Dil Chahta Hai

Dil Chahta Hai is a 2001 Bollywood movie; it was a hit in cities in India and overseas. Those who liked it said that it showed Indian youth as they are today; it was courageous, and fresh in taking on such formerly taboo themes as a young man falling in love with an older woman. Its humor, too, was felt to be sophisticated rather than slapstick.

Story

Akash, Sameer and Siddharth are college buddies. The movie follows them from care-free bachelorhood through various romantic tribulations. Two of the romances end happily — one doesn't.

All the characters are upper-class and cosmopolitan. They live in lavish houses, wear designer clothes, attend art exhibitions and performances of Western opera, and travel overseas as a matter of course. Some critics say that this is why the film did not do well in the villages; the lifestyle depicted was just too foreign.

City sophisticates, however, appreciated the style of the film as well as its setting. One song sequence recapitulates Bollywood dance history; one song drops the usual dance accompaniment and establishes the character's state of mind through lyrics and a moody photo collage. There is an extended opera sequence and a song-and-dance inside a painting. The director is tweaking Bollywood conventions in a knowing way.

See also:

IMBD listing for this film