Dil Chahta Hai

Dil Chahta Hai (transl. The Heart Wants) is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic drama film, marking Farhan Akhtar's directorial debut, as well as his debut as a writer. Starring Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia, the film is set in present-day urban Mumbai and Sydney, and focuses on a major period of transition in the romantic lives of three college-graduate friends.

Dil Chahta Hai
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFarhan Akhtar
Produced byRitesh Sidhwani
Farhan Akhtar
Written byFarhan Akhtar
Screenplay byFarhan Akhtar
Story byFarhan Akhtar
Kassim Jagmagia
StarringAamir Khan
Saif Ali Khan
Akshaye Khanna
Preity Zinta
Sonali Kulkarni
Dimple Kapadia
Narrated bySaif Ali Khan
Preity Zinta
Akshaye Khanna
Music byShankar–Ehsaan–Loy
CinematographyRavi K. Chandran
Edited byA. Sreekar Prasad
Distributed byExcel Entertainment
Release date
  • 10 August 2001 (2001-08-10)
Running time
185 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹120 million[1]
Box office₹456 million[1]

In 2001, the film won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

Plot

The film follows the parallel story of three friends who navigate family and love after graduating from college. The wealthiest of the three, Akash (Aamir Khan), is afraid of commitment, running away from any girl who tries to cling to him. On a trip to Goa, he goes out of his way to avoid Deepa, who is deeply in love with him. In contrast is Sameer (Saif Ali Khan), a clueless romantic who looks for love at every corner. When Akash tricks Sameer's girlfriend to dump him, he instead falls for a Swiss foreigner on the beaches of Goa. This ends disastrously for Sameer, however, as she is a swindler who dupes him of his money and belongings by the end of the trip. The last of the three, Siddharth aka Sid (Akshaye Khanna), is a painter who is often quiet and brooding. He is prone to searching for deeper meaning in all situations of life though he can be light-hearted in his interaction with his friends. After the three friends return from Goa, Sameer's parents try to set him up (for arranged marriage) with Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni), the daughter of their family friend. Sameer is in love at first sight, but finds out Pooja is seeing someone else. Sid meets a new neighbour, Tara (Dimple Kapadia), an older woman who has moved into a house at the end of the street. She is a single woman whose husband has left her and the custody of their daughter is with him. She shows great intelligence by decoding his nature entirely from his paintings, leading Sid to become attracted to her. Meanwhile, Akash's parents are intent on him learning to take responsibility. They suggest he manage the family business in Australia, but Akash is not ready yet.

On Tara's birthday, when her daughter is to visit her secretly, a call from her ex-husband leaves her distraught. Sid tries to console her and the three friends take her out to dinner to celebrate instead. By the end of the night, Sid has realized he is in love, but drama unfolds when Akash, true to his nature, mocks Sid's newfound feelings. Sid slaps him in return and it seems their friendship is over. The next day, Sameer tries to play mediator but Sid has already left town to attend a painting workshop lasting a few weeks. Soon after, Akash flies off to Sydney. Left to his own measures, Sameer attempts to get close to Pooja who is visibly tiring of her current boyfriend. When she becomes single again, Sameer manages to ask her out. Akash, meanwhile, has made a friend in Shalini (Preity Zinta), an awkward acquaintance from college who he meets on the flight to Sydney. She agrees to show him around the new city, and with every meeting, Akash falls more for her. Soon, however, Shalini's fiancé, Rohit (Ayub Khan) shows up from India and escorts her home for their wedding. A heartbroken Akash also returns, expressing his feelings to his father who can sense his changed behaviour. Akash learns from Shalini's uncle that Rohit's parents adopted Shalini after her parents' death. Hence she is not able to refuse to their wishes of marrying Rohit. Convinced that Shalini also loves him, Akash crashes the wedding and proposes to her. A brief altercation with Rohit is subdued by her would-be in-laws, who suggest their son to simply "let [Shalini] go."

