When I first saw Dil Se I had no idea who Mani Ratnam was, but I have since sought out and seen many of his films. Dil Se remains his best film in my opinion.
A chance encounter at a remote train station between a brash radio executive, Amar Verma, and a mysterious woman Meghna(?) leads to Amar's dogged pursuit of Meghna. He is in love, she is enigmatic, elusive and unattainable despite his following her and pressing his suit. She keeps walking away. Amar seems to give up and goes back home to get engaged to pretty and perky Preety. But then Meghna walks back into his life and asks for help. Amar takes a while to realize that all is not as it should be and the movie rapidly turns from a romance into a thriller in the second half. There is a terrorism sub-plot, there is intense emotion, and the fact that there is one woman too many in our hero's life.. The movie negotiates all this and moves us rapidly towards a stunning finale.
The film is visually stunning - the train top song Chaiyyan Chaiyyan, the Ladakh locales including a snow covered lake and ruins among the dunes, the masterful use of light in the most intense emotional moments, the mundane streets of Delhi, children running up and down the stairs in an old house - the moments of visual beauty are too many to list. A R Rahman's music is astoundingly good. There is no mediocre number - Sukhwinder's stunning Chaiyyan Chaiyan, Sonu's gritty Satrangi re, Udit's haunting Ae Ajnabi, AR Rahman's soulful Dil Se re, and Lata's sensual Jiya Jale - every song is situationally perfect masterfully sung and worth going on the A-list on your iPod.
Mani is a master craftsman - the tale of Dil Se is not easily absorbed at one go. The first impact is one of mystery and confusion. But the second time around one knows that this was the intention all along - Meghna carries deep dark secrets that will not allow her to accept her attraction for Amar, yet Amar can sense the mutual attraction and keeps pursuing her. Dil Se is set in some unknown North Eastern state in India. These regions were historically never a part of India and were added to political India by the British. Their populace is culturally and ethnically different. Post-independence these states have been in a state of unrest and more and more isolated. The influx of refugees from Bangladesh into this region has strained resources and made the political situation even more volatile. These states are less affluent and there is much separatist (terrorist?) activity going on in almost every state, despite programs from the central government that provide resources and raw materials at a reduced cost and also decree that only permanent residents and natives can buy land in these states (to keep ethnic identities intact).
This political situation has parallels in the story - Amar is happy go lucky, affluent, confident in his family relationships, in his identity, in his ability to achieve his goals - whether they be wooing a reluctant woman or meeting with the separatists/terrorists. This is very much like mainstream India. Meghna on the other hand is unhappy, relatively poor (notice the often close to tattered clothing), has feelings of dissociation and estrangement, a need to fight back.
Their meeting is by chance - just as by happenstance the NE states became part of political India. They are as different as can be - he is brash and hyper, she is introspective and quiet.
She is attracted to Amar yet also strangely repulsed by him. This is very much like the uneasy political alliance between the NE states and mainstream India. There is the danger of getting engulfed by other neighbors so an alliance is necessary, yet there is perceived disenfranchisement as there is not enough representation in the political process.
Amar is shown to be a bit coercive in the beginning and overly helpful in the end and this represents the two extremes of how the central government handles the situation in the NE. There are many facilities provided (cheaper resources), protection given in terms of property rights. Yet the hand is heavy when it comes to political decision making.
Meghna's past parallels some of the heavy handedness at the hands of the center while Aamr's attitude of trying to figure out why there is unrest indicates that there is a basic desire at the center to help.
The "love" story is rather unusual and highlights these forces of attraction and tension. Only in the very end is Mani completely enigmatic. In the end are we now witnessing the love story alone or is it a prophecy for the future? Mani stays completely on the fence the entire time and looks at the situation (and indeed at the love story) as Amar the journalist would. He is merely reporting the facts and not passing any judgments.
The film is superbly acted. Shahrukh effortlessly conveys the brash young man in search of a story, the obsessed lover, the reluctant fiancé, the angry man, the patriot. This is one of his finest roles to date. Manisha does an excellent job as Meghna - she is luminous, diffident, attracted and yet repulsed, driven - and all this with almost no words spoken. Shahrukh conveys so much with body language - watch him in the desert after Meghna leaves in the night - he is despair personified. And Manisha uses her eyes - a look says it all when Amar asks her on the roof top if she loves him. Preity is great as the perky girl - excellent in the sensuous number Jiya Jale. I hope Mani Ratnam is aware of the huge impact this film had and continues to have. Watch Dil Se, you will not be disappointed.
