Dil Se.. (1998)

Director:

Mani Ratnam

Writers:

Mani Ratnam (story)
Sujatha (dialogue) ...
(more)

Release Date:

21 August 1998 (India)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Musical | Thriller

Plot:

The clash between love and ideology is portrayed in this love story between a radio executive and a beautiful revolutionary

Plot Keywords:

Love | Radio | Train | Interview | Terrorism

Awards:

7 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Shah Rukh Khan	...	Amarkanth Varma
Manisha Koirala	...	Meghna
Preity Zinta	...	Preeti Nair
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Shukla (as Raghuvir Yadhav)
Sabyasachi Chakraborty
Piyush Mishra
Krishnakant		(as Krisnkant)
Aditya Srivastava
Ken Philip		(as Ken Phillip)
Sanjay Mishra
Mita Vasisht	...	Mita (female terrorist) (as Mita Vashisht)
Arundhati Rao		(as Arundathi Rao)
Malaika Arora	...	Dancer on train
Gautam Bora
Manjit Bawa		(as Manjith Bawa)
Zohra Sehgal	...	Grandmother (as Zora Seghal)
B.M. Shah		(as Late B.M. Shah)
Gajraj Rao		(as Gajaraj Rao)
Raja Sharma
Laxmi Rattan		(as Lakshmi Rattan)
Priya Parulekar
Sheeba Chaddha
Wasiq Khan
Samir Chanda
Chintu B. Mohapatra		(as Chintu Mohapatra)
Vanitha		(as Vanitha Malik)
Shubdeep
Ishitha
R.K. Nair
Kishan Bhatia
Sunil Agarwal
Avtar Sahani
Rajiv Gupta		(as Rajeev Gupta)
Anupam Shyam
Hemant Mishra
Jessica
Lavanya
Babubhai		(as Babu Bhai)
Alka
Shaad Ali
Pia Benegal
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jaswir Kaur	...	Dancer (uncredited)

Directed by
Mani Ratnam

Writing credits
Mani Ratnam		(story and screenplay)
Sujatha		(dialogue) and
Tigmanshu Dhulia		(dialogue)

Produced by
Shekhar Kapur	....	executive producer
Mani Ratnam	....	executive producer
Ram Gopal Varma	....	executive producer (as Ramgopal Varma)

Original Music by
A.R. Rahman

Cinematography by
Santosh Sivan

Film Editing by
Suresh Urs

Production Design by
Samir Chanda

Art Direction by
Samir Chanda

Costume Design by
Pia Benegal
Shabina Khan
Vaishali Pachauri		(as Viashali Pechauri)
V. Sai		(as Sai)

Makeup Department
Ravi Indulkar	....	makeup artist
Kaushal	....	assistant hair stylist
Mohan	....	assistant hair stylist
R. Sundara Moorthy	....	makeup artist (as Sundaramoorthy)
Ramana	....	assistant makeup artist
Seenu	....	assistant makeup artist
Uday Shirali	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Anjan Bannerjee	....	assistant production manager
Bhasker J.	....	assistant production manager
Preman	....	assistant production manager
Sampath	....	assistant production manager
Milind Vereker	....	assistant production manager (as Milind)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shaad Ali	....	assistant director
Angel	....	assistant director
Susi Ganesan	....	associate director
N. Perumal	....	second assistant director
A. Sivakumar	....	assistant director
Priya V.	....	assistant director (as Priya. V.)

Art Department
Anil	....	art set assistant
Fakru	....	art set assistant
Imtiaz	....	art set assistant
Inder	....	art set assistant
Khaja	....	art set assistant
Wasiq Khan	....	assistant art director
Raj Mohammed	....	art set assistant
Parshram	....	art set assistant (as Parasuram)
Logerie Verma	....	art set assistant
Nitin Wable	....	assistant art director
Zafar	....	art set assistant (as Jaffer)
Zakir	....	art set assistant

Sound Department
Ajit	....	assistant sound engineer
Balu	....	live effects
Prabhu C.S.	....	assistant sound engineer (as C.S. Prabhu)
Devi	....	assistant dubbing engineer
Shankar J.	....	assistant audio mixer (as J. Shankar)
Karthik	....	dubbing
Kumar	....	live effects
Udhaya Kumar	....	live effects
Sekar L.	....	assistant audio mixer (as L. Sekar)
Geeta M.G.	....	assistant sound engineer (as Geetha)
Noor Mohammed	....	assistant sound engineer
Murali	....	live effects
Janakiraman P.	....	DTS engineer (as Janakiraman)
B.M.A. Prabhu	....	DTS engineer
Sachidanandan	....	live effects (as Sachidanandam)
Satish	....	assistant sound engineer (as Sathish)
S. Sivakumar	....	sound mixer: Panchathan Records INN
Jarvis Solomon	....	dubbing
Jarvis Solomon	....	sound effects
H. Sridhar	....	audiographer
H. Sridhar	....	sound mixer: Panchathan Records INN
Tinu	....	additional dubbing engineer
Pankajam V.	....	assistant dubbing engineer (as Pankajam)

