either have it or you don’t” thing. It can be rebuilt quietly and consistently, without any couple’s retreat in the mountains.

• Start talking like friends again.
Ask real questions, not just ones about bills, work, or school emails. “What’s been on your mind lately?” “What’s something you wish we did more of?” “Remember when we…?” can go a long way.

• Bring back the playfulness.
Laugh together. Be silly. Share that meme. Re-watch that ridiculous movie you both love. The world is serious enough, but your relationship shouldn’t always be.

• Create space for shared joy, not just shared tasks.
Not every moment has to be efficient. Go for a walk with no goal. Sit on the balcony and people-watch. Cook together, even if it means making a mess.

Romantic love can be intense, emotional, even overwhelming—but it’s friendship that makes it sustainable. It’s what carries you through the mundane, the difficult, and the in-between. When that foundation weakens, everything else starts to wobble too.
So when Rahul from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) says, “Pyaar dosti hai”—love is friendship—it surely has some weight to it.