In the present day, Tara has been admitted to the hospital with liver cirrhosis. Sid waits for news on her condition with Sameer giving him company. Still in India, Akash shows up the next morning to bury his grudge with Sid. In her final moments, Tara asks Sid to stay happy and then passes away leaving him distraught. Six months later, the three friends return for a trip to Goa, this time with Shalini and Pooja. At the campsite, Sid catches the eye of a pretty girl walking alone in the fields. He smiles at her, and as she smiles back, he begins walking in her direction. The film ends with all the three couples shown making a toast at a restaurant

Cast
One of the main trio of characters and the son of wealthy industrialist A. K. Malhotra, Akash is shown as a carefree, sometimes irresponsible individual who grows from having a two-week life-cycle for relationships to crashing Shalini's wedding to keep her in his life. Amongst the group, Akash frequently uses Sameer as the target for his jokes and pranks, even going to the extent of causing a fight that eventually led to a breakup between Sameer and his girlfriend Priya, only because he did not like Priya's bossy attitude.
One of the main trio of characters, Sameer is shown as a hopeless romantic who cannot stop himself from falling in love with every girl he meets. After Sid and Akash's fallout, Sameer is left to play the mediator in the group. While being the target of Akash's jokes, Sameer takes them sportingly and rarely feels insulted. He is shown as a loyal friend to Sid and Akash, refusing to take sides in their fight, while also sticking with Akash when his girlfriend Priya resents their friendship.
One of the main trio of characters, Sid is the quiet and reticent one in the group. He falls in love with a divorced alcoholic and struggles with his feelings not being understood by his family and friends. While Akash frequently targets Sameer in his pranks, Sid is shown to be the supportive one who tries to be the sane voice in the group. He is also not above pranking Akash himself, as seen in him casually undercutting Akash's attempts to escape Deepa by informing her of his whereabouts. Though his own relationship remains unfulfilled, he provides the impetus for Sameer to finally confess his love for Pooja, leading to the two of them to get together.
Shalini is Akash's love interest for the second half of the film. She is engaged to marry Rohit, the son of her father's business partner who, along with his wife, adopted Shalini when her parents died early. She feels indebted to them, but also shows that she is not above enjoying herself and standing up to Rohit when needed, even though she remains devoted and loyal to his family. She shares a close relationship with her uncle Mahesh, who is both a father-figure and a brother, owing to his being relatively close to Shalini in age.
Pooja is Sameer's love interest after his breakup with Priya. Pooja is dating Subodh and seems to be in a committed relationship, but still agrees to meet with Sameer complying with her parents' wishes. She is reluctant to reveal her relationship to him, which may arise from her not being "sure" of how much she likes Subodh. Eventually, it is hinted that she tires of Subodh's overly disciplined nature and dumps him, accepting Sameer's proposal when he asks her out.
Tara is a divorced alcoholic who has a daughter from her past marriage and moves into Sid's neighbourhood after he graduates from college. Tara is shown to be frustrated in her personal life, not having separated on good terms with her husband who stops her from seeing their daughter and remarries. Tara's birthday becomes an important day in the story as it is revealed to also be the day her husband divorced her on 9th April, 1995, as well as being the day Sid discusses his feelings for her with Sameer and Akash, leading up to the fallout between the two. While Tara hints at the end of the film that she may have considered Sid as more than just a friend, their relationship remains platonic and she seems to share Sid's mother's views on the inappropriateness of their relationship.
Rohit is the domineering and possessive fiancee of Shalini. Rohit is portrayed as hot-headed and frequently violent, as seen from the final sequence when he ends up pushing his own father away when he stops her from marrying him. His character acts as the foil to Akash, especially in the second half of the film. During a pivotal moment in the Akash-Shalini's storyline, Akash sees an old beggar approaching Shalini in the train subway late at night in Sydney, but resolves the situation by hugging him and scaring him away instead of resorting to violence as would be expected of Rohit.
Mahesh is Shalini's single uncle who works as a photographer in Sydney. Being her only living relative, Mahesh is shown to be close in age in Shalini. This helps as he frequently becomes one of the group when Akash and Shalini meet in Sydney, and is able to interact with Akash and Rohit as a friend more than an elderly figure. He is also shown to maintain good ties with Rohit's parents, as Rohit's father speaks to him first during the scene following Akash's proposal at the wedding.
Priya is the bossy girlfriend of Sameer, whom she dumps soon after their graduation. She is shown to resent Akash's friendship with Sameer and breaks up with him after he fails to choose her over Akash in a fight.
  • Samantha Treymane as Deepa:
Deepa is a clingy ex-girlfriend of Akash, holding on to him long after he has lost interest in their relationship. Her attempts to meet up with him in Goa create much of the comic scenes in the earlier part of the film, though she seems to be aware that her attraction is one-sided in her conversation with Sid at the beach.
  • Asad Dadarkar as Subodh:
Subodh is the ex-boyfriend of Pooja, before she gets together with Sameer. Subodh follows a strictly disciplined life, governed by a schedule that he does not seem to be capable of changing in any way. He is also shown to lack any kind of impulsion, regularly treating Pooja on their monthly anniversaries and giving her a balloon everyday at the same place and same time. This leads to Sameer labeling him as a "time-table".
  • 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
Main article: Dil Chahta Hai (soundtrack)

