Producer: Ritesh Sidhwani 
Director: Farhaan Akhtar 
Cast: Aamir Khan, Akshay Khanna, Saif Ali Khan, Preeti Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, Dimple Kapadia
Music: Shankar - Ehsaan - Loy

Producers and directors have always experimented with the media of film ever since it was discovered. The process of experimenting had started right from the time the silent era and it is one process that never ceases to fade.
We have been witness to films that did not have sound to films, which have had sound as its USP. The same goes with films with songs and without songs.

Then there have been films without heroine to films with a solo character. Films were made in the black and white even during an advanced technological era as an experiment to induce the mood and enhance the storytelling. That brings us to story, yes, story is what is missing in Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai but the film in its totality hardly seems incomplete without it.

Yes! Farhan has experimented making a movie without a story in its true sense and has come up with a winner.
The story-less film is actually a leaf from the life of three friends who are just out of college. Thus the film revolves around three characters namely Akash (Aamir Khan), who loves life and believes in lovers not love. He is the guy who falls in and out of love before the calendar can announce the month.

Sidharth alias Sid (Akshaye Khanna) a sensitive guy, he is a painter who believes in love and living up to it, he is the opposite of Akash while the third guy Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) has his heart on his hand, he is ready to fall in love at the first sight of it, he is the guy who acts as the balance between the two extremes Akash and Sid. Thus all three, different in their outlook and approach toward life.

Dil Chahta Hai is about perils and pleasures that these three as the symbol of youth go through bring them face to face with adulthood which is a stranger who they are hesitant to befriend.

Thus what brings them to adulthood are some treasure able incidents in their life. A beautiful woman, an interior designer, Tara Jaiswal (Dimple Kapadia) moves into Sid's neighbourhood and life, and the life of all the three are affected. Tara is a divorcee. Her husband has taken away all her rights over her daughter by proving in court that she was an alcoholic and unfit to fulfill her duties as a mother. There is a connection between Tara and Sid from the minute they meet. Sid falls in love with Tara but he is not prepared for the reaction he gets from his friends especially Akash.

Never having experienced love before, Akash fails to comprehend the depth and intensity of Sid's feelings for Tara and dismisses them off as a good opportunity for a Sid to experience ‘a good time’ with and experienced woman. Sid is apalled by Akash's insensitivity. Sameer tries to bridge the gap between the two but the rift between Akash and Sid seems irreparable.

Siddharth leaves for a painting workshop at Kasauli. Simultaneously Akash is asked to leave for Australia by his father to look after their business in Sydney. On flight, he meets Shalini (Preity Zinta). Shalini is on her way to meet her Uncle in Australia. Akash and Shalini become friends. Meanwhile, Sameer finally meets Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni), the girl he wants to marry.

Shalini is hellbent on converting the cynic Akash into a romantic. She succeeds but finds herself falling in love with him. Love hits Akash like a bolt just before Rohit, Shalini’s fiance comes to claim her. For Akash, who always dismissed emotions as maudlin sentiments, there is no other choice but to return to India.

Sid comes back from Kasauli too. The three friends are in town together once again but so much life has passed since. They have all changed in some way. Will they find a new way of relating with each other and redefining their friendship?

That much for the basic script of the film, now about the film itself: Right from the clothes (Aamir, Saif and Akshaye's college wear) to the sets -- bright reds, deep blues, and rich greens gives a pepped up look to the screen same for the art deco furniture to Sid's paintings.

Camera work is a delight that one need not miss so are the scenic views captured by the cinematographer gliding slickly over the Opera House on the sun-dappled Sydney Harbour, focusing with brooding intensity on the many close-up sequences, and artistically playing up Sid in his studio.

Music is heard to be believed, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's right from the title track is one piece worth a listen.
As for debutant director, Farhan. He has woven three ‘stories’ seamlessly into one composite whole -- especially in the second half of the film. His direction is slick and has a ‘feel good’ look with use of vibrant colour. Farhan has definitely made a film that people his own age can relate to.

Performance wise Aamir comes out as expected playing his character par excellence, a wonderful change after the power packed Bhuvan of Lagaan. Preity Zinta is acceptable as Shalini a romantic out to prove her point. Sonali Kulkarni hardly has any say as Sameer’s girlfriend.

The power packers in this film are Sameer and Sid. Sameer’s character is a confused one as he has to balance between the two extremes and Saif has done more than just justified the character with his peppy performance and lived it up. While Akshaye has played Sid to the T, Cannot think of another actor playing the complex role with various degrees of intensity as apparent in the character to this level of satisfaction.

Lastly the film belongs to Farhan. Farhan has pioneered a new method, a new style, a new movement in filmmaking. Dil Chahta Hai would surely be a landmark film as far as Hindi cinema is concerned. We are likely to see clones of these in the immediate future.

Overall, Dil Chahta Hai is a total entertainer with repeat value because of its slick direction and performance. Don’t miss I for nothing.