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dangermousieDil Chahta Hai is the movie that got me obsessed with Bollywood.
It is not the first Bolly movie I've ever seen. That honor goes to a badly dull movie from 1980s which I saw when I was around 10 and promply decided that watching interminable singing with ludicrous plot and abundant mustaches ranked somewhere below brushing my teeth and washing the dishes as entertainment.
Nor was it Bombay, some of which I saw when TCM had a festival. I took one long look at pudgy and hirsute Armind Swamy and was reminded of my earlier opinion, both of unattractiveness of mustaches and boringness of Bollywood (I rewatched and loved it tremendously later, but no, this is not the movie that got me into Bollywood).
Nor was it Rangeela or Amar, Akbar, Anthony both of which I enjoyed but neither of which made me interested in seeking further Bollywood movies, any more than watching a French movie I like would make me look out for more French films.
No, the movie that made me sit up at take a second look at Bollywood was Dil Chahta Hai.
I came into it about halfway through. I did not know who the actors were. I did not know that Aamir Khan (Akash) was one of the most famous Bollywood actors of his generation, or that Preity Zinta (Shalini) was just starting her climb as one of the most popular actresses. Or that Akshaye Khanna (Sid) was the son of Vinod Khanna, a huge yesteryear superstar. Or that Dimple Kapadia, who played the tragic divorcee, once drove entire country crazy as "Bobby," the star-crossed teenager in a blockbuster with Rishi Kapoor. Nope, I neither knew nor cared about any of it, and it was up to the movie to stand or fall on its own merits. In fact, when I started watching, the only thing I noticed was that "Sameer" was hot and I wished he was playing Aamir's role. I was aeons away from discovering that his name was Saif Ali Khan, an actor largely known for his comic timing, and someone who was going to steal my heart completely as not-comic-in-the-least hero of Parineeta a few years later.
And yet, I was instantly hooked. I liked the colors, the music, the emotion, the characters. And, despite my earlier grumpiness of not finding Akash cute enough, by the end of the movie I was completely won over by him. And by the time the movie ended, I found myself thinking that Hollywood had forgotten how to make a truly romantic movie but these people apparently haven't.
The plot: Akash, Sameer, and Sid are three best friends who have just graduated. Sameer is a charming flibbertygibbet who falls for every pretty girl he sees, and when it doesn't work out, falls just as strongly in love with the next one. That is until he falls in love for real with the girl his parents want him to marry but who has a boyfriend of her own. Sid is a sensitive artist who falls hopelessly in love with a bitter, alcoholic divorcee. His feelings for her and Akash's incomprehension of said feelings lead to a rift between Sid and Akash. And Akash is a cynical playboy who does not believe in romantic entanglements of any sort. That is until he becomes friends with Shalini, a girl he spends time with in Australia, and who is already engaged to a childhood friend. And he is left completely bereft of defenses and shattered by his falling in love with someone he can't have.
The scene at the Opera, where he finally realizes his feelings is worth the price of the DVD alone.
So yeah, go watch.
It is not the first Bolly movie I've ever seen. That honor goes to a badly dull movie from 1980s which I saw when I was around 10 and promply decided that watching interminable singing with ludicrous plot and abundant mustaches ranked somewhere below brushing my teeth and washing the dishes as entertainment.
Nor was it Bombay, some of which I saw when TCM had a festival. I took one long look at pudgy and hirsute Armind Swamy and was reminded of my earlier opinion, both of unattractiveness of mustaches and boringness of Bollywood (I rewatched and loved it tremendously later, but no, this is not the movie that got me into Bollywood).
Nor was it Rangeela or Amar, Akbar, Anthony both of which I enjoyed but neither of which made me interested in seeking further Bollywood movies, any more than watching a French movie I like would make me look out for more French films.
No, the movie that made me sit up at take a second look at Bollywood was Dil Chahta Hai.
I came into it about halfway through. I did not know who the actors were. I did not know that Aamir Khan (Akash) was one of the most famous Bollywood actors of his generation, or that Preity Zinta (Shalini) was just starting her climb as one of the most popular actresses. Or that Akshaye Khanna (Sid) was the son of Vinod Khanna, a huge yesteryear superstar. Or that Dimple Kapadia, who played the tragic divorcee, once drove entire country crazy as "Bobby," the star-crossed teenager in a blockbuster with Rishi Kapoor. Nope, I neither knew nor cared about any of it, and it was up to the movie to stand or fall on its own merits. In fact, when I started watching, the only thing I noticed was that "Sameer" was hot and I wished he was playing Aamir's role. I was aeons away from discovering that his name was Saif Ali Khan, an actor largely known for his comic timing, and someone who was going to steal my heart completely as not-comic-in-the-least hero of Parineeta a few years later.
And yet, I was instantly hooked. I liked the colors, the music, the emotion, the characters. And, despite my earlier grumpiness of not finding Akash cute enough, by the end of the movie I was completely won over by him. And by the time the movie ended, I found myself thinking that Hollywood had forgotten how to make a truly romantic movie but these people apparently haven't.
The plot: Akash, Sameer, and Sid are three best friends who have just graduated. Sameer is a charming flibbertygibbet who falls for every pretty girl he sees, and when it doesn't work out, falls just as strongly in love with the next one. That is until he falls in love for real with the girl his parents want him to marry but who has a boyfriend of her own. Sid is a sensitive artist who falls hopelessly in love with a bitter, alcoholic divorcee. His feelings for her and Akash's incomprehension of said feelings lead to a rift between Sid and Akash. And Akash is a cynical playboy who does not believe in romantic entanglements of any sort. That is until he becomes friends with Shalini, a girl he spends time with in Australia, and who is already engaged to a childhood friend. And he is left completely bereft of defenses and shattered by his falling in love with someone he can't have.
The scene at the Opera, where he finally realizes his feelings is worth the price of the DVD alone.
So yeah, go watch.
