Dil Chahta Hai

Dil Chahta Hai () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani under the banner of Excel Entertainment (which the two co-founded) in their cinematic debut. The film focuses on a major period of transition in the romantic lives of three college-graduate friends (Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Akshaye Khanna). It also features Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, and Dimple Kapadia in the lead roles.
"Dil Chahta Hai" was based on Akhtar's diary about his trips to Mumbai and New York City in 1996 and a narration of a story by a friend of his. He started writing the screenplay in 1998, but finished it when the film's principal photography was started two years later. Produced on a budget of , the filming took place in both India and Australia and was done by Ravi K. Chandran. It was one of the first film shot in sync sound, with Nakul Kamte and H. Sridhar handling it. The soundtrack was composed by the trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics from Akhtar's father Javed Akhtar.
"Dil Chahta Hai" premiered on 10 August 2001. The film performed moderately at the box office, grossing after its theatrical run ended; it was well-received by the audience from metropolitan areas and big cities but failed among that of rural areas, which was attributed to the city-oriented lifestyle it presented. Critically, the film garnered positive reviews, with some of whom believing that it broke new ground by introducing a realistic portrayal of Indian youth. Upon release, "Dil Chahta Hai" has received several accolades, including two National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards. The latter includes trophies for Best Film – Critics, Best Supporting Actor (Khanna), and Best Performance in a Comic Role (Saif Ali Khan).
Plot.
Akash, Sameer and Siddharth have just graduated from college and take a trip to Goa to celebrate. At a scenic spot by the sea, they relax and vow to return there every year. Only Sid is skeptical that they will remain friends once life takes over. On their return, Sameer is arranged by his parents to marry Pooja, his parents' friends' daughter, while Akash's parents ask him to manage the family business in Sydney. Around the same time, Sid meets a new neighbour, Tara, who lives alone and whom he helps to move.
Soon, two of the friends have fallen in love: Sameer with Pooja and Sid with Tara. On her birthday, Tara is distressed by a call from her ex-husband, so Sid takes her out to celebrate with Akash and Sameer. After dropping her on the way back, he tells his friends that he is in love with her. Akash makes a disparaging remark about Tara's age causing Sid to slap him. Akash and Sameer are both shocked, and the former leaves the night with anger.
Sid leaves the town and Akash departs for Sydney. On the flight, he runs into Shalini, a one-time acquaintance from college who agrees to show him around Sydney while there. Meanwhile, Sameer waits for Pooja to dump her much-disciplined boyfriend Subodh, and eventually asks her out. Sid has lesser luck—Tara walks in on him telling his mother about his feelings, and does not wish to talk with him for believing a relationship between them is possible. In Sydney, Akash is having a change of heart by falling in love with Shalini. Shalini, however, is engaged and returns to India to marry Rohit. The heartbroken Akash is asked to return home by his father. Encouraged by those around him and Shalini's uncle Mahesh, he goes to talk to Shalini on the eve of her wedding and proposes to her. Shalini is conflicted by loyalty to Rohit's parents, who raised her after her parents' death, but they ask her to listen to her heart and marry Akash instead.
In the present day, Sid finds Tara in an advanced stage of cirrhosis. He rushes to the hospital, but she passes away while still talking to him. Sid is devastated, but the night gave him the chance to reunite with Sameer and reconcile with Akash. Six months later, the friends return to Goa as promised, this time accompanied by Shalini and Pooja. At their picnic spot from earlier, Sid sees a woman in the distance who smiles at him. He approaches her and the film ends with the three couple enjoying dinner together at a restaurant.
Cast.
Credits adapted from Bollywood Hungama:
Production.
Development.
The film was based on Farhan Akhtar's diary he wrote during his trips to Goa and his month-and-a-half long stay in New York City in 1996, as well as a narration of a story by a friend of his. He originally conceived a story about the romantic relationship between Akash and his girlfriend Shalini, and later shared it to his parents (Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani), who immediately liked his idea but suggested for several changes. However, he felt the story was not exciting and unusual enough for him, and started to develop other characters, including Akash's friends, making his initial idea become the film's subplot. He was quoted as saying that:
While co-directing music videos for Shankar Mahadevan's album "Breathless" (1998) with his sister Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar began writing the film's screenplay under the working title of "Hum Teen" in 1998, but finished it after the principal photography was already commenced in 2000—when it was retitled "Dil Chahta Hai". Talking to the magazine "Screen", he told them that screenplay reflected himself, his friendships, and his concerns, adding that it was "definitely a fresh view of friendship in Hindi films". The dialogue was originally written by Farhan Akhtar in English, and he translated it to Hindi in two months. This would mark his cinematic debut along with his friend Ritesh Sidhwani, who produced it under their banner of Excel Entertainment. Several elements of the film were inspired from the English playwright William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing".
Casting.
Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, and Dimple Kapadia were chosen as the leads. Aamir Khan, playing Akash, described his character as a typical man of present-day India. According to him, he accepted to star in the film after he read the film's screenplay, which he noted for its freshness. He said, "He is to a great extent self-centered, doesn't believe in love and doesn't indulge in emotions. In that sense he is quite shallow but not really a bad guy at heart." He was also offered to portray Sid, but he did not want to change his mind because he believed that he had play several roles of the same type. He admitted he really liked the Akash role, calling it was "something [he] never done before". In preparation, Aamir Khan, 34, changed his style to a 24-year-old man in a period of two months.
Saif Ali Khan was cast as Sameer, a part he found to be resemble his personality. Particularly drawn to the qualities of his role, he described the film as a "learning experience". Initially, he did not want to star in the film but Kapadia and Javed Akhtar persuaded him to do so, and it meant that he replaced Abhishek Bachchan. Farhan Akhtar wanted Hrithik Roshan to play the role of Sid, after he saw the actor in "Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai" (2000). When Roshan said that he had busy schedules at the time, Khanna came to replace him. Having feature in a number of commercially failed film and take a hiatus of two years, the press labelled this project as Khanna's comeback film. Khanna mentioned "Dil Chahta Hai" has an unique concept and his interest to its script made him signed on the film. His role gave him "a very new sound, a new look and a very young feel" as well as image of himself. Aamir Khan spoke positively of his rapport with them, confessing that it was his dream to collaborate with the two.
Zinta also decided to accept the offer for starring in the film after reading its screenplay, which she referred as "fabulous". Prior to the film, she and Farhan Akhtar had been friends for a long time and promised to do a film together. She performed a screen test at his house and was cast for the role of Shalini, Aamir Khan's love interest, spending three-and-a-half months in preparation. While Kulkarni got the part as Sameer's fiancée Pooja, Kapadia was chosen for the role of the middle-aged alcoholic interior designer and divorcée Tara and, according to Rediff.com, it was the first time she played the love interest of a much younger man. Kapadia told "Filmfare" that making the film was an enriching experience, and called her part "a role to die for". In the interview, she said the role was "very dark" as the character dies at the end of the film, which she did not like, and she felt that it has no "sunshine except this little bond that she forms with" Khanna. Considering her as the film's "surprise package", Farhan Akhtar did not want to feature her in any trailers and music videos of "Dil Chahta Hai" aired on televisions because he wanted to astonish the audience. The casting was done by Zoya Akhtar.
Filming and music.
Made on a production cost of , the filming of "Dil Chahta Hai" was started around 2000 and was completed in 108 days by Ravi K. Chandran, taking place in Mumbai, Goa, and Sydney. While Arjun Bhasin done the costume design, Farah Khan and Yunus Pathan were the choreographer and art director, respectively; Suzanne Caplan Merwanji worked as the production designer. Finished by Nakul Kamte and H. Sridhar, the film was shot in sync sound—which means that the sound was recorded at the time of the shooting—making it one of the first Indian films to use the technique. When the filming ended, A. Sreekar Prasad edited it; discussing about his involvement in the film with "Filmfare" magazine, he was initially skeptical with Farhan Akhtar, who was a newcomer director at the time, but later change his mind when Prasad found him to be more professional than other directors he worked with. He said that he felt excited editing the film, stating that it reminded him of his college days and calling "Dil Chahta Hai" a "revelation" for him.
The soundtrack and background score to "Dil Chahta Hai" were composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy (a trio contains Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa), replacing A. R. Rahman. The lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar, while the vocals were performed by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Caralisa Monteiro, Srinivas, Shaan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Mahadevan, Clinton Cerejo, KK, Harvey, and Sonu Nigam. Noorani stated that the trio went to Khandala along with Farhan Akhtar, Javed Akhtar, and Sidhwani to compose six songs from a total of nine for the film in three-and-a-half days. Mendosa described this experience as 35 percent of work and 65 percent of fun, and added that they had "fantastic time". After staying in Khandala, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy subsequently booked a studio to finish the recording in three weeks.
Release.
"Dil Chahta Hai" was one of the most anticipated Indian films of the year, owing to its plot of youth which was rarely touched in Indian cinema. The one-minute long trailer was released on television and film theatres across India to, as told by Sidhwani, increase the audience's enthusiasm and publicity from the media. Prior to its theatical release, a special screening for the then-Prime Minister of India L. K. Advani was hold at his house in Delhi. The film premiered at theatres on 10 August 2001 and clashed with those of N. Maharajan's thriller "Indian" and Deepak Shivdasani's romantic drama "Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke". "Dil Chahta Hai" was later screened in several film festivals: 33rd International Film Festival of India, the 14th Palm Springs International Film Festival, and the 11th Austin Film Festival.
