Dil To Pagal Hai

About the film

Dil To Pagal Hai (Hindi pronunciation: [dɪl toː ˈpaːgəl ɦɛː]; lit. 'The Heart Is Crazy') is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film written, directed, and produced by Yash Chopra. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Madhuri Dixit, and Karisma Kapoor. It follows the love lives of the members of a musical troupe, in which two dancers (Dixit and Kapoor) get entangled in a love triangle with their choreographer (Khan). The soundtrack was composed by Uttam Singh, with lyrics written by Anand Bakshi.

Made on a budget of ₹90 million (US$2.48 million), which includes print and advertising costs, Dil To Pagal Hai grossed over ₹718 million (US$19.77 million) worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. The film received widespread critical acclaim, with high praise for its direction, story, screenplay, soundtrack, cinematography and performances of Khan, Dixit, Kapoor and Kumar.

Plot

Rahul and Nisha are members of a dance troupe that performs dance-based musical plays in Mumbai. Nisha is secretly in love with Rahul, but outwardly they are just friends. Rahul announces his desire to direct a new musical named Maya. The members of the troupe, including Nisha, have their doubts about the title character, "Maya", whom Rahul describes as a girl who believes in true love and is waiting for her Prince Charming, whom she believes will surely appear and take her away. Nisha is cast in the role of Maya.

Pooja, an exceptionally talented and classically trained dancer, is passionate about dancing. Having been orphaned at a young age, she was raised by close friends of her parents. Pooja and Rahul experience a series of near misses as they repeatedly encounter one another. Each of these moments is accompanied by a tune playing in the background, which resonates with Pooja. Pooja is soon taken to Germany by Ajay, the son of her foster parents and her childhood best friend, who has been working in London. Just before Ajay flies back to London, he proposes to Pooja. Conflicted, Pooja eventually accepts his marriage proposal.

Meanwhile, Nisha injures her leg during rehearsals for the upcoming play, and the doctor advises her to rest and avoid dancing for several months. While searching for a new dancer to replace Nisha in the play, Rahul comes across Pooja dancing one day and believes she is perfect for the role. He persuades her to attend their rehearsals and, after much hesitation, she agrees. Eventually, Rahul and Pooja become close friends. Nisha soon returns from hospital and is upset to discover that she has been replaced. She also becomes jealous upon learning that Rahul has feelings for Pooja. Realising that Rahul does not reciprocate her love, she decides to leave for London to visit her parents. During rehearsals, Rahul and Pooja begin to fall in love with one another. When Rahul drops Pooja home one day, he starts whistling his tune, making Pooja realise that she has fallen for the man connected to the tune she has so often heard. The following day, the two visit Pooja's former dance tutor, whom Pooja addresses as Tai, and she realises that they are deeply in love. At the wedding of two members of the dance troupe, Rahul and Pooja share an intimate moment, but neither knows how to express their feelings.

Production

Dil To Pagal Hai was the second of Yash Chopra's 4 consecutive films to star Shah Rukh Khan as the male lead. It was the third film to feature Khan opposite Madhuri Dixit, after Anjaam (1994) and Koyla (1997). The film was originally titled Maine To Mohabbat Kar Li and Tevar before Chopra finally settled on Dil To Pagal Hai as the title.

Sridevi was initially offered to play the role of Pooja, but she declined as she did not find her role as substantial as that in Lamhe. The role then went to Dixit.

After casting Dixit in the lead role of Pooja, Chopra found it hard to cast the role of the second female lead, Nisha. Manisha Koirala was first approached for the role, but declined. Koirala later admitted that she regretted turning it down. The role was then offered to Juhi Chawla, as Chopra wanted two leading actresses of that time to star alongside each other, however Chawla did not want to play second fiddle to Dixit, after playing the leading lady in Chopra's previous film Darr (1993). Kajol and Raveena Tandon were also offered the role; however Kajol declined as she felt that the role was insubstantial while Tandon was considering quitting her career at the time. After some thought, Chopra decided to extend the role of Nisha a little more. Urmila Matondkar, who worked with Khan in Chamatkar (1992), accepted the role, but opted out after a day of shooting. Chopra finally approached Karisma Kapoor who agreed to take up the role and was signed. She felt that despite the short screen-time, a lot could be achieved with the role.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Dil To Pagal Hai includes 10 songs. The songs for the film were composed by Uttam Singh, with lyrics written by Anand Bakshi. The music was a major hit among the audience, with the album becoming the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year and second-most of the 1990s decade, with 12.5 million soundtrack album sales. Chopra earned an advance of ₹45 million for the music rights. In 2008, Chopra launched an unreleased song from the Dil To Pagal Hai soundtrack, titled "Kitni Hai Bekarar Yeh" sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Kumar Sanu.

Key details