Dil Chahta Hai breaks new ground in Bollywood on several levels. First, it uses sync sound, rather than the traditional Bollywood standard of post-production studio looping. It incorporates contemporary music into the plot, through montages or natural settings, in a more organic, fully integrated manner. And perhaps most importantly, Dil Chahta Hai marks the directorial debut of Farhan Akhtar, who has the potential to become one of India's most popular new directors.
At only 26, Farhan Akhtar seems surprisingly young to have written and directed such a thoughtful movie as Dil Chahta Hai, especially for a first effort. But considering his roots, great things were clearly expected of Farhan. His mother is one of India's best-known screenwriters, Honey Irani, and his father is famed lyricist Javed Akhtar. Farhan got his start in movies as an assistant to filmmaker Pankaj Parashar. Says Farhan, "I've always wanted to direct films. The entire process of filmmaking is so fascinating." The young director spent two years writing the script for Dil Chahta Hai and "could not imagine anyone else directing it" when the story was done. So, Farhan jumped into the project, completing the shot breakdown on his own, hiring an experienced crew and casting some well know faces, including A-list actor Aamir Khan, model-turned actress Preity Zinta and second generation Bollywood star Akshaye Khanna (son of Vinod Khanna).
And the cast had nothing but praise for Farhan Akhtar's first movie. Says Aamir Khan, "Farhan was a pleasure to work with. He is a very sensitive and humorous director...It is a great script to start with and Farhan only added to it with his zest...The team had the same sensibility and clicked as a unit. That, I reckon, is the most important thing for a successful director." Preity Zinta agreed, "Farhan's just great... not once did I see him have the usual first time jitters. He's lucky to have inherited Javedsaab's sensitivity and Honeyji's talent. We share a great bonding. I never ever felt I was being 'directed.' It was so effortless... I never felt that I was acting at all."
Farhan's father, Javed Akhtar, also praised his son, proudly recalling, "when Farhan first narrated the script to me and left it with me to read later, I was immensely happy. It gave me a lot of pride. Once I read the script, I realized my son knew exactly what he was doing. He knows the job, has a striking style uniquely his own. He has his own ideas." And Javed also seemed to want to make clear what his role in the process had been" "I have done the lyrics for the film, not a word else."
Still, it can't hurt to have an accomplished lyricist on hand and Javed Akhtar's lyrics, set to music by trio Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa, definitely give Dil Chahta Hai an upbeat, high energy intensity. As composer Shankar Mahadevan remarked, "it's a very young, very urban Indian film and so is the music."
It's been said that with Dil Chahta Hai Farhan sets a new standard for young Bollywood filmmakers. He employs ideas associated with independent filmmaking in the US, like smaller budgets, tight schedules and creative editing. He also uses realism. Actress Preity Zinta sums up the film nicely, "Dil Chahta Hai portrays the Indian youth of today...the film is urban, very stark and contemporary. It possesses very urban sensibilities, in sync with today's generation. People abroad will be able to see the Indian youth as they truly are in Dil Chahta Hai. Not in the way they perceive them to be -- living in the land of sadhus (holy men) and elephants."
Producer: Ritesh Sidhwani
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Screenplay: Farhan Akhtar
Cinematography: Ravi K. Chandran
Film Editing: A. Sreekar Prasad
Art Direction: Yunus Pathan
Music: Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonsa, Ehsaan Noorani
Cast: Aamir Khan (Akash), Saif Ali Khan (Sameer), Akshaye Khanna (Siddharth), Preity Zinta (Shalini), Sonali Kulkarni (Pooja), Dimple Kapadia (Tara Jaiswal).
C-184m. Letterboxed.
by Stephanie Thames