Special Effects by
S.A. Azim	....	opticals (as S.A. Ajeem)
Agnelo D'Souza	....	special effects technician
M.A. Hafeez	....	opticals (as M.A. Haffeez)
D. Sathyanarayana	....	opticals (as D. Satyanarayana)
Kambam Shankar	....	main titles (as Kambam Sankar)

Visual Effects by
Elam Parithi	....	digital compositor: Efx, Chennai, India

Stunts
Allan Amin	....	stunts
Feroz	....	assistant action
Hussain	....	assistant action
Usman Shamshim	....	assistant action (as Usman Shamsi)
Ainouddin Sheikh	....	assistant action coordinator (as Ino)

Camera and Electrical Department
Babu	....	crane operator
Bijois	....	associate camera operator
Manoj C.D.	....	assistant camera (as Manoj)
Deepak	....	assistant camera
Suhas Gujrati	....	assistant camera (as Suhas Gujarathi)
Karthik	....	assistant camera
Krishna Lal	....	assistant camera
Mari	....	crane operator
Prakash Mohapatra	....	assistant camera
Ramakrishna	....	crane operator (as Ramakrishnan)
Sashi	....	assistant camera
P. Selvaraj	....	crane operator (as Selvaraj)
Sethu Sriram	....	cinematographer: second unit (as S. Sriram)

Editorial Department
Kanna Babu	....	assistant editor
Harsha J.N.	....	assistant editor
S. Shadeesh Kumar	....	assistant editor: avid
Narayanan M.K.	....	color consultant

Music Department
Anupama	....	playback singer
Sapna Awasthi	....	playback singer (as Sapna Avasti)
Sally Bradshaw	....	playback singer: London
Gulzar	....	lyrics
Mahalakshmi Iyer	....	playback singer (as Mahalakshmi)
Noell James	....	musician coordinator
Kavita Krishnamurthy	....	playback singer (as Kavita Krishnamoorthy)
Lata Mangeshkar	....	playback singer
Udit Narayan	....	playback singer
Sonu Nigam	....	playback singer
A.R. Rahman	....	playback singer
Samidurai	....	musician coordinator
Sukhwinder Singh	....	playback singer (as Sukvinder Singh)
S. Sivakumar	....	song recordist: Panchathan Records INN
M.G. Sreekumar	....	playback singer
H. Sridhar	....	song recordist: Panchathan Records INN
Anuradha Sriram	....	playback singer

Other crew
Alka	....	coordinator: Delhi Group
Devendra	....	location manager: Delhi
Susi Ganesan	....	associate director (as Susi. Ganesan)
Lawrence Har	....	location manager: Ooty
Baharul Islam	....	coordinator: Aasam Theatrical Group
Stanzin Jordan	....	coordinator: Ladakh
Stanzin Jordan	....	location manager: Ladakh
Geeta Kapoor	....	assistant choreographer
Farah Khan	....	choreographer
Pappu Khan	....	assistant choreographer
Baldev Khosa	....	location manager: Dalhousie
C.A. Michael	....	manager
Chintu B. Mohapatra	....	associate director (as Chintu Mohapatra)
R.K. Nair	....	production executive
Karun Prabhakaran	....	location manager: Delhi
Ravindra	....	location manager: Delhi (as Ravindran)
Ramachandra Sahu	....	coordinator: Delhi Group
Sashi	....	location manager: Kerala
Bharat S. Shah	....	presenter (as Bharat Shah)
Hukum Singh	....	location manager: Delhi (as Hukum)

Production Companies

• India Talkies
• Madras Talkies

Distributors

• Eros International

Other Companies

• Manish Malhotra & Co.  costume design (as Manish Malhotra)

Also Known As:

"Prema Tho" - India (Telugu title) (dubbed version)
"Uyire" - India (Tamil title) (dubbed version)
"De tout coeur" - France
"Dil Se - Von ganzem Herzen" - Germany
"Dil se - fra hjertet" - Denmark (TV title)
"Szívből, igazán" - Hungary
"Vom Herzen..." - Germany

Runtime:

USA:163 min | France:151 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | Urdu | Assamese | Tamil | Telugu

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby

Certification:

India:A

Filming Locations:

Assam, India

Company:

India Talkies

Trivia:

Shah Rukh Khan did not use a safety harness while the filming the sequence aboard the moving train for the song "Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya."

