Dil Chahta Hai
| Dil Chahta Hai | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Farhan Akhtar |
| Written by | Farhan Akhtar |
| Screenplay by | Farhan Akhtar |
| Story by | Farhan Akhtar Kassim Jagmagia |
| Produced by | Ritesh Sidhwani Farhan Akhtar |
| Starring | Aamir Khan Saif Ali Khan Akshaye Khanna Preity Zinta Sonali Kulkarni Dimple Kapadia |
| Narrated by | Saif Ali Khan Preity Zinta Akshaye Khanna |
| Cinematography | Ravi K. Chandran |
| Edited by | A. Sreekar Prasad |
| Music by | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy |
| Distributed by | Excel Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 185 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹140 million[1] |
| Box office | ₹450 million[1] |
Dil Chahta Hai (lit. ''The heart wants'') is a 2001 Indian coming-of-age drama film starring Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia. The first film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar, it is set in modern-day urban Mumbai and Sydney, and focuses on a major period of transition in the romantic lives of three college-graduate friends.
In 2001, the film won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. It performed moderately in the urban areas of the country compared to the rural areas, which was attributed by critics to the city-oriented lifestyle depicted in which all the characters are from rich or upper middle class families. Since its release, the film has become a cult classic.
Plot
Sameer (Saif Ali Khan), Sid (Akshaye Khanna) and Akash (Aamir Khan) are best friends in college. After graduation, they go on a trip together to Goa, where Sameer tries to get over his ex-girlfriend. When they return, Sid bonds with Tara (Dimple Kapadia), an older woman he befriended when she moved into the neighborhood. She shares and understands his love for painting, and he asks her to be one of his muses.
Sameer's parents are trying to arrange his marriage with Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni), a family friend's daughter. Sameer falls in love with her at first sight but hesitates, remembering his past experiences. On learning that Pooja is already in a relationship, he has to content himself with just a friendship. Tara has an argument on the phone with her ex-husband over their daughter and Sid tries to cheer her up. He confesses to his friends that he has fallen in love, only for them to remind him of the age difference and the fact that Tara is a divorced alcoholic. An insensitive remark by Akash infuriates Sid and he ends up slapping him in the face. This causes a rift between the two friends.
Akash flies to Sydney, Australia to take care of his family's business. On the plane, he meets Shalini (Preity Zinta), a girl he had asked out in jest at the college graduation. He asks if she will show him around the city, and Shalini, who is engaged to a guy named Rohit back in India, agrees. As they explore the city, Akash's playful nature puts him at odds with Rohit's possessive attitude. Shalini believes in love while Akash does not, making her want to change his view.
In Mumbai, Sameer's patience pays off as Pooja falls in love with him and dumps her boyfriend. Sid's mother finds out about his hidden feelings for Tara. Tara overhears and Sid is forced to confess to her, maintaining that he had resigned himself to the fact that she may never reciprocate. Tara, who has enough stressful situations in her life, is disappointed in him and he decides to leave to focus on his art.
In Sydney, Shalini makes Akash attend the opera for a performance of Troilus and Cressida to change his views on love, inadvertently making him realize that he has fallen in love with Shalini herself. Distraught that she is marrying someone else, Akash mistakenly dials Sid, intending to talk to Sameer. When he realizes how he hurt Sid, he breaks down in tears before his father calls him and asks him to come home. In India, Shalini's uncle tells Akash that while Shalini loves Akash, she is intent on marrying Rohit to please his parents who had taken her in when she was left an orphan. Akash crashes her wedding festivities and proposes to her. Rohit's father speaks with Shalini about her reasons for marrying Rohit and asks her to marry Akash, concluding that it is best for their son not to be involved in a forced marriage out of a false sense of debt.
Meanwhile, Sid has rushed Tara to the hospital for liver cirrhosis, accompanied by Sameer. Akash drops by to reconcile with Sid minutes before Tara dies. In her final conversation with Sid, she encourages him to stay happy and accepts that they shared a special relationship even though it was never formalized. Months later, the three friends return for a trip to Goa, this time with Shalini and Pooja. Sid sees a girl in the distance, smiles, and walks toward her. The end credits imply that he has gotten together with her and has finally moved on.
