Yeh Dillagi

Typical 90's movie with climax railway station/airport scene.Ending could have been a bit better.Only 2 songs are good.Remaining all songs were waste of time.Overall ok movie even if you watch now

Love is such a phenomena that when a person (or two persons mutually) is hit by it, he / she never knows when it's happened. However Indian social and family values have always put a premium on brotherhood (and sisterhood) and the love between the siblings has been silently considered as supreme over the romantic love for the opposite sex. Nevertheless, it may happen that two sisters fall in love with the same man or two brothers fall in love with the same woman. In Indian patriarchal social set-up, the sisters' rivalry in love could be digested by the public but not the brothers' rivalry for that purpose. Movies like President (1937) and Bahaaren Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966) were made in Bollywood showing two real sisters falling in love with a common male. However the first Bollywood movie showing two real brothers as Raqeeb (rival in love) of each other is, in my opinion, Yeh Dillagi (this joke / this teasing) which came as late as in 1994.

An adaptation of Hollywood movie - Sabrina (1954), this movie has been produced by the prestigious Yash Raj banner of Bollywood and the responsibility of direction has been put on the shoulders of Naresh Malhotra. This story is a love triangle in which the girl - Sapna (Kajol) who happens to be the daughter of the driver of the household whose two sons - Vijay (Akshay Kumar) and Vicky (Saif Ali Khan) unwillingly and unknowingly become each other's Raqeeb for her love. The brothers are son of a businessman, Bhaanu Prataap Saigal (Saeed Jaaffrey) and his wife - Shaanti (Reema Laagoo). Their mother, i.e., Shaanti is status-conscious and wants only the girls of equal status as her daughters-in-law. However the parents are by no means concerned for the life of their younger son - Vicky who has turned into a casanova, philandering with different girls with seriousness for none of them. He also does not pay two hoots for the business and related works also which is completely taken care of by his elder, more mature and sensible, no-nonsense elder brother - Vijay.

The real story of Yeh Dillagi starts with the ladies' man Vicky's getting smitten by the charms of Sapna and he actually starts feeling to be in love with her. However considering his image of a flirt, Sapna avoids him. Gradually Sapna's opinion about Vicky changes and Vicky himself also takes steps in transforming his personality and approach towards life. But the trouble comes when Sapna and Vijay fall in love with each other. Now both of them know that Vicky loves Sapna but hesitant of telling this fact to him. Vijay loves Vicky very much and wants to sacrifice his love for him but he cannot force his will on Sapna for that purpose. On the other hand, Vicky, being ignorant of the love of Vijay and Sapna, feels the real trouble as his mother's high-handed attitude of not accepting a driver's daughter as her daughter-in-law though she has become an accomplished model now. The day, the extremely painful truth dawns on Vicky, nothing remains the same for all three of them. The movie ends on an expected yet very emotional and impressive note.

The biggest USP of Yeh Dillagi is the power-packed performances of all the three lead characters. Kajol has always been a class apart and Yeh Dillagi is another showcase of her talent. As a girl with sky in her eyes but feeling the circumstances of hers clipping the wings of her ambitions, a girl conscious of her self-respect and unwilling to be close to a flirt but losing her heart to a sincere and mature boy and a girl caught between the love of two real hand-in-glove brothers but not ready to sacrifice her love for one for the sake of the other, Kajol has marvelled like anything. Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan have always complimented each other well and that's why the audience was fond of their pairing in many movies during the nineties.

Sameer has written good lyrics for the songs and Dilip Sen Sameer Sen have composed heart-soothing melodies for them. Jab Bhi Koi Ladki Dekhoon Mera Dil Deewaana Dole, Naam Kya Hai Pyar Ka Maara, Dekho Zara Dekho Barsaat Ki Jhadi, Hothon Pe Bas Tera Naam Hai, Gori Kalaai Kalaai Mein Kangna etc. are good to listen and were quite popular in that time. However the two profound songs of this movie which have won my heart are - 1. The title track - Lagi Lagi Hai Yeh Dil Ki Lagi Na Samjho Ise Dillagi (sung jointly by Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Naarayan and Abhijeet), 2. Main Deewaana Hoon Mujhe Dillagi Ne Maara Hai (sung by Pankaj Ud-haas). I just loved the latter for Pankaj's singing, the touching lyrics and above all, the performance of Saif on that. It proved to be a tear-jerker for me when I watched the movie.

All in all, this two decades old romantic movie is a nice timepass which is full of fun as well as sentiments. Both the rom-com loving audience and the audience of emotional family dramas will like it for sure. It was a box office hit and rightly so.

Sapna (Kajol), the chauffeur's daughter, goes to Mumbai to become a model so that she can earn money and be on equal footing with her father's rich employers. She matures and gains confidence, and as a result turns the heads of both of the sons of the house: Vicky, unprincipled playboy (Saif Ali Khan) and hardworking businessman Vijay (Akshay Kumar) Their mother (Reema Lagoo) is a stickler for social position, and refuses to allow either son to consider an alliance with the daughter of a servant. They woo Sapna in their own way, and when one wins her love, he faces the difficulty of brotherly conflict and parental disapproval.