All lyrics are written by Javed Akhtar; all music is composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy.

No.TitleArtist(s)Length
1."Dil Chahta Hai"Shankar Mahadevan, Clinton Cerejo5:11
2."Jaane Kyon"Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Caralisa Monteiro4:49
3."Woh Ladki Hai Kahan"Shaan, Kavita Krishnamurthy5:06
4."Kaisi Hai Yeh Ruth"Srinivas5:29
5."Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe"Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan, KK5:46
6."Akash's Love Theme"Michael Harvey2:10
7."Tanhayee"Sonu Nigam6:10
8."Dil Chahta Hai (Reprise)"Shankar Mahadevan, Clinton Cerejo4:18
9."Rocking Goa"Chorus2:06

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]

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.[9]

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.[10]

Beth Watkins of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "The mix of humour, emotion, sincerity and wisdom makes "Dil Chahta Hai" a truly enduring film."[11] Sita Menon of Rediff.com concluded that the film was "slick and witty",[12] and Piroj Wadia of Screen called the film "an amazing debut" and praised its script, direction, music, and performances.[13] Dinesh Raheja of India Today wrote: "DCH has a refreshingly wicked sense of humour, and is a comparatively-rare Generation X movie. Hold on — young love in Hindi cinema seems to have finally come of age — or at least is on the way."[14]

Dil Chahta Hai was screened at the International Film Festival of India, the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival.[15][16][17]

Accolades
Award Category Recipient
Filmfare Awards Best Supporting Actor Akshaye Khanna Won
Best Performance in a Comic Role Saif Ali Khan Won
Best Screenplay Farhan Akhtar Won
R.D. Burman Award Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Won
Best Choreography Farah Khan

("Woh Ladki Hai Kahan")

 Won
Best Editing A. Sreekar Prasad Won
Best Film (Critics) Excel Entertainment Won
Best Film Excel Entertainment Nominated
Best Director Farhan Akhtar Nominated
Best Actor Aamir Khan Nominated
Best Music Director Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Nominated
Best Male Playback Singer Shaan

("Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe")

 Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Alka Yagnik

("Jaane Kyon")

 Nominated
National Film Awards Best Feature Film in Hindi Excel Entertainment Won
Best Male Playback Singer Udit Narayan

("Jaane Kyon")

 Won
IIFA Awards Best Supporting Actor Saif Ali Khan Won
Best Song Recording Vijay Benegal Won
Best Screenplay Farhan Akhtar Won
Best Choreography Farah Khan Won
Best Film Excel Entertainment Nominated
Best Director Farhan Akhtar Nominated
Best Actor Aamir Khan Nominated
Best Actress Priety Zinta Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Akshaye Khanna Nominated
Best Music Director Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Nominated
Best Lyricist Javed Akhtar

