Suman Shakya
90s was the time I started to understand movies and still I can name movies from the decade which I don't get tired of watching umpteenth of times like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Dilwale Dulhaniyan Le Jayenge, and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Don't know why I missed Dil To Pagal Hai, which I got to watch after 18 years of release. Just like the movies I've named earlier, this one is also to be cherished for the sheer beauty it perpetuates in the screen through the visuals, pose costumes, music, songs,and dances, which are so mesmerizing that you crave more of them in the movie. Perhaps this is the charismatic direction of legend Yash Chopra, which he has continued in his numerous movies.Story-wise, the film is a bit off beat from a regular romance. It deals with the confusion in commitment, friendship, love, and couples made in heaven, in which our four main protagonists are entwined which has been beautifully resolved by the end. At the beginning, the film seems to lack a substance in its story which gets compensated pretty soon. The weakness of the film is its inability to develop the character artists in the backdrop. Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit deliver good performances, for which they got the awards of the year. They have performed better in many movies, but it's Karishma Kapoor who performs significant compared to her other movies. Akshay Kumar appears a bit weary and doesn't offer more than a guest appearance. Had the story carried a bit of substance to its glossy look, the film could have found a better height.Rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
dino_director
Dil to pagal hai is a Yash Chopra Musical and one of the best romantic films so far.I has Shahrukh Khan(Rahul),Madhuri Dixit(Pooja) and Karishma Kapoor(Nisha) as the leading stars.Shahrukh Khan(Rahul),is a super cool dude who,along with is group is into directing stage plays and dance performances,he does not understand how someone can spend their entire life with only one person.He is in search of "Maya"."Maya" according to him is someone who is very beautiful and anybody can fall in love with her anytime.She is someone who performs for the supreme master and works towards self actualization.Karishma Kapoor(Nisha) who is a member of shahrukh's group in love with him.Shahrukh does not know it and considers her only a good and a close friend.Madhuri Madhuri Dixit(Pooja) believes in love hopes that she is going to find the man of her dreams one day.One day Shahrukh Khan(Rahul)discovers "Maya" in Madhuri Dixit(Pooja) and slowly they fall in love with each other.The problem arises when Akshay Kumar(Ajay) a good friend of Madhuri Dixit(Pooja),falls in love with her and wants to marry her.She cannot refuse him as she feels indebted to Akshay Kumar's parents who raised her.It now up to her to make a decision.Overall great movie with awesome music,the best ever I have heard!.No matter how many times I listen to the soundtrack I do not get bored.Mr. Yash Chopra has great musical senses and is undoubtedly, the king of romance.
akbarnali
Yash Chopra has oft been noted for his bold dramas, masterful characterizations, and resonating romances. Who, indeed, can forget the battle of wills between Amitabh and Shahi Kapoor in "Deewar", or the palatable devastation of Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bachchan in "Silsila", or the magical majesty of Sridevi in the Rajasthani deserts of "Lamhe"? Chopra reached the pinnacle of creativity with "Lamhe" in 1991. The downward slump which followed was perhaps inevitable, but definitely regrettable. "Parampara" was intermittently enjoyable, thanks in large part to Aamir Khan. "Darr" had all the requisite ingredients for success, and is certainly his best film post-"Lamhe", but lacked the taut quality a thriller requires. Shah Rukh Khan was still engaged in quality roles at that point, and succeeded in stealing the limelight from Juhi Chawla who played the protagonist famously referred to as "K-K-K-Kiran".But alas. If the house of Chopra had attempted different themes in "Kabhie Kabhi", "Silsila", "Waqt", "Deewar", "Chandni", "Lamhe", "Aaina", and "Darr", it failed to break any substantial artistic ground with the flossy and flaccid non-event called "Dil To Pagal Hai".In fact, it is so glaringly insipid that one cannot compare it to the repertoire which bears the name Chopra. Its clear predecessor is another "film". One cannot help but draw parallels between DTPH and Sooraj Barjatya's heinously contrived Hindu Family Values farce "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun": both films are driven by their songs, costume changes, and familial uptopias. There is no story, no plot, and outside Karishma Kapoor's spraining her ankle, no significant occurrence in the entire 180 minutes. There is little-if any-depth to the characters. Ms. Dixit is present in both, playing the same girl with different names, who is burdened with a unique form of arrested mental development in which she suffocates her own desire in deference to the will of her extended family, who in both cases is eager to marry her off to her brother-in-law (Mohnish Bahl in HAHK) or her adoptive brother (Akshay Kumar in DTPH). A curious tipping of the hat to the idea of incest, indeed. Of course, fans of Ms. Dixit have seen her umpteen times before in potbolier love triangles: "Saajan", "Mohabbat", "Arzoo", "Dil Tera Aasiq", "HAHK", "Wajood", "Koyla", "Yaaraana", "Rajkumar", "Khal-Nayak", "Sahibaan", "Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam", etc., etc., etc. Perhaps she was unaware that other types of films existed, or that embodying misogynistic feminine ideals, sucking limes, and swishing her dupatta endlessly does not qualify as "acting".Shah Rukh is little better off with a half-baked and half-acted performance that has all the excitement of a dull thud. DTPH probably also marks the beginning of the descent of SRK's status as an actor. The joyous heights of "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa", "Baazigar", and "Raju Bangaya Gentleman" are all distant memories. He had officially resigned his screen persona to the nondescript romantic hero "Raj/Rahul" who has since been seen in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", "Mohobbatein", "Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham", and of course, "Veer Zaara". DTPH belongs, in all of miniscule relevance, to Karishma Kapoor. She is the only example of intelligence or artistry in the film, stealing each and every scene in which she appears, and garnering a well-deserved National Award. It is interesting that virtually every other leading actress in India at the time, including Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar, Raveena Tandon, Tabu, and even Kajol had rejected the role because it was deemed too insubstantial. Indeed, it is the *ONLY* thing that is substantial in this attempt to one-up the hacked-up and hackneyed "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun!"
