Happy Hollywood ending?

A whole new generation of stars are falling head over heels in love with one another.

In the realm of happy endings, it's probably up there with Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. After months of speculation and paparazzi dodging, Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, the young stars of Slumdog Millionaire, have appeared at an official function in London together. The resulting pictures have been taken by fans around the world as proof that the pair's on-screen romance has spilt into real life.

If true, it would be such joyous news that we could forgive the pair all those tedious months of "Are they or aren't they?" headlines. For those who missed out on the speculation - perhaps the blind or deaf - rumours of a romance started during the film shoot. The pair began by issuing the usual drivel about just "being friends". Yawn. But their discreet co-star, Anil Kapoor, soon blew that old chestnut away. "When I meet them, I feel there is something happening," he said in February, before adding that the golden couple shared a "magical chemistry".

Well, magical it might be. Such poetry. Except that it's not just theirs. Think back over the decades and you'll note that several other couples have stumbled over their own brand of magic while shooting films together. Oldest among the assembled cast are Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who met while filming Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not in 1944. They married despite their 25-year age gap.

Then there is the tempestuous union between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who embarked on their relationship on the set of Cleopatra in 1962. It was perhaps not the happiest ending of all time given that they managed to divorce twice, but still. It was great while it lasted, eh? Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell met on the set of Swing Shift. Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins met while filming Bull Durham. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson? On the set of Volunteers.

But these look dull, frankly, next to the controversial celebrity wrecking ball that formed on the set of Mr and Mrs Smith: Brangelina. (Angelina Jolie met both her former husbands, Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, on set.) Most of us are so bored of the Brad Pitt details that we'd rather eat our eyeballs than go over them again. But, in a nutshell, it all kicked off then. And dry your tears, Jennifer Aniston, because you're clearly not averse to your own movie hook-up. Remember Vince Vaughn and The Break-Up?

Tom Cruise is another actor who has treated his film projects like a kind of matchmaking service. Nicole Kidman fell for his dubious charms on their film Days of Thunder. Penélope Cruz clearly knew no better when she shot Vanilla Sky with him. Other women who have fallen for their on-screen counterparts include Sienna Miller, who embarked on the path to ruin with Jude Law when they met in 2003 to discuss plans for their film Alfie. The poor girl was only 22. Then there was the sad tale of Minnie Driver and Matt Damon, who took the unusual step of falling in love while discussing mathematics in Good Will Hunting. Damon then announced on the Oprah Winfrey Show that the pair were no longer together. Love-rat points to him.

Happier times, however, can be found with a whole new generation of young stars falling head over heels with one another. Witness the union of the High School Musical starlets Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. Or the relationship between Miley Cyrus and one of the Jonas Brothers. (They all look the same but apparently she is back together with the one called Nick.) The Twilight star Robert Pattinson is rumoured to be spending quite a bit of time with his co-star, Kristen Stewart, though she still insists she's with her boyfriend.

And then there are Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt from The Hills. Though it is technically a reality show, not a film, it seems cruel to deny the "Speidi" romance a spot here. As it does to Jordan and Peter Andre, a couple that formed while they were eating worms on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! A prophetic omen if ever there was. Really though, can any of these come close to rivalling the blissful match between Dev and Freida? Long may their happy union last. Well, until the next film anyway. In the meantime, Freida, might we humbly suggest that Dev goes nowhere near any film involving Angelina?