Even though this movie came out in 1998, the 1st time I saw it, was a few years back. This was because, at that time, it had received so much criticism that anybody who thinking of watching this movie, thought otherwise. But, while I was surfing the IMDb site, I had noticed that this particular movie had a high rating (considering the fact that it was considered a flop back then). So, I decided to see for myself how this movie was like, and boy, was I stunned..
Why was Dil Se a 'flop' in India? A gem amongst the commercially-hyped bollywood "hits"..
SRK's acting (as Amar) in this film was superb; at once we see a mix of his endearing boyish vulnerability, tenderness, and wild explosive impulsiveness that characterize the intelligence of this great actor. The transformation that his character went through was amazing to watch- from carefree arrogant pup, to an obsessed lover, to a desperate man, and finally to a dead man walking. It was a welcomed relief to all his other "bubble-gum" characters like "Rahul" in KKHH, K3G (I am not saying that he didn't act well in those movies. Its just that he remained the same, & at same time was boring compared to "Amar")...
Manisha Koirala's acting (as Meghna) was flawless. One minute she felt guilty about using "Amar" (by using the AIR {All India Radio} tag in order to get close to the President), while the next minute she didn't bat an eyelid when he was arrested. Her breakdown scenes seem extremely forced into the script, and the only reason why these scenes proved effective is because Manisha is an amazing actress. The sequence where she tries to cry but the tears won't come out is mind-blowing, and no other actress could have portrayed this scene so well. (Even though "Meghna" was portrayed as someone who was damaged emotionally with no recovery, the last scene when "Amar" asked her to say 'I love you', she just looked deeply into him and with the least possible motion, nodded lovingly her eyes shinning with love for such a brief moment... Simply amazing)...
Santosh Sivan's cinematography was stunning. He flexes the visual muscle as the movie veers from the world's coldest lake to the inside of a monastery, and he's helped considerably by the eternal, undeniable beauty of this leading lady (sans makeup). As "Meghna" washes her face casually, we can see why "Amar" has fallen hard for her. For those of us who will probably never visit Ladakh, Sivan's images will forever remain in our minds....
Farah Khan definitely deserved the Filmfare Award for best choreography for Dil Se. Who can forget the dance in SATRANGI RE (incredibly erotic piece of footage - the two of them squirming in that red fabric.... Hollywood could learn some lessons here in how to be amorously sexy without being cheap or porno) or SRK's contagious energy on top of that train in CHAIYYA CHAIYYA or him tenderly protecting Manisha in the DIL SE RE?....
Music by AR Rahman is the soul of the film .The songs doesn't feel or look out of place at all. Dil Se is hauntingly done both musically and visually as well. This is all because of Mani Ratnam's direction. He told the story in the most human way possible- it is essentially a love story told against the backdrop of terrorism (also showed us the birth of the terrorist -- simplified to a great extent but neatly executed). Ratnam uses 'passion' as his keyword, exploring it on various (occasionally obvious) levels...
Overall, I think this movie will always be a classic and is way ahead of it's time. I am sure if this movie was released after 2002, it would have been a huge hit .
Why was Dil Se a 'flop' in India? A gem amongst the commercially-hyped bollywood "hits"..
SRK's acting (as Amar) in this film was superb; at once we see a mix of his endearing boyish vulnerability, tenderness, and wild explosive impulsiveness that characterize the intelligence of this great actor. The transformation that his character went through was amazing to watch- from carefree arrogant pup, to an obsessed lover, to a desperate man, and finally to a dead man walking. It was a welcomed relief to all his other "bubble-gum" characters like "Rahul" in KKHH, K3G (I am not saying that he didn't act well in those movies. Its just that he remained the same, & at same time was boring compared to "Amar")...
Manisha Koirala's acting (as Meghna) was flawless. One minute she felt guilty about using "Amar" (by using the AIR {All India Radio} tag in order to get close to the President), while the next minute she didn't bat an eyelid when he was arrested. Her breakdown scenes seem extremely forced into the script, and the only reason why these scenes proved effective is because Manisha is an amazing actress. The sequence where she tries to cry but the tears won't come out is mind-blowing, and no other actress could have portrayed this scene so well. (Even though "Meghna" was portrayed as someone who was damaged emotionally with no recovery, the last scene when "Amar" asked her to say 'I love you', she just looked deeply into him and with the least possible motion, nodded lovingly her eyes shinning with love for such a brief moment... Simply amazing)...
Santosh Sivan's cinematography was stunning. He flexes the visual muscle as the movie veers from the world's coldest lake to the inside of a monastery, and he's helped considerably by the eternal, undeniable beauty of this leading lady (sans makeup). As "Meghna" washes her face casually, we can see why "Amar" has fallen hard for her. For those of us who will probably never visit Ladakh, Sivan's images will forever remain in our minds....
Farah Khan definitely deserved the Filmfare Award for best choreography for Dil Se. Who can forget the dance in SATRANGI RE (incredibly erotic piece of footage - the two of them squirming in that red fabric.... Hollywood could learn some lessons here in how to be amorously sexy without being cheap or porno) or SRK's contagious energy on top of that train in CHAIYYA CHAIYYA or him tenderly protecting Manisha in the DIL SE RE?....
Music by AR Rahman is the soul of the film .The songs doesn't feel or look out of place at all. Dil Se is hauntingly done both musically and visually as well. This is all because of Mani Ratnam's direction. He told the story in the most human way possible- it is essentially a love story told against the backdrop of terrorism (also showed us the birth of the terrorist -- simplified to a great extent but neatly executed). Ratnam uses 'passion' as his keyword, exploring it on various (occasionally obvious) levels...
Overall, I think this movie will always be a classic and is way ahead of it's time. I am sure if this movie was released after 2002, it would have been a huge hit .