("Jaane Kyon")

 Nominated
Best Male Playback Singer Srinivas

("Kaisi Hai Yeh Ruth")

 Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Alka Yagnik

("Jaane Kyon")

 Nominated
Best Story Farhan Akhtar Nominated
Zee Cine Awards Best Supporting Actor Saif Ali Khan Won
Most Promising Director Farhan Akhtar Won
Best Actor Aamir Khan Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Dimple Kapadia Nominated
Best Music Director Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Nominated
Best Film Excel Entertainment Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Akshaye Khanna Nominated
Best Director Farhan Akhtar Nominated
Best Story Farhan Akhtar Nominated
Best Male Playback Singer Shankar Mahadevan

("Dil Chahta Hai")

 Nominated
Bollywood Movie Awards Best Comedian Saif Ali Khan Won
Best Actor (Critics) Aamir Khan Won
Screen Awards Best Supporting Actor Saif Ali Khan Won
Best Music Director Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Won
Best Lyricist Javed Akhtar

("Dil Chahta Hai")

 Won
Best Male Playback Singer Sonu Nigam

("Tanhayee")

 Won
Best Dialogues Farhan Akhtar Won
Best Special Effects Won
Best Choreography Farah Khan

("Woh Ladki Hai Kahan")

 Won
Best Film Excel Entertainment Nominated
Best Director Farhan Akhtar Nominated
Best Actor Aamir Khan Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Akshaye Khanna Nominated
Best Background Score Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Nominated
Best Male Playback Singer Srinivas

("Kaisi Hai Yeh Ruth")

 Nominated
Best Screenplay Farhan Akhtar Nominated
Best Editing A. Sreekar Prasad Nominated
Best Cinematography Ravi K. Chandran Nominated
Best Art Direction Suzanne Caplan Merwanji Nominated
gollark: Seriously?
gollark: Try putting "helloboi.tk" in hostname instead?
gollark: Hold on while I read the docs.
gollark: Okay, now to do config on my end.
gollark: Purposes.

See also

Sequel

Akshaye Khanna confirms that there’s a sequel when him and Saif are 50 plus.[18]

References
  1. "Dil Chahta Hai". IBOS. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. 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.
  3. Bhattacharya, Roshmila (23 August 2002). "Heart Copy". Screen. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  4. Ramesh, Randeep (29 July 2006). "A matter of caste as Bollywood embraces the Bard". Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  5. "17 rare facts about Dil Chahta Hai". filmfare.com. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  6. "Swades and Dil Chahta Hai: Four roles Hrithik Roshan said no to | bollywood". Hindustan Times. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  7. "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.
  8. rediff.com: 'I was very surprised with the three Oscar nominations for Slumdog'
  9. "I have a lot on my mind about Dil Chahta Hai sequel: Farhan Akhtar". 31 August 2016.
  10. Gulzar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterjee, Saibal (2003). Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Encyclopædia Britannica (India) Pvt Ltd. p. 128. ISBN 81-7991-066-0.
  11. Beth Watkins (27 September 2011). "Bollywood Journal: The Enduring Appeal of 'Dil Chahta Hai'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  12. Sita Menon (10 August 2001). "Trip on Dil Chahta Hai". Rediff.com. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  13. Wadia, Piroj. "What an amazing debut". Screen. Archived from the original on 6 October 2001. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  14. Raheja, Dinesh (2001). "Dil Chahta Hai — Dude Awakening". India Today. Archived from the original on 3 October 2001. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  15. "Palm Springs finds Bose just fine". The Indian Express. 8 February 2003. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  16. "Dil Chahta Hai to be screened at IFFI". The Times of India. 30 July 2002. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
  17. "Cinematic Convergence". The Austin Chronicle. 15 October 2004. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
  18. https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/movies/bollywood/story/dil-chahta-hai-sequel-will-be-fun-when-saif-ali-khan-and-i-am-50-plus-akshaye-khanna-1580621-2019-08-14
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