Quotes:

Amarkanth Varma:Suppose we do get married. What do you think... Will we be happy together? With lots of love and bliss?
Amarkanth Varma:Then we'll fight, break heads
[smiles when she smiles]
Amarkanth Varma:But listen, once the kids come, no more fights
Meghna:No, they will be involved, too
Amarkanth Varma:[intrigued] Really? How many kids will we have? One? Two?
Meghna:More
Amarkanth Varma:[amused] More?... Three? Four?
Meghna:Eight
Amarkanth Varma:[in disbelief] Eeii- Eight?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Darling (2010/I)

Soundtrack:

E Ajnabi

Beautiful piece of art, larger than life yet thoroughly realistic...

This is one of the greatest and most crafted works of the incredible Mani Ratnam. I was stunned by every moment of it and the very first scene was enough for me to get completely hooked. Mr Ratnam's ability to make a grandiose love story and yet keep it starkly realistic is just unbelievable. It makes the viewer believe that true, intense love does not exist only in fairy tales, but in real-life too, with simple and ordinary people. Dil Se is a rare gem of its times - authentic, hard-hitting, gripping, and deeply involving. Some people have deemed it a bit slow and tedious, but according to me the film moves at a steady pace and is totally focused, engaging and captivating.

The film's concept: a young, hard-working radio broadcaster falls in love with a mysterious, strangely apathetic woman who is actually a terrorist may have been tackled before by filmmakers around the world, but none has done it the way Mr Ratnam did. He directs this feature with heart and soul and intensifies it with complete mastery, so much that you cannot leave the screen even for one moment (even if you are one of those who prefer skipping the songs). The script is grounded in tension and mystery, and it thankfully avoids sentimentality. And then we also have some genuinely real yet exceptional dialogues, which bring forth a poetic quality that eases the serious proceedings.

Every artist involved in this film gives one of their best. A.R Rahman, for one, creates one of the most crafted and beautiful movie soundtracks of his career, giving so much life and essence to the film. The songs flow incredibly well with the film, they never feel unnecessary, they fit the situations, and ultimately enhance the narrative and contribute to the film's mystery and intense atmosphere. "Dil Se Re", "Jiya Jale", "Chaiyya Chaiyya" and "Satrangi Re" - each track is a gem and showcases the greatness of Rahman and Ratnam, who visualises them exceedingly well on-screen. This of course could have been done without Santosh Sivan's brilliant cinematography.

The performances are top notch. This is one of Shahrukh Khan's most accomplished and realistic performances. He is intense, witty, vulnerable, believable and convincing as Amar. He portrays a suffering man who would go to any strengths for a woman he hardly knows, and though his character's unconditional love may seem peculiar, he manages to keep it real and balanced. He conveys his feelings, whether it's sorrow, love, pain or anger, in his own inimitable style, using his troubling intensity and nervous mannerisms. One can really feel for the pain in his eyes, which is evident every time he meets this woman who keeps rejecting him. A superb act.

Manisha Koirala, one of the most talented dramatic actresses India has seen, is flawless as Meghna. She smiles barely once in the entire film but her expressive eyes and silence speak volumes and always do the job. It's a natural and ambiguous portrayal of a woman who has lost belief in life and love, or at least of someone who compels herself to think so. She brilliantly displays the little nuances which let us sense her constant fights with herself and her struggle to not submit to her feelings every time she faces the bright side of the world, forcefully and firmly fossilising herself for the sake of a mission which must be completed.

Preity Zinta, the star herself in her debut film, does something very few actors have been capable of doing: she makes a great impact despite having a very small role. It's a great achievement for any actor to excel and make a lasting impression with a role of such minimal importance and screen time. She is natural, vibrant and very likable, commanding the audience's attention with her strong screen presence and lively persona. She's always been known for her ability to add happiness and positivity to films which are overly serious and dark, and this one is no exception. Her full of life, frank and direct Preeti is one of the most unforgettable characters in recent years.

Dil Se is a socially relevant movie but it is a love story at heart and there it scores the most. It may not appeal to all kinds of audiences (in fact, it was a box office failure in India, though a success overseas), more because of its brutally honest depiction of terror and national battle, yet it remains thoroughly fascinating. The film is atmospheric, dark and deep. The only aspects that abstract the viewer from these features may be the energetic music and Preity Zinta's light character. In anyway, it is a picture of great artistic excellence, and I would recommend anyone to see it. The ending is also most unpredictable, only making it more beautiful and memorable.