Terrorism centric movies can be handled deftly only by Manirathnam. If his ’’Bombay’’ had Hindu-Muslim riots and terrorism in Mumbai during the 90’s then ’’Roja’’ is a story of terrorism in Kashmir in the late 80’s. His movies always have a strong social message and his execution is by far the best among his peers. His ’’Kannathil Mutham Ittal’’ also centered around the LTTE problems in SriLanka. The movie which is close to my heart is ’’Dil Se’’ which is actually a love story woven against a terrorism background. I am a love story freak and ’’Dil Se’’ is one of my favorites among the lots.
What is there in ’’Dil Se’’?
What happens when you fall in love at first sight with a girl who is very different and intriguing?
What happens when injustice had been happening to you right from your childhood in your country (right from the day of independence), but the country celebrates with fanfare, its 50th year of independence?
What happens when your confidence, strength, your aim and mission just melts away when love ebbs out of your compressed feelings?
’’Dil se’’ has answers to all these questions and also takes you to a completely different territory which film makers rarely attempt.
The Story
’’Dil Se’’ is the saga of love between Amar(SRK) and Meghna (Manisha).
Amar meets Meghna in a Railway Station but he misses her too quickly. He falls in love at first sight and feels that his love story has ended abruptly. He reaches Shimla on a project regarding ’’what has India achieved in its 50 years of Independence?’’. He does this for All India Radio as he is the Program Executive. He meets Meghna again but she tells Amar that she is married. Amar is heart-broken but soon comes to know that the person whom Meghna claims to be her husband is her brother. He goes to Ladakh from Shimla on his project and again sees Meghna there. They spend time together because the bus which they board runs out of control and buzzes off making them stranded in the middle of Ladakh. Meghna starts liking Amar but she doesn’t express it and says Amar that she doesn’t have time (Amar, Mere pass Samay nahi hai..). She leaves him with a note.
Kuch Log reth par likhe namon ki tarah hote hai.................
Hava ka yek hi jonka jinhe oda detha hai............
Then some lines in urdu (I think) comes in the background which is similar to something like this
Sethansi aag jaga var bhige
Abhi ishq ke imtihan var bhige
meherbhan oh meherbhan
meherbhan oh meherbhan (Please correct me if this lyrics are wrong)
This song sung excellently by Sukhwinder Singh is the life and soul of the movie. It comes many times in the background and is definitely haunting.
Pre-interval, it is shown that Meghna is a terrosist Suicide Bomber.................
=============Intermission=================
Meghna and their group are on a mission to kill the President on the day when the entire nation celebrates 50 years of independence and so they shift to Delhi. Back to Delhi, Amar accepts Preity (Preity Zinta) whom Amar’s family has chosen. One day, Amar happens to see one of the brother of Meghna and runs after him and the guy falls on the hands of the police. He commits suicide by cyanide consumption. The group is shaken but they are still on their mission. Meghna and her other gang member Meetha goes to Amar for refuge when intentionally both have planned for getting guarded entry near the podium of the president by using the AIR (All India Radio) tag. Amar gets her the post of an assistant and love sparks starts flying between them again. Amar somehow finds out the truth about Meghna and tries to stop her. Meghna now tells her gory past where her sister had been raped, where her society people were killed ruthlessly by the running government and what kind of life they have led after independence. He finds out that she is a suicide bomber and tries to remove the bomb, when the police intervenes and Amar is held captive for misbehaving. Meghna’s gang tries to kill Amar but again he escapes and comes to his house. Now, the CBI who had been questioning him from beginning concludes that he is one among the terrorists and arrests him but since he bleeds from head to toe, they take him to the hospital. He escapes and meets Meghna who tells him to go away from her. He asks her if she loves him and she expresses her desire through her eyes, and he detonates the bomb and they die.
==============The End=================
Dil se was the first Indian movie to be on the UK top 10 box office charts (Source: https://Rottentomatoes.com). The day when critics wrote off Dil Se in India, it was making huge business in UK. I wouldn’t say that this is the best movie. It was one of the best movies ever made on the Indian screen.
The only hitch which I found when the show ends
Amar’s dad was in the Army. Now because of his love for Meghna, his mother and his family had to go through the trauma of being labelled as ’’Terrorist’’ family because till last SRK is known by the CBI as one among those terrorist. I would probably say that this is the only unjustified part by the director. Otherwise almost everything is excellently handled.
Performances
One of the movies where Sharukh really acted. He just fits very well in the role of a guy who tries his best to express his love for a girl who is more like an enigma. He is especially good in the scene when he says to himself not to sleep when the CBI injects sleeping doses to him. Good acting. Manisha Koirala ..oof what to tell about this much much talented actress who has already faded in the eyes of public now. She, sans makeup, gives a very good performance as the intriguing, enigmatic soul who has had a very bad past. Her acting skills are well used by Manirathnam always. She looks terrific in Dil se Re song. Preity Zinta made a commendable Debut in this movie and made her presence felt in the small role that she had. The other characters lend able support and are perfect choices.
Music by ARR is the soul of the film as I told you before. Apart from the background music, the songs doesn’t look out of place at all. If Chaiyya Chaiyya was about the girl whom he has seen and misses, Dil Se re is about the same girl for whom he sings Dil se. Aey Ajnabi comes in parts, Jiya Jale is situational and Tu Hi tu is about the 7 steps of love to show that the lovers die at the last stage. The picturization of all the songs are mind-blowing and the ladakh regions have been well shot by Santhosh Sivan. Editing is also good and I never felt the movie dragging. Choreography by Farah Khan is praiseworthy too.
It has been ages since the movie released and almost everyone would have seen this movie. Try watching it again on a DVD, and see if it still impresses you.
Verdict
A definite 9 out of 10 for this Terrorist Love Story