Dil Chahta Hai

This movie was released in the year 2001, the time when bollywood seemed to be in doldrums, producing one trash after another, the same year when another masterpiece "Lagaan" was released from bollywood and the year I finished my college and entered my first job and wow what an experience - it was just like a fresh breath of air.

The first movie by an unknown young guy Farhan Akhtar (may be known earlier because of his famous parents Javed Akhtar - lyricist in this movie - and Honey Irani) and what a fantastic job he did both in direction and script writing. For me, he did a great job by experimenting with a novel idea, moving away from the well established norms of the bollywood industry and not presenting yet again melodramatic bollywood plot.

The story revolves around three friends (supposedy born to very rich parents) - their relationship and their personal lifes - the guys with totally different natures and with their different meaning of life. However, the only thing that keeps them ever together is their never ending friendship.

The story is not so great, doesn't convey any specific message but it keeps you glued and is refreshing as many times you watch it. In fact, many of the college going Indian youth (and even from other countries) would be able to relate themselves with the three main movie protagonists.

All the actors have given very good performance. Aamir Khan simply reaffirmed his talent. He plays a prankster, who has knack of turning every thing into funny and the one who doesn't believe in the institution of love, but ultimately falls for it. For Saif Ali Khan this movie may even be called his re-birth. He plays a character who falls for every other girl, but is unable to express it when he really starts loving the one. Akhshay Khanna playing a bit mature and serious character may have seemed slightly weaker than the other two, but he played his character very well. This guy has a very different meaning for love and falls for an older woman. Preity Zinta looks amazing (as always) with an all different hair style. Sonali Kulkarni didn't seem so much at ease with the commercial cinema, but then too gave pretty good performance.

Music by Shankar-Eshaan-Loy combination was also refreshing and different from all that mushy mushy Hindi film music. The great thing about songs that they didn't break the movie rhythm and seemed more to be part of the movie's story.

In all, a must watch movie.

After a string of Bollywood stinkers, this film was a breath of fresh air! Upon first glance, it might seem like the story has been rehashed from the plotlines of several other Indian films. But the presentation blew me away! Yes, I agree that Dil Chahta Hai has been heavily influenced by the Hollywood style of filmmaking. But it still retains the same passion and romanticism that has become a Bollywood staple ever since the beginning, thus making DCH a thousand times better than other "Hollywood-wannabees".

Another thing that you might notice while watching the film is that there is not much of a plot. It just... floats along. But that's what makes it great; you never know where the next scene might lead you. What ties the story together is the bond of friendship shared by the three main leads. All the performances were terrific, especially Aamir Khan, who is probably the most respected actor of his generation.

Ultimately, what's great about the film is that it connects to the youth. The depiction of youth is so dead-on and realistic that you would be disgusted at the way youth is treated in other Bollywood films, where every college student aside from the hero/heroine are party-going idiots or jittery nerds! In DCH, however, the people talk like how they're supposed to talk, and nothing seems unrealistic about their personality. While watching the film, it becomes quite evident that Farhan Akhtar belongs to a breed of young, talented directors. What they lack in experience, they make up with an ambitious vision and raw talent.

If you haven't seen the film yet, go watch it. You'll be surprised at how much hope is still left in Bollywood.

Dil Chahta Hai Starring: Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, Dimple Kapadia and Ayub Khan Director: Farhan Akhtar Music: Shankar-Eshan-Loy Released. Debutant director Farhan Akhtar's (son of Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani) Dil Chahta Hai is the story of three friends and their respective thinking of love. It has a new, trendy and youthful look, completely different from the standards norms of the Bollywood film.

Akash (Aamir Khan), Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) and Siddharth aka Sid (Akshaye Khanna), three close friends, have completed their education and are on the threshold of life. Akash does not believe in love. He is a flirt and his love affairs do not last for more than a month. Sameer believes in love. He is always carrying his heart on his palm and falling in love every time. But he still has not found that special girl. Sid, a painter, is the most sensitive and mature among the three. He knows the true meaning of love. He finds love in everything, everywhere and everytime.

All three are enjoying life. Then comes the twist when Sid falls in love with older woman Tara Jaiswal (Dimple Kapadia), an interior designer, who is a divorcee. Akash is not able to understand the depth of Sid's love and hurts his sentiments for which Sid slaps Akash, thus creating a rfit between the two friends. Sameer tries to bridge the gap but is unsuccessful.

Sid leaves for a painting workshop at Kaushali. Akash leaves for Australia for his dad's business. On the flight, he meets Shalini (Preity Zinta), who he had briefly known earlier. Their friendship slowly blossoms into love. Meanwhile Sameer also finds his special girl in Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni), whom he wants to marry. Time has passed. All three friends are again in the same town -- but things are different for them now.

Full marks to director Farhan Akhtar for giving a completely new and fresh look to the film in his debut film. The storyline is different from the run-of-the-mill fares which we are used to seeing for such a long time. Farhan is a welcomed entry in the list of talented and young directors. He has also dared to be different. He has taken care of the minutest details in the film. Technically, the film is no way behind some of the best Hollywood movies.

Now the performances -- all the three leads are fabulous. They all fit their roles to a T. Aamir Khan as expected is the best. He is too good in the comic scenes and is excellent in the emotional scenes also -- especially in the scene when he breaks down on the phone while talking to his father. He definitely is the best among the current lot who does his work with precision and utmost dedication. Saif Ali Khan is a wonderful surprise in this film. This is his career-best role and one cannot imagine anyone else playing Sameer's role. His sense of timing and facial expressions are very natural and makes Sameer a very adorable character in the film.The least significant role was of Sameer but Saif made it very important. Now comes the final winner -- Akshaye Khanna. An actor-par excellence and very natural in front of the camera, Akshaye has played the role of Sid to perfection. His emotions and expressive face say a lot. He has given a spell-binding performance. Preity looks great in her new look and has acted well. Sonali Kulkarni is wasted and Dimple Kapadia still looks gorgeous and plays her role well.

