The Enduring Appeal of ‘Dil Chahta Hai’

thanks to Munna…
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This year marks the tenth anniversary of “Lagaan” (“Land Tax,” or “Once Upon a Time in India”), a historical saga packed with the emotional pull of right versus might. In addition to wide acclaim in India, “Lagaan” won awards at many international festivals and was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film, helping it become one of the best-known Hindi movies outside India. Its strong performances, classic sports-movie plot, lovable and morally superior underdogs, period drama details, and gorgeous music by A. R. Rahman, who has Oscars of his own for “Slumdog Millionaire,” ensure it has remained an appealing, heart-tugging film for a decade.

There’s another film–a much less epic film–from the same year that also deserves to be celebrated. “Dil Chahta Hai” (“What the Heart Wants,” sometimes titled “Do Your Thing”) is so different from “Lagaan” on the surface that it may be surprising to remember they were released within two months of each other. “Dil Chahta Hai” tells the story of the sibling-like friendship between three recent university graduates as they begin their adult lives. Akash (played by Aamir Khan, also the star and producer of “Lagaan”) is brash and slightly prickly, Sid is the sensitive, earnest artist, and making peace between them is Sameer, who takes and breaks decisions far too easily.

The three leads all have their own love interests, but the film’s emotional heart is squarely centered on the trio’s relationships with each other. They contrast enough to provide the friction necessary for drama, while none of them are shown as perfect or always right. As the story unfolds, the characters learn that both freedom and responsibility are essential ingredients to happiness.

The film’s writer and director, Farhan Akhtar, remains influential in contemporary Hindi cinema as a director, producer, writer and actor. Like many power players in Bollywood, he has impeccable family connections—his father is renowned writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar—but he demonstrated his own talent with this remarkable debut feature film.

Underneath its fresh surface, Mr. Akhtar built “Dil Chahta Hai” on some traditional masala bones, notably in each of the three romances. Akash gets the classic “boy likes girl, but there’s an obstacle.” The twist here is that the most significant obstacle is Akash’s inability to handle his own feelings. Poor Akash is as glib as ever on the surface, but we see the psychological toll wreaked by his self-defense. His worst enemy is himself.

Sid’s ill-fated romance is the most unconventional: he falls for a much older woman whose history would elicit harsh moral judgment by some Bollywood films. Alcoholic and divorced, she is still portrayed as worthy of affection even though Sid’s mother and Akash disapprove. After the tragic end of their relationship, it’s possible that Sid doesn’t mind his own suffering too much because it was the natural consequence of following his heart. At the center of the most mixed-up romance, Farhan Akhtar has cycled us back to the essential Bollywood principle of virtuously suffering for your true love, at the same time quietly whispering “even if your family and friends don’t agree.” It’s an old-school ideal with a hint of new-generation individualism.

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