The film was moderately successful; it performed well in metropolitan areas and large cities, but failed in the rural areas (including Moradabad, Bijapur, Jalgaon, Puri, and Guntur) which trade analysts attributed to the city-oriented lifestyle depicted in it. It was released on 210 screens in India and grossed on its opening day. It collected by the end of its first weekend, and after its first week. The film earned from the country, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing Indian film that year. Abroad, "Dil Chahta Hai" was a success with collecting $210,000 in North America and $100,000 in countries around the Atlantic Ocean in the first weekend. Following its first weekend, the film had collected , and grossed after finishing its overseas theatrical run, making itself the seventh-highest-grossing Indian film of the year. Summing the film's total revenues in India and overseas, Box Office India estimated it grossed which was the fifth-highest for an Indian film at the time.
The television premiere of "Dil Chahta Hai" occured on 17 August 2002 on StarPlus. The film was released on DVD as a single-disc pack in the NTSC widescreen format on 14 December 2007, and the double-disc version was released at the same time; the latter was distributed by Spark Entertainment. The film has been accessible for streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix since 18 November 2016.
Critical reception.
The film was well received by critics, with the film's "fresh" storyline, Farhan Akhtar's direction, and the performances of the cast (mostly that of the male leads) gaining the most appreciation; some of them also noted that it broke new ground by introducing a realistic portrayal of Indian youth. In a four-star review published by the entertainment portal Bollywood Hungama, the critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh declared the film as a landmark for Aamir Khan's career and took note of Saif Ali Khan, who Adarsh thought had delivered "his career['s] best performance", as well as Khanna: "[He] conveys a lot through his expressions and that's where he triumphs. An actor par excellence, Akshaye essays this complex character with flourish." Sita Menon felt Farhan Akhtar had made "an impressive debut" with the film, praising him for developing the characters "very well". Describing his character as the "most interesting" one of "Dil Chahta Hai", she observed of Khanna's performance, "With a character rich in shades and depths, Akshaye uses his voice and expression to optimum effect. He's a surprise. A pleasant one. His Sanjeev Kumar-like moving of the jaw to emote to best effect notwithstanding."
Writing for "Screen", Piroj Wadia called the film "an amazing debut" for Farhan Akhtar, further commending his "good" script and "fine" direction along with "excellent" cinematography from Chandran. Dinesh Raheja wrote: "["Dil Chahta Hai"] has a refreshingly wicked sense of humour, and is a comparatively-rare "Generation X" [(1996)] movie. Hold on—young love in Hindi cinema seems to have finally come of age—or at least is on the way." He agreed with Adarsh's opinion about Saif Ali Khan's performance and said that he "brings the house down with his funny one-liners and seems to be having a whale of a time"; both Wadia and Raheja also complimented Kapadia in her brief role, and stated that she had shown her versatility as an actress. Ziya Us Salam called it "a rare film on male camaraderie, on bachelor bonding", and applauded its depiction of urban youth's lifestyle from middle and upper-middle class family, adding, "[The film] is a rare situational comedy which does not have to rely on facial contortions and banana peels to raise peals of laughter. Here the situations are almost normal with reactions of the three leading characters almost as natural."
In a review carried by "Filmfare", Arati Koppar hailed "Dil Chahta Hai" as a "fabulous ... attempt" for a directorial debut, with claiming that Aamir Khan was the best among the other lead actors. Komal Nahta praised Zinta for "[looking] glamorous and sexy and acts beautifully. The new look of all the four aforementioned actors only adds to the freshness." He also saw Kapadia suited her role despite her old look, but panned Kulkarni's "wasted" role. Apart from reviewing the performances, Nahta also expressed admiration for the direction from Farhan Akhtar and took note of his ability to handled the narration "with aplomb and belies the fact that this is his maiden attempt". Jasdeep Singh Pannu from NDTV labelled "Dil Chahta Hai" as a "wonderfully-crafted film" with "a melodramatic act, an element better kept to the conventional Bollywood movie". While Zee Next asserted it as one of the greatest Bollywood films of the year, Saibal Chatterjee elaborated: "Akhtar demonstrates a style that is as sophisticated as it is impressive. Virtually every character in the intricate tapestry that the young filmmaker creates is utterly tangible, the emotions are completely believable, and the situations fraught with subtle drama."
The Malaysian newspaper "New Straits Times" K. N. Vijiyan inscribed, "This is very much a buddy-buddy film exploring the love affairs of three good friends who part ways and later, get back together." Vijiyan commented that the film was slightly different from the usual Bollywood masala films and felt that it would not appeal to the Indian audience; he also discussed about its production aspects, opining that Chandran had spun "magic" with his cinematography. Beth Watkins, in her retrospective review for "The Wall Street Journal", wrote, "The mix of humour, emotion, sincerity and wisdom makes "Dil Chahta Hai" a truly enduring film."