Cast
- Aamir Khan / Varun Dhawan as Akash Malhotra:
- Saif Ali Khan / Sidharth Malhotra as Sameer Mulchandani:
- Akshaye Khanna as Siddharth "Sid" Sinha:
- Preity Zinta as Shalini:
- Sonali Kulkarni as Pooja:
- Dimple Kapadia as Tara Jaiswal:
- Ayub Khan as Rohit:
- Rajat Kapoor as Mahesh:
- Suchitra Pillai as Priya:
- Samantha Treymane as Deepa:
- Asad Dadarkar as Subodh:
- Suhasini Mulay as Sid's Mother
- Ahmed Khan as A K Malhotra, Aakash's Father
- Rakesh Pandey as Rohit's Father
- Smita Oak as Rohit's Mother
- Anjula Bedi as Sameer's Mother
- Kiran Rao as Deepa's Friend
- Raj Zutshi as Ajay's voice (Tara'a ex-husband)
- Mandala Tayde as Sid's Partner (She appears towards the end of movie where Sid looks at her in fort)
Soundtrack
All lyrics are written by Javed Akhtar; all music is composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dil Chahta Hai" | Shankar Mahadevan, Clinton Cerejo | 5:11 |
| 2. | "Jaane Kyon" | Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Caralisa Monteiro | 4:49 |
| 3. | "Woh Ladki Hai Kahan" | Shaan, Kavita Krishnamurthy | 5:06 |
| 4. | "Kaisi Hai Yeh Ruth" | Srinivas | 5:29 |
| 5. | "Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe" | Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan, KK | 5:46 |
| 6. | "Akash's Love Theme" | Michael Harvey | 2:10 |
| 7. | "Tanhayee" | Sonu Nigam | 6:10 |
| 8. | "Dil Chahta Hai (Reprise)" | Shankar Mahadevan, Clinton Cerejo | 4:18 |
| 9. | "Rocking Goa" | Chorus | 2:06 |
Production
The movie is partially based on writer-director Farhan Akhtar's diaries on his trips to Las Vegas, his 1996 month-and-a-half long stay at New York City, and a storyline narrated to him by a friend.[2] Farhan Akhtar began work on the script in 1998; the relationship of the characters Akash and Shalini was based on a similar experience of one of Akhtar's friends.[3] Other parts of Dil Chahta Hai were adapted from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.[4]
Initially, Akhtar wanted Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan and Akshaye Khanna in the three main roles.[5] While Khanna agreed to do the film, Roshan and Bachchan were unavailable.[6] Akhtar offered the part of Akash to Khanna and he offered the part of Sid to Aamir Khan. However, Khan did not want to play Sid and wanted to play Akash instead. Khanna agreed to play Sid so that Khan could play Akash. Afterwards, Saif Ali Khan joined the cast as Sameer. Preity Zinta and Sonali Kulkarni were cast as Shalini and Pooja respectively. Akhtar convinced actress Dimple Kapadia to come out of retirement to play the role of divorcée Tara Jaiswal. After 15 months of extensive pre-production, the film was shot over a four-month period in Mumbai, India and Sydney, Australia.[3]
Dil Chahta Hai's style extended to the music and its picturisation. Initially, director Farhan Akhtar had approached A. R. Rahman for composing the music. But since Rahman was busy with other engagements, he did not accept the offer.[7] Later Rahman commented that he was glad that the project went to Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and he personally loved their work in the film.[8]One song sequence recapitulates and, to some extent, parodies Bollywood song-and-dance history. Other songs drop the usual dance accompaniment — one depicts an argument between two protagonists through the song's lyrics, another establishes the character's state of mind through a moody photo collage, while yet another imagines the beautiful and idealised world of an artist in love through a song inside a painting. There is an extended opera sequence at the Sydney Opera House, which was exclusively commissioned for the film.[3]
Reception
Critical response
The film was well received by critics for portraying contemporary Indian youth as cosmopolitan and urban. The characters are depicted as upper-class with lavish houses and designer clothes. They attend art exhibitions and performances of Western opera, and travel overseas as a matter of course. Some critics opined that Dil Chahta Hai did not perform well in the non-urban areas because the lifestyle depicted was too city-oriented.[9]
Beth Watkins of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "The mix of humour, emotion, sincerity and wisdom makes "Dil Chahta Hai" a truly enduring film."[10] Sita Menon of Rediff.com concluded that the film was "Slick and witty".[11]
Dil Chahta Hai was screened at the International Film Festival of India, the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival.[12][13][14]
Accolades
Sequel
In 2016, Akhtar stated that he had "a lot on his mind" about a sequel to Dil Chahta Hai' It will go on board from 2022.[15]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Dil Chahta Hai". IBOS. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- ^ The storyline was used for Aakash's character, played by Aamir Khan. Farhan Akhtar tells it like it is Rediff.com, Movies, 23 September 2002.
- ^ a b c Bhattacharya, Roshmila (23 August 2002). "Heart Copy". Screen. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
- ^ Ramesh, Randeep (29 July 2006). "A matter of caste as Bollywood embraces the Bard". Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
- ^ "17 rare facts about Dil Chahta Hai". filmfare.com. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- ^ "Swades and Dil Chahta Hai: Four roles Hrithik Roshan said no to | bollywood". Hindustan Times. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- ^ "Shahrukh in Farhan's 'Oye! ... It's Friday.'(merged threads) [Archive] - Shah Rukh Khan Forum". Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ^ rediff.com: 'I was very surprised with the three Oscar nominations for Slumdog'
- ^ Gulzar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterjee, Saibal (2003). Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Encyclopædia Britannica (India) Pvt Ltd. p. 128. ISBN 81-7991-066-0.
- ^ Beth Watkins (27 September 2011). "Bollywood Journal: The Enduring Appeal of 'Dil Chahta Hai'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
- ^ Sita Menon (10 August 2001). "Trip on Dil Chahta Hai". Rediff.com. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
- ^ "Palm Springs finds Bose just fine". The Indian Express. 8 February 2003. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ "Dil Chahta Hai to be screened at IFFI". The Times of India. 30 July 2002. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
- ^ "Cinematic Convergence". The Austin Chronicle. 15 October 2004. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
- ^ "I have a lot on my mind about Dil Chahta Hai sequel: Farhan Akhtar". 31 August 2016.
External links
- Dil Chahta Hai at IMDb
- Dil Chahta Hai at AllMovie
- Dil Chahta Hai at Rotten Tomatoes
- Bonobology.com: "6 Bollywood movies where the lead characters have had a huge age difference"
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| Related | |||||||
- Use dmy dates from March 2013
- 2001 films
- 2000s Hindi-language films
- 2000s buddy films
- 2000s comedy-drama films
- 2000s road movies
- Directorial debut films
- Films scored by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
- Films based on Much Ado About Nothing
- Films shot in Mumbai
- Films shot in Sydney
- Films set in Australia
- Films set in Mumbai
- Indian buddy films
- Indian comedy-drama films
- Indian coming-of-age films
- Indian drama films
- Indian road movies
- Indian films
- Best Hindi Feature Film National Film Award winners
- Sexuality and age in fiction
- Films shot in Goa