On the face of it, this romantic comedy (loosely based on Hollywood's Sabrina), is a love triangle that pits brotherly love against romantic love. The story goes deeper than that, though, and becomes an evaluation of social snobbery.

It is a mostly fun film, but to my surprise contained two somewhat steamy scenes that didn't seem typical of a 1990's Bollywood movie, and detracted from the experience. I also had a difficult time enjoying Lagoo's performance. She's my favorite Bollywood mummy, and I'm not used to seeing her in an unsympathetic role. The acting of the three main characters was good, and they had fine chemistry together. The music was average, but there were some entertaining dance scenes. Were it not for the two detractors mentioned above, this would be a 4 star movie, but as a result, I could only find it average.

I generally enjoy the films produced by Yash Raj. It could be due to their uninhibited romance, the great music, the talented stars, the production values, or the larger-than-life quality attached to many of them. Yeh Dillagi has all of it. It's not a very original film, not even a particularly well-made one, but it's still very memorable thanks to its own, unique style, its distinct setting, its music and its main star cast. The story of two brothers falling for the same girl without being aware of each other's feelings is extremely typical, but here, the film's refreshing energy makes up for the corny concept and the treatment of the main characters, especially of the female lead, is very good. Director Malhotra gives the film a nicely positive tone and the story develops at quite a fast pace.

The music here is outstanding and is perhaps part of the reason the film is somehow remembered today. Dilip and Sameer Sen's fantastic melodies are enhanced by Lata Mangeshkar's divine voice (that Mangeshkar, well into her mid-sixties, sang for a juvenile Kajol with such conviction, is quite a wonder). All the songs, without exception, are great. Among my favourite, "Lagi Lagi" is lyrical and exciting and "Dekho Zara Dekho Barsaat" is an uplifting romantic booster. "Hothon Pe Bas", a gem of a song quite in a league of its own, is amazingly sensuous - Mangeshkar manages, through sheer artistry, to bring to it so much sensuality, helping the chirpy Kajol, who has never looked more gorgeous and attractive, turn into a full-on seductress.

That said, the most unusual aspect is without a doubt the way the camera manages to capture the breathtaking beauty of Shimla and its many picturesque views seen through every window and in every outdoor shot. Really a refreshing change, especially when years later the big banners chose to move abroad instead of showing India's unique beauty. I wonder why so few films have been set in this region. The script was really quite okay, even with the usual faults, the unnecessary comic subplots and some of Saif's unconvincing affairs with some rather average-looking girls. I also liked the way the relationship of two brothers was portrayed, and I appreciated the writers for not going to the extent of fostering an unnecessary rivalry between the two.

The pairing of Akshay Kumar and Kajol is absolutely fantastic. The part where the story takes a turn to portray their interaction and growing affection for each other and the ensuing romance is the film's most beautiful sequence, and it's handled really well. It develops naturally, with nuanced depth, and is particularly interesting because no hint of any romantic tension between the two existed in the first half. It's not a love-at-first-sight story - the two connect first at a friendly level and this is exactly what makes their romantic realisation so special here. The scenes where she questions him about past relationships or the one where he asks her to translate different languages just to smartly convey his feelings towards her, are quite charming.

As the central protagonist, Kajol is charm personified as Sapna, but above all, she actually delivers a really strong and convincing performance, inhabiting every bit of Sapna's forceful and spunky personality with her natural charisma. As I say above, she has never been more sensuous or attractive than she is here, so no surprise that she is the centre of attention and love interest. Kumar, one of my favourite actors, is impressive in a role completely different from what people thought he best suited when he entered films (action). I wonder why Yash Raj didn't sign him for more films after this successful performance at the time. He is restrained, good-looking, charismatic, and during the song "Dekho Zara" shows to be a superb dancer - all the qualities required for this genre.

The second lead is Saif Ali Khan, who gets a substantial part which he does suit, and although he's good, he's not on the level of his costars. His character is very difficult to like in the beginning, and his comic timing hadn't fully emerged then as it certainly has nowadays. Anyway, Yeh Dillagi is very memorable for me, and maybe it's got to do more with the fact that I've liked it since childhood, so I tend to overlook some of its flaws - its nostalgic value might indeed have a strong effect on me. Still, I find it as good as several other Yash Raj flicks of that time; not as great as, say, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, in terms of filmmaking or story, but still a charming romance and altogether good entertainment which I like to revisit from time to time.

I saw this without subtitles so I possibly missed out on something, but overall the plot is so basic there wasn't much to miss out on. I know a bit of Hindi so I could follow the plot just fine.

This film was cute. Nothing more, nothing less. It has some pretty hilarious comedy (Saif Ali Khan has always had a talent for comedy) and some lovely songs ("Ole Ole Ole" being the best one out of them all), and while the jodi of Akshay Kumar and Kajol didn't exactly win me over, it was alright. It's very much a Kajol film, she was the star of the show with her acting and her beauty - this girl makes even the most awful 90's outfits look good.

It didn't even occur to me that it was a version of Sabrina. It's an overall nice film so it doesn't really matter that the plot is a ripoff.