A chance encounter at a remote train station between a brash radio executive, Amar Verma, and a mysterious woman Meghna(?) leads to Amar's dogged pursuit of Meghna. He is in love, she is enigmatic, elusive and unattainable despite his following her and pressing his suit. She keeps walking away. Amar seems to give up and goes back home to get engaged to pretty and perky Preety. But then Meghna walks back into his life and asks for help. Amar takes a while to realize that all is not as it should be and the movie rapidly turns from a romance into a thriller in the second half. There is a terrorism sub-plot, there is intense emotion, and the fact that there is one woman too many in our hero's life.. The movie negotiates all this and moves us rapidly towards a stunning finale.
The film is visually stunning - the train top song Chaiyyan Chaiyyan, the Ladakh locales including a snow covered lake and ruins among the dunes, the masterful use of light in the most intense emotional moments, the mundane streets of Delhi, children running up and down the stairs in an old house - the moments of visual beauty are too many to list. A R Rahman's music is astoundingly good. There is no mediocre number - Sukhwinder's stunning Chaiyyan Chaiyan, Sonu's gritty Satrangi re, Udit's haunting Ae Ajnabi, AR Rahman's soulful Dil Se re, and Lata's sensual Jiya Jale - every song is situationally perfect masterfully sung and worth going on the A-list on your iPod.
Mani is a master craftsman - the tale of Dil Se is not easily absorbed at one go. The first impact is one of mystery and confusion. But the second time around one knows that this was the intention all along - Meghna carries deep dark secrets that will not allow her to accept her attraction for Amar, yet Amar can sense the mutual attraction and keeps pursuing her. Dil Se is set in some unknown North Eastern state in India. These regions were historically never a part of India and were added to political India by the British. Their populace is culturally and ethnically different. Post-independence these states have been in a state of unrest and more and more isolated. The influx of refugees from Bangladesh into this region has strained resources and made the political situation even more volatile. These states are less affluent and there is much separatist (terrorist?) activity going on in almost every state, despite programs from the central government that provide resources and raw materials at a reduced cost and also decree that only permanent residents and natives can buy land in these states (to keep ethnic identities intact).
This political situation has parallels in the story - Amar is happy go lucky, affluent, confident in his family relationships, in his identity, in his ability to achieve his goals - whether they be wooing a reluctant woman or meeting with the separatists/terrorists. This is very much like mainstream India. Meghna on the other hand is unhappy, relatively poor (notice the often close to tattered clothing), has feelings of dissociation and estrangement, a need to fight back.
Their meeting is by chance - just as by happenstance the NE states became part of political India. They are as different as can be - he is brash and hyper, she is introspective and quiet.
She is attracted to Amar yet also strangely repulsed by him. This is very much like the uneasy political alliance between the NE states and mainstream India. There is the danger of getting engulfed by other neighbors so an alliance is necessary, yet there is perceived disenfranchisement as there is not enough representation in the political process.
Amar is shown to be a bit coercive in the beginning and overly helpful in the end and this represents the two extremes of how the central government handles the situation in the NE. There are many facilities provided (cheaper resources), protection given in terms of property rights. Yet the hand is heavy when it comes to political decision making.
Meghna's past parallels some of the heavy handedness at the hands of the center while Aamr's attitude of trying to figure out why there is unrest indicates that there is a basic desire at the center to help.
The "love" story is rather unusual and highlights these forces of attraction and tension. Only in the very end is Mani completely enigmatic. In the end are we now witnessing the love story alone or is it a prophecy for the future? Mani stays completely on the fence the entire time and looks at the situation (and indeed at the love story) as Amar the journalist would. He is merely reporting the facts and not passing any judgments.
The film is superbly acted. Shahrukh effortlessly conveys the brash young man in search of a story, the obsessed lover, the reluctant fiancé, the angry man, the patriot. This is one of his finest roles to date. Manisha does an excellent job as Meghna - she is luminous, diffident, attracted and yet repulsed, driven - and all this with almost no words spoken. Shahrukh conveys so much with body language - watch him in the desert after Meghna leaves in the night - he is despair personified. And Manisha uses her eyes - a look says it all when Amar asks her on the roof top if she loves him. Preity is great as the perky girl - excellent in the sensuous number Jiya Jale. I hope Mani Ratnam is aware of the huge impact this film had and continues to have. Watch Dil Se, you will not be disappointed.