Dil se (1997)

दिल से

Dil se ("From the heart") is difficult to describe. It begins with a trope fairly common in Bollywood romance – boy Amar (Shah Rukh Khan) spots girl Meghna (Manisha Koirala), decides on sight they were made for eachother, and begins to court her.  Only this time, the standard romance setup comes with a twist:  the girl is a terrorist with a horrifyingly troubled past.

Amar is blissfully unaware aware of Meghna’s dark story – he only perceives her sadness and mystery, and insists that he can save her. Though at moments he may manage to get through to her, Meghna is ultimately too deeply broken to allow someone to love her as Amar wishes to.  These are interesting story elements, as is the film's ambivalence about whether what Amar feels is actually love, or a nearly pathological obsession.  Keeping the latter possibility in mind is the only thing that makes the first 45 minutes of Dil se watchable, as Amar's aggressive and obnoxious pursuit of Meghna is thoroughly unromantic and maddeningly irritating to watch, unless you think there is anything sexy about a man who won't leave a woman alone even if she rejects him firmly and repeatedly.  Manisha Koirala's sad performance is wonderful; she inhabits Meghna with the tense bearing of a wounded animal, and she carries the film through these early bumps in the script.

I give Dil se credit for having the courage to end its story messily and honestly – it follows through on the hopelessness of the pairing (though it drags in the last act leading up to that payoff), rather than tacking on an inappropriate and jarring happy ending. Dil se also features some absolutely gorgeous cinematography, including five or so lusciously picturized songs from the infectious, driving A.R. Rahman score.  Indeed, the music is by far the best thing about Dil se, especially the perfectly crafted and addictive song "Chaiyya chaiyya," shot on top of a moving train.  The other songs are lovely too, and their deeply poetic lyrics contemplate the nature of love and devotion, invoking themes from the mystical Sufi tradition. 

Comments

This is one of my favourite Indian movies of al time and I think it was made waaay ahead of its time hence, a lot of people did not appreciate Mani Ratnam, AR Rahman, Santosh Sivan and Manisha Koirala's amazing performances.

I don't think Shahrukh's love was supposed to be *rational* - he falls madly in love with Manisha despite her repeated rejections, and doesn't behave himself well. If a girl asks a guy to leave her alone, then he should. But Shahrukh is not supposed to be just a 'good', rational guy. All the characters in the film have light and dark shades to them, and have to pick their way through problems which everyone goes through in life. The fundamental ambiguity of this film is represented towards the beginning when the Assamese separatist leader says to Shahrukh: "We are not terrorists, we're freedom fighters." Who's to say what they are? It all depends on your point of view.

Amar's relationship with Meghna is also meant to parallel India's relationship with Kashmir: ie, he insists they're meant to be and refuses to let her have her independence. She wants to be free of him while being attracted to him, and is willing to use violence to get that freedom. In the end, since he refuses to let her go and she refuses to submit, they both destroy each other.

On top of all these subtle analogies, visually the movie is breathtaking as well and contains one of the best scores ever composed by AR Rahman I believe.

And I also love the background music which keeps playing from time to time I wonder if anyone can tell me how I can get hold of this musical piece. Its basically a couple of lines from an urdu poem by Allama Iqbal sung over and over again in a passionate/haunting way by Sukhwinder Singh:

"sitaron se age jahan .... aur bhi hain
abhi ishq k imtihan .... aur bhi hain"

Sends a shiver up my spine just by thinking about it!

[moviemeh]

"the film's ambivalence about whether what Amar feels is actually love, or a nearly pathological obsession."

Amar is very Paro-like in that sense.

I was not aware of the Sufistic overtones of the background music, but it makes sense, given the movie, along with Devdas, is a nice antidote to all those movies that elevate love to the status of a deity. Was Allama Iqbal a Sufi, or was that a different song?

To the other comment, I was also not aware Meghna was a metaphor for Kashmir. It shows how much I miss as a Westerner ignorant of historical and political overtones as I watch movies from the region.

[Vivek]

Totally Agree Movie meh!!! the movie is one of my favourites. Yeah i agree it may not be the smoothest told story but really has loads of brilliant scenes which keep u stuck on it. And It is definitely not for people who cannot pick lateral hints and relations!!!
Sitaron se aagey Jahan aur bhi hai!!! Timing is just perfect.. The words and the potrayed scene just blend marvelously ..

[sonu rana]

dil se is my al time favourite, i hav seen this more than fifty times, everything is perfect, right from story to acting, picturization. background score is fantastic, specially 'Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain', sukhwinder has sung so well, i just love this movie