Dil Se.. (1998)

The clash between love and ideology is portrayed in this love story between a radio executive and a beautiful revolutionary

Director:

Mani Ratnam

Writers:

Mani Ratnam (story), Sujatha (dialogue),

Stars:

Shah Rukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, Preity Zinta

7 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shah Rukh Khan	...	Amarkanth Varma
Manisha Koirala	...	Meghna
Preity Zinta	...	Preeti Nair
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Shukla (as Raghuvir Yadhav)
Sabyasachi Chakraborty
Piyush Mishra
Krishnakant	...	(as Krisnkant)
Aditya Srivastava
Ken Philip	...	(as Ken Phillip)
Sanjay Mishra
Mita Vasisht	...	Mita (female terrorist) (as Mita Vashisht)
Arundhati Rao	...	(as Arundathi Rao)
Malaika Arora	...	Dancer on train
Gautam Bora
Manjit Bawa	...	(as Manjith Bawa)

Storyline

Amar Varma, a producer for Indian news radio, meets an enigmatic woman at a railroad station and then again at a hill station. He falls in love with her, but the woman, who calls herself Meghna, rejects and leaves him although she seems to be interested. Later, Varma agrees to marry his family's choice, Preeti. But suddenly Meghna is back, and what is the secret that she holds?

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Plot Keywords:

love | radio | train | interview | terrorism | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Musical | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi Urdu Assamese Tamil Telugu

Release Date:

21 August 1998 (India)

Also Known As:

De tout coeur

Filming Locations:

Assam, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£66,844 (UK) (28 August 1998)

Gross:

£368,200 (UK) (11 September 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

India Talkies, Madras Talkies

Technical Specs

Runtime:

163 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shah Rukh Khan did not use a safety harness while the filming the sequence aboard the moving train for the song "Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya."

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Quotes

Amarkanth Varma: [taps on Shukla's shoulder] She's come
Shukla: She's the one? Why has she brought this gang?
Shukla: [wears his spectacles] Hey, you wanted to apologise to the girl. So, why are these 2 men coming here? Who are they?
Amarkanth Varma: Her husband.
Shukla: Husband?... Two husbands?
Amarkanth Varma: You have 2 wives.
Shukla: Hey, there's a lot of difference between a husband and a wife.
Amarkanth Varma: Shush, quiet, they are coming.

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Connections

Featured in Bollywood for Beginners (2002)

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Soundtracks

"E Ajnabi"
Sung by Udit Narayan & Mahalakshmi Iyer (as Mahalakshmi)
Composed by A.R. Rahman
Lyrics by Gulzar (as Sampooran Singh Gulzar)

User Reviews

Unbelievable

The problem with Hindi cinema is its very strong formalistic framework where it has to fit in. It must pass the censors, must be made for a billion of mostly analphabets and must contain a great number of song and dance scenes. Mani Ratnam is one (and only?) director who constantly extents this genre to embrace the producers, the popular audience and the critical and political aware intellectuals with his strong political claims ("Roja", "Bombay"). This one now beats it all and everybody (in India) talked about it. Such an end was not seen before in Hindi cinema, and all fits perfectly well (despite to what some other critics said). And it works even if you know the end before (which most do).

It's my current favorite. Technically superb, very sophisticated content, big fun and emotions. An american version would have been a typical political thriller about an unlucky love to a female terrorist, but Mani Ratnam gives us 300%. Not just the Indian Spielberg or Tsui Hark, this is more. Go for it.