Music and the picturisation of the songs flow with the mood of the film. The locales of Sydney and Goa have been brilliantly shot. The first half of the film has some of the light good moments. The second half is filled with emotion though the Aamir-Preity affair has been stretched a lot thus making the film a bit lengthy. But one thing is sure -- Bollywood has got one more talented director in Farhan Akhtar.

Indian movies tend to have a reputation for (a) being musicals and (b) having overmodulated, distorted sound tracks, as if everyone was singing and playing through a guitar fuzzbox. Fuzz is fine in its place (heavy metal rock music, for example) but a surfeit of it can readily wear down the listener.

Dil Chahta Hai is a welcome breath of fresh air in the genre. It does have musical numbers but they're very pleasant on the ear, as is the sound track in general - modern musical styles, in some cases mixed with more traditional musical instruments (even a didgeridoo, the presence of which is explained below).

I have an absolute hatred of musicals so for me to find this movie likable it really has to be something special. The awards it has already won demonstrate that it IS something special.

The storyline is a little convoluted (which may explain why it takes 3 hours to run its course - around twice as long as its western counterparts, although Indian audiences may prefer the much longer format) but the acting is excellent throughout and the viewer is kept interested as the multiple interwoven plots twist and turn.

This movie demands concentration though, to get the whole picture. There is a good deal of spoken English mixed with Hindi, so the subtitles are a must for those who don't understand Hindi, but the English speech is not often mirrored in the subtitles, so one must both listen carefully and watch carefully in order not to miss a beat.

The subtitles themselves are not perfect, using unusual punctuation at times to emphasize a point (a word bracketed by a plus or minus symbol on one side and a two thirds fraction on the other takes a little time to absorb, for example).

But these are only minor niggles. This movie is richly textured and provides a visual a feast throughout, especially if, like me, you are not familiar with the sights and sounds of places like Bombay and Goa. A good part of the movie is also set in Sydney, Australia, providing plenty of material to keep the interest going (and hence the presence of the aboriginal instrument noted earlier).

This is very much a westernised production, with characters and behaviours that are possibly harder for traditional Indian audiences to identify with; I had no difficulty though with identifying with the three main male characters - three guys who are firm friends and have been for some years, and who may separate but somehow always manage to come back together when circumstances demand it. This kind of theme is pretty universal - the British TV series "Last of the Summer Wine" operates along pretty much the same lines, albeit fifty years on.

One of the themes is the conflict between traditionalist parents and modernist offspring (in particular the arranged marriage) and the author leaves the audience to make up their own mind about which is "right", but maybe with a slight nudge in the direction of the traditionalists.

The only gripe I have is with the choice of the anglicised title "Do Your Thing" for the US market. I think that totally misses the point of the movie. From the subtitles, Dil Chahta Hai translates as "The heart wants...", which would be more accurately and pertinently translated as "What The Heart Wants...".

In other words, the storyline is more about following your heart in love than it is about leading a self-indulgent life (which, obviously, these characters do most of the time - courtesy of being very well off and generally able to please themselves what they do; not quite the little rich kids, but verging on it).

This movie is that rare beast, a guy flick that is also a chick flick. Guys will enjoy watching it for the macho moments, girls will enjoy it for the soulful scenes (and the fact that the women generally behave with more maturity than the guys) and the weepy bits.

All in all a very enjoyable, watchable movie. If this is a new direction for the so-called Bollywood cinema, then it is very welcome and I would like to see more of the same.

As a professional writer I'd even be interested in contributing to that new direction...

Less is more in Farhan Akhtar's 'Dil Chahta Hai'. Strip away melodramatic plots which always drag on longer than they are supposed to. Get rid of unbelievable protagonists who have all the answers and can fight off a horde of villains. Have no 'villains' to speak of, with the exception of the dude engaged to the girl you fancy, who acts like a bit of a prick.

Build a story about the people you spend most of the time with - your friends, your dawgs, your posse, and ponder how you guys are going to sort out the really important things in your life. Like falling in love. Cracking on your friend who seems to fall for every girl he sees. Or your sensitive friend Sid who is in love with a much older woman - is he crazy? Wince as two of your best friends get into a very heated argument which splits them up and wonder what you will do now that you're caught in the middle. Hope for love and friendship to find a way through to reconciliation.

Make a smart movie, without elaborate dance pieces set to a sweet soundtrack that remains in the top 10 a year after the film's release. In fact have a song that parodies the 'running around trees' segment that every other Hindi film since the 1950s has had and that the guys at school used to kid about. I mean, guys don't express their love for girls that way! Keep out guns, drugs, politics, strife, and family melodrama. Lace up your script with generous doses of humor which brings to light the hereunto underused Saif Ali Khan. Finally make sure the 'heroes' have shown some growth at the end of it. Of course it's been done to death in LA. That it could have been done so well in Mumbai is the astonishing thing.

Finally, make reality cool again. Whatever your heroes wear, however they cut their hair, right down to the way they interact has to be believable. Make short hair and a goatee beard the national craze amongst guys. Put some real thought into color coding and matching outfits and give a laid-back style to the proceedings.

Welcome "Dil Chahta Hai". The film that has had the largest influence of the look and hopefully the story of the biggest Bollywood films to follow it. A film that many people have been able to relate to. It seemed so obvious until Farhan Akhtar did it. Now watch how his ideas permeate through Bollywood.

Here's looking forward to "Don" in 2006.