Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

"Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" is Bollywood in its purest form - and a stunning achievement. It's an epic of grand emotions, gorgeously filmed and well acted. At 188 minutes, it seldom seems overlong and at the end left me crying. Yes, they pulled all the right strings.

The story tells of Sameer (Salman Khan) who comes from Italy to India to learn classic songs - and falls in love with Nandini (Aishwarya Rai), the daughter of his teacher. I don't want to spoil what happens next, but a couple of unexpected things kept me involved in the somehow simple story.

The first hour does not really progress much story-wise. It's all character development and a lot of song and dance. It's actually more a mixture of a ballet and a musical, than a film. There's more music than in your average Bollywood film - and what feels different is that it's not your usual number where the actors pretend to sing, but it's more like traditional background music, where you listen to music and the actors dance and move to it.

The second half involves a lot less music but the plot gets heavier. And until the end, it builds up. Competent direction by Sanjay Leela Banshali ("Devdas"). Additionally, the images are amazing. Director of photography Anil Mehta ("Lagaan") is in the bloom of his craft. Even if you don't like the story, you'd have to agree that it's a visual feast.

That, of course, is also true for Aishwarya Rai. 1994's Miss World has never looked this good, I believe. She radiates beauty in almost every shot and is the most charming when she's the most natural. It's easy to see why Sameer would fall in love with her. Khan plays Sameer as he plays a lot of his characters, and it works. He too looks very good in the film. Of course he takes off his shirt a lot - but his body appears more virile than in other pictures so that it too works well. Finally, Ajay Devgan plays the solid counterpart to the two love birds. His role gets more important as the film progresses and his performance comes off as both strong and restrained.

"HDDCS" might have some flaws (the music, although rather good, is not memorable), but it is great entertainment. Out of all the love stories Bollywood offers us each year, this one emerges as a winner.

Rating 8/10

For me this is the greatest romantic film of bollwood till date. An all time classic. A gem of indian film industry. A masterpiece by sanjay leela bhansali. Outstanding story , outstanding performances from everyone but specially salman khan.he was brilliant in this film. Top class direction and top class music. A must watch for all movie lovers.

This is a superb movie that everyone has got to see. In my opinion, Aishwarya Rai has given her best performance till now. The movie has captured the breathtaking beauty of Rajhasthan and Gujarat and you can also view the cultural settings of India. Everyone is decked in elaborate clothes and jewellery and it's huge family living in a mansion. The story begins with a famous classical singer and his family all living in this huge mansion. He has a student coming from Italy named Sameer (Salman Khan) to learn classical music from him. Sameer meets and falls in love with his beautiful and talented daughter Nandini (Aishwarya Rai). Soon, her father finds out about this affair and orders Sameer to leave and as part of his 'gurudakshina', never to see Nandini again. He leaves and Nandini becomes really depressed. Her parents arrange her marriage with a family friend whose son Vanraj (Ajay Devgan) is a lawyer. Nandini is 'cold' to her new husband and he soon finds out why when he reads Sameer's letters to Nandini. He becomes angry but soon realizes that in order to make his wife happy, he's going to have to find Sameer. He therefore sacrifices his love for her and takes her to Italy in search for Sameer which becomes tough because Nandini doesn't have a picture of Sameer. While they are searching, Nandini gets shot by theives who take all their money and jewellery. Vanraj takes good care of her. While Nandini is in the hospital, Vanraj meets Sameer but he doesn't realize that this is the guy they are looking for. Soon, they become friends. Finally, Nandini has a chance to meet Sameer but she realizes that her feelings for him have changed. So, whom will Nandini chose? To know, you've got to watch the movie! Ajay Devgan has given one of his best performances ever. It is definitely a movie worth watching. Ash looks stunningly beautiful decked in traditional Indian clothes. The songs are also extremely good.

As with nearly all my viewing, this was recommended by a reader.I admit that I am not as familiar with these films as I should be. Just based on popularity and persistence, they need to be understood. Gosh, it about 1 1/2 hours straight of two people falling in love before any drama sets in. Then it shifts to Budapest posing as Italy; I guess the audience would not know the difference.

The negatives are obvious. It is just too long for the trivial story. There are cultural stereotypes whose behavior must be essential to the pleasure of the thing, stereotypes I did not know. There is a ton of singing and dancing but like an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical, it all sounded and looked much the same. The girl who is such a beauty that she causes two good men to fall in love dangerously deep... she's a petulant, selfish brat.

But the colors and the staging are so lush that I got a sugar high and was just about sad to see it end. I don't know anything like this in the west where the simple show is so dominant and so well done. And this is well done. There is a kite-flying scene that just took my breath away. I replayed it a few times. One of the few dramatic moments is when the couple has to be permanently separated. She hears about it an rushes through the house; her dress catches fire and she doesn't even notice, the dancing colors adding to the way the environment tells us what is going on.

I won't ruin the ending. Anywhere else I would gag, but here it was a reward — truly romantic. Now I have to look up more of this fellow's work. The way he uses the environment reminds me of a young Yimou Zhang.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

I missed the first half which was supposed to be the "comedy" section I suppose.There were no subtitles and since I speak no Hindi,it took me some time till the first commercial to find the title and look up what the plot was supposed to be. By that time,I was already aware that Salman Khan had broken his teacher,student relationship and been banished,that he loved Nandini,that she was allowed to break things willy nilly but not to refuse marriage with a man she didn't love. The comedy part escaped me. I was about to change channels when I realized the husband was played by the young man who did such a good job in the recent movie about a young Sikh freedom fighter. When he,playing Raj, and Nandini, left for Hungary,I thought it was for a belated honeymoon. Remember-no subtitles. But THAT was supposed to be Italy????? My only complaint was that the hotel staff on the phone spoke English with an Italian accent when they were so obviously Hungarian. Silly me. I don't understand the lure of Italy perhaps when Hungary is so distinctive and charming. Why couldn't Sameer be half Hungarian? I'll buy the movie for my kids,since they ARE half Indian and half Hungarian and it was nice to hear the language and see how well the people fit in. I loved the Hungarian dance sequence. Maybe they'll redub it and take out the reference to Italy.It just wasn't right.