Dil Chahta Hai

Dil Chahta Hai (English: 'The Heart Desires ) is a 2001 Indian comedy-drama film starring Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, and Dimple Kapadia. The first film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar, it is set in modern-day urban Mumbai and Sydney, and focuses on a major period of transition in the lives of three young friends.

In 2001, the film won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. It performed better in the urban areas of the country compared to the rural areas, which was attributed by critics to the city-oriented lifestyle depicted in which all the characters are from rich or upper-middle-class families. Over the years, it has attained a cult status.

Plot

This movie is about three childhood friends, Akash Malhotra (Aamir Khan), Sameer Mulchandani (Saif Ali Khan), and Siddharth "Sid" Sinha (Akshaye Khanna) who, after college, fall in love. In the beginning, Akash does not believe in the concept of love and does not engage in relationships lasting more than two weeks. Sameer is a genial, well-meaning, desperately romantic, but confused guy who is prone to romantic infatuations and believes to have found true love whenever he gets attracted to a girl. Sid, an artist by profession and the most mature of the three, is not interested in trivial romances and is dedicated to his work.

Dil Chahta Hai (soundtrack)

Dil Chahta Hai is the soundtrack album to the 2001 Hindi film Dil Chahta Hai, directed by Farhan Akhtar, starring Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna. Since its release, the music has received widespread critical acclaim and is considered a milestone in the history of Bollywood film music. It was featured in the BBC Asian Network's Top 40 Soundtracks of All Time list and Planetbollywood's 100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks list.

Background

Initially, director Farhan Akhtar had approached A. R. Rahman for composing the music. But since Rahman was busy with other engagements, he did not accept the offer. Later Rahman commented that he was glad that the project went to Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and he personally loved their work in the film.

Development

The album has a universal sound, unlike other Bollywood soundtracks of the time. The trio had various influences, including Irish and ethno. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy along with Farhan Akhtar, Javed Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani went to Khandala to finalize the songs, which took a mere three and a half days. When they came back, they booked a studio and completed the recording in three weeks. They also used the Australian instrument Didgeridoo, a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia at least 1,500 years ago for the song "Jaane Kyon". They've also used various other traditional instruments like Dholak, Kanjira, Tabla and Flute.