Dil Chahta Hai

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.

I am not a fan on Hindi movies at all, but since I decided to study in India, learn a little Hindi and whatever else, I have expanded my Hindi film repertoire from just Lagaan and Amar Prem to include Dil Chata Hai.

The story is simple – at first, and is largely interspersed with a lot of English. Even I could understand the story without any subtitles. (Although you might turn it on for intense moments of extreme speed Hindi) Three spoilt rich best friends grow up, and in doing so, learn that their relationships between themselves, women and their families becomes tense as they mature and travel.

"What the Heart Wants" is a sort of theme that persists throughout the film. One friend is stuck to a girl he cannot get, another to an older woman, and the last one is just struggling with many girls he cannot choose between. For a Hindi film, the dance-music numbers are not terrible (but of course not great) and the music without the dance is quite nice, with a lot of meaning attached to it. So after a major fallout they realize many things separately, and learn about their own relationship in turn.

I recommend this film to anyone as a primer to Bollywood films – I know I used it as one. High marks for this film since it beat the Bollywood standard of being completely incoherent and inane, although still sticking to the three plus hours.

"Can what the Heart Want be controlled?" RATING: 9/10

Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai is a true example of cutting-edge cinema. It is a groundbreaking film in that it realistically portrays the life of Indian upper-class youth and shows the urban and modern India in the most precise way through the story of three close friends and their experiences. The characters are real and very easy to relate to, the dialogues are simple and genuine, the proceedings are dramatic yet realistic, and the film is extremely interesting and entertaining. The film is emotional, but it never goes over-the-top. Farhan Akhtar makes an impressive directorial debut. His excellent direction is aided by extraordinary music, brilliant cinematography, effective editing, fantastic city locations and some very impressive performances by the ensemble cast. The camaraderie between the three friends looks most real and believable. I can't recall any other Indian film I've seen before or after Dil Chahta Hai which portrayed true friendship as well as this one.

Aamir Khan, though initially seems to be miscast in the role of the completely cynical womaniser Akash, demonstrates a very fine versatility in this role and successfully shows the gradual growth in his character with depth and humour. Saif Ali Khan, in his best performance up until that point, is just brilliant as the insecure and very kindhearted Sameer. He displays confusion and fear with great conviction and a fantastic pinch of comedy. Akshaye Khanna is outstanding in this wonderful dramatic role of a serious and sensitive guy who falls for a woman much ahead of his age. Preity Zinta is marvelous as Shalini and skillfully sensitises her character. She plays the part with grace and restraint, and her inner feelings are perfectly understood thanks to her expressive eyes. Dimple Kapadia adds another accomplished performance to her vast repertoire. Sonali Kulkarni's real talent is unfortunately wasted, though she does try to do the best of what she is given.

Overall, Dil Chahta Hai is a remarkable picture about life, and it should provide a great deal of quality entertainment to each and every viewer, whoever and wherever he is. A great film which is according to me the best Hindi film of 2001.

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.

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.