Dil Chahta Hai
by Farhan Akhtar
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DVD details
Actor: Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali KhanDirector: Farhan Akhtar
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Subtitled); Hindi (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; Urdu (Original Language)
Format: NTSC
DVD Reviews of Dil Chahta Hai
DVD Review: very slow beginning but worth the journey
Summary: 4 Stars
My daughter (also a Bollywood fan)ended up abandoning this movie early. It was very flat and slow at the beginning and we found the immature jerk character a bit irritating.
Fortunately I stuck with it as it picked up and I cared about these characters. The jerk (the excellent hero of Lagaan)redeems himself too.
I did have a problem with the artist as he didnt look that artsy and has a perpetually curled lip when he smiles that looks like a mocking scowl often. Having seen him earlier much more successfully play a psychopathic baddie I couldnt really go for him as a soulful romantic. He does baddy well though in the other movie!
The acting was good, the music had some highpoints. Not a big song and dance emphasis though - more a lower key play about relationships.
DVD Review: Good step into Bollywood
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a good step into Bollywood if you like cross-cultural straddlers like Bride and Prejudice, Monsoon Wedding or Bend It Like Beckham (Widescreen Edition). Dil Chahta Hai features the powerhouse Bollywood triumvirate of superstar Aamir Kahn, Akshaye Khanna ("he of the uber-expressive eyebrows," as another reviewer notes perfectly) and Saif Ali Khan. Like many Bollywood releases, this is a long one - almost 3 hours - but the trade-off is worth it. Writer/director Farhan Akhtar uses the time to develop each character in rich, detailed layers, especially Khan's Akash and - to a slightly lesser extent - Khanna's Sid.
You have to stretch your imagination a bit. The three play themselves as university students (in sort of an extended flashback) despite Khan looking every bit his 35 years (and more) at the time of filming (that hair looks suspiciously jet black) and Khanna's famously receding hairline. No matter - the trio capture the essence of devil-may-care student attitude, especially Khan's spirited instigator. There's a couple of Bollywood song-and-dance numbers here, but the focus is mainly on the story. By the end of the film, you care about all three of these guys, hoping it ends up well for each of them individually and as a group.
DVD Review: "I don't think she was from Switzerland, either."
Summary: 4 Stars
DIL CHAHTA HAI follows the lives of three recent college graduates and long time friends as their paths diverge and intersect thru a span of two years. Akash (Aamir Khan, excellent in Lagaan - Once Upon a Time in India) is the callous and cynical one, Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) is in love with being in love, and Siddharth "Sid" (Akshaye Khanna, he of the overwrought eyebrows) is the contemplative painter. The film lays out their tangled love lives and how that affects their friendship. For the dismissive Akash and the sensitive Sid, one such romantic affair creates a rift which isn't so easily mended.
DIL CHAHTA HAI mostly centers on the guys and their doings, but Preity Zinta does have a hefty role in the film's second half and is fetching as Shalini, the girl being stifled by a controlling fiance. The other two female love interests - Sonali Kulkarni as the modern-minded Pooja, who doesn't believe in arranged marriages, and Dimple Kapadia as Tara, a troubled older woman who shares Sid's artistic passion - both receive minimal screen time, but they do impact the movie.
The film caters to the metropolitan Hindi youth. For one thing, the polished cinematography strengthens the story's very contemporary mindset. From the opening sequence - a club scene featuring menfolk in leather pants - we are immediately clued in that this film concerns a younger Indian generation cloaked in hipness and modern sensibilites. Apparently, this cool and well-to-do set also tends to listen to Sting and read Steve Martini novels, but whatever. But, as per usual, by the film's conclusion, traditional values are espoused. So, in fact, there's really nothing controversial here, excepting maybe the part where Sid falls in love with the much older and divorced Tara and all the baggage which that implies (ah, but does she reciprocate?). Akash and Sameer's love stories stick to the usual Bollywood conventions, with Akash's tale being the more melodramatic.
Even weighed down by a certain predictability, the mostly engaging performances still propel this film to a four star rating (from me, anyway). Akshaye Khanna is good as Sid, the earnest and most introspective of the trio and saddled with the most improbable of romances, and you feel for him near the end. Saif Ali Khan (Hum Tum DVD 2004 & Salaam Namaste) is a riot! He has a natural charm and demonstrates an array of truly comic expressions and masterful one liners. He justifiably walked away with several 2002 Indian film awards for his role as Sameer. Sameer is my favorite character in this movie and delivers my favorite line in this film ("I don't think she was from Switzerland, either."). Aamir Khan's Akash is the main lead character, but I never quite warmed up to him. Akash, as portrayed by Khan, is a smirky, prank-playing jerk who I found extremely unlikable, and, really, it took him way too long to see the light. There was a frustrating scene, after the opera, as he has a conversation with Shalini (Preity) outside her home, where I just wanted to sock him. So, by the time he did come around, he'd built up too much animosity in me to care.
The perpetually peppy Preity Zinta isn't as peppy here, but she still turns in a good, nuanced performance. Dimple Kapadia stands out in her brief stints on screen, and one could see why Sid might be attracted to her, despite their disparity in age. Sonali Kulkarni doesn't get enough screen time to be as relevant, but, as I've mentioned, she does leave an impact, especially in one musical sequence.
Speaking of the songs, there are only two worth mentioning here. The sunny and quite joyous "Woh Ladki Hai Kahan" (Where Is That Girl?) just shot up my personal music chart as one of my favorite Bollywood songs. This number befits Sameer's lighthearted story arc and is also a good natured, rib-tickling send-up of old Bollywood (love all that arm flapping). To contrast that catchy tune, there's the bitter strains of "Tanhayee" to bring you down, playing as Akash forlornly haunts the streets of Sydney.
At three hours long, this film is an ode to the bonds of friendship, with romance mostly playing second fiddle. As each friend is beset by a dilemma, one or both of the other two inevitably, steadfastly shows up for support. Even with the estranged Sid and Akash, it is never too late to rebuild bridges (it just may take longer). Again, the story offers nothing new, but the stars are compelling and diverting, and it's worth it to sit back and chill (yup, even for three hours) and be regaled by them. Oh, and did I mention how funny Saif Ali Khan is? Or how fun the song "Woh Ladki Hai Kahan" is? I did? Well, then, my job is done.
DVD Review: Love at last ...
Summary: 4 Stars
15 minutes into the movie I was not certain I would like it. But the story grew on me and before I knew it, the entire 185 minutes had gone by and I felt nicely entertained. I confess I did not particularly care for the music. So I took it for what it was ... film music ... which did not distract from the picture. The dance scenes were good. This is definitely one of the better Bollywood "Comedies of Errors". Camera work, locations, colours, editing, all very appealing. The acting is believable. Plenty of glycerine tears, of course. Nice to see Dimple Kapadia again. Pleased to notice that under all the entertaining surface subjects like arranged marriage, divorced and thus unsuitable women, alcohol abuse, family values and traditions were touched upon. Overall: light, pleasant comedy which turns profound in the 2nd half. Enjoy!!! Dil Chahta Hai and Dil Chahta HaiDVD Review: Best of Bollywood
Summary: 5 Stars
Definitely a fun movie with great Hindi music. More than that, it is a GOOD story too. It starts out light, singing and dancing in a club with MTV like special effects, but it becomes a very good story very soon. It is a long film, but a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon while the guys watch football. I bought one for me to keep, and 1 to give as a gift.
I really enjoyed Lagaan, also with Amir Khan, and this one is defintely on the same level or higher.
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