I am not a movie buff in any sense of the word. And when it comes to Bollywood movies, I stay a clear distance away from them. But I had heard a lot about this movie. And when Star Movies volunteered to show this ‘not-such-an-old’ movie and when forced by my wife and cousins, I consented to sit up and watch the movie upto midnight.
Directed by Farhan Akhtar, Dil Chahta Hai or DCH is a simple yet good movie. It definitely is not, by any standards, a great movie. Simple? Yes. Fresh look? Yes. Funny? Yes. The movie in all its ‘non-seriousness’ is definitely worth a watch; I mean worth a ‘dekho’.
The story is very simple and revolves around three young men, having a ball of a time. It deals with adolescence and growing up. It also indirectly tries to convey that love is far beyond flirting or infatuation. Talking about the movie overall, the striking aspect is that it did not revolve around romance alone; but took one step ahead by dealing also with friendship, happiness and relationships.
What I liked about the movie
Direction – Farhan Akhtar has done a good job, no doubt. But then, that is compared to the contemporary Bollywood movies. I still won’t attach the phrase ‘a great director’ to him like the many who freely attach it to him. Well, if you ask me, I ‘expect’ this kind of direction from the directors of any movie that I volunteer to see. But then again, I do agree he has lived up to my expectations (Unlike the case when I burst out laughing when somebody told me Karan Johar is a good director. Oh oh..did I say that out loud?). He has carried the viewers with him till the very end.
Script – The script of the movie is very strong and the way the characters were drawn up is also pretty impressive. Bollywood movies tend to discount the script. For the viewers of Hindi movies the plot of the story is what is important and never the script (I am a firm believer of the theory that movie makers make what the audiences want, and hence, if Bollywood is trash, it is because of the audience more than it is because of the makers. So let’s not blame the makers alone).
No nonsensical approach – There was less melodrama and sentiments (which is one cheap USP of all Indian movies; I will not restrict myself to Bollywood here). For example, Dimple’s death, has been treated in a most admirable way.
Not giving more importance to any particular star – The best example being Aamir Khan, who is a bigger star than the movie, who has been shown with equal importance as others like Saif and Akshay.
Music – The music of the movie directed by the trio of Shankar, Ehsan and Loy, had the similar laid back style about it like the movie. It somehow jelled with the whole philosophy and outlook of the movie, which was ‘being different’. I loved the score ‘woh ladki hain kahan’ in particular for recreating the old Rajesh Khanna style to perfection both in settings and music. All other songs were also equally good.
Humour – The one thing that immediately struck me on seeing the movie was that I found the humour being more natural than made up. The simple one liner from Saif when Dimple thanks them for the dinner at the restaurant saying, “We would do anything for a cake, ” captures exactly what I am trying to convey. My cousin goes around saying the dialogue ‘it is difficult to improve perfection’ even today.
Also worth mention are the cinematography, which has been craftily done, editing, which has been quit slick and the acting performance by all artists (maybe except Akshay Khanna which I will mention later in the review).
What I did not like about the movie
Lifted theme – The basic theme of the movie is lifted from a Malayalam movie ‘Friends’, which was released more than a year and half before DCH (It was telecast during the festival of ‘Onam’ in Asianet, one of the Malayalam regional channels). ‘Friends’ also has a very similar theme starting with three friends meeting up after a long time, having split over a row and the story going into a flashback when they are shown having a whale of a time.
Akshay Khanna’s performance – Akshay Khanna was a bit too stiff throughout the movie with bland expressions at times. I believe that he tried a bit too much to look like an intellectual artist with high morals. (My dig – Maybe he has not seen one for real, so didn’t know how the guy is gonna behave).
Build up to certain scenes – There are certain scenes in a movie that gives us clues as to where the story line is leading the viewers to. When they are the crucial turn of events, it is all the more important that the script does not give it away. But, in this movie I found that many of the crucial scenes could be predicted from the build up to it. If it were a few, I would not have mentioned, but they were a bit too many (particularly the one’s that dealt with Aamir and Preity). However, if somebody tells me that I am being too critical, I am ready to take it back.
Another drawback I found was the portrayal of the female characters in the movie (Now that is not the problem with this movie alone, but the problem is inherent in Indian culture and I leave it for the feminists in the site to deal with that).
Overall, it is a well-made movie and deserves all the accolades that have been showered on it. I would recommend it to anybody, anyday. Well, do I have to say more? I think that says it all.