Producer: Ritesh Sidhwani
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Cast: Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, Dimple Kapadia
Music: Shankar-Ehsan-Loy

The film is actually the life of three friends who are just out of college. It 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 bring them to adulthood are some treasureable 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 an experienced woman. Sid is appalled 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 hell-bent 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?