Shahrukh Khan is one of the biggest names in Bollywood, as well as a
personal favorite of mine. On the IMDB, he’s credited as an actor in
67 different movies, most of which I’ve seen. This August, I’m closing the gap, starting with Dil Se (1998), a classic tale of undying love, and by undying love I mean soulful glances, stalking, and general bad behavior.
Amar (Shahrukh Khan) is a reporter for All India Radio. Late one night in a train station he catches a glimpse of Meghna (Manisha Koirala) and is immediately . . . smitten is probably the wrong word. Entranced? Enchanted? In any case, he falls for her, and hard. Meghna, on the other hand, isn’t at all interested in even speaking to Amar. After a full fledged charm offensive, she finally asks him for a cup of tea, but by the time he fetches it, she’s on a train, speeding out of his life.
Or so he thinks. As he travels throughout northern India, Amar keeps running into Meghna. He does everything he can to attract her attention, including following her home and staring at her, but she is unmoved. When she tells him she’s married, he backs off and plans to apologize. Before he can, though, Amar is brutally beaten by a group of men claiming to be her brothers, and they let slip that she isn’t married after all. Amar is back in the game! But Meghna has vanished again.
The next time Amar and Meghna meet, they are stranded in the desert together thanks to a broken down bus. The pair finally manage to connect, if only for a moment, but in the morning, she’s gone, leaving only a message in the sand. Amar finally gives up, goes home, and agrees to marry Preeti (Preity Zinta, before she was a big enough star to get a separate character name), the cute, bubbly girl his parents picked out for him.
Meghna shows up on Amar’s doorstep during the engagement party and tells him that she needs a job and a place to stay. Amar gives her a room and arranges for a job at the radio station, and before long he’s just as obsessed as ever. Meghna still refuses to answer any of his questions, which makes sense, because (as the audience knows and Amar doesn’t) she’s a terrorist.
Dil Se is a romance between two people who have no business being romantically involved. Amar immediately fixates on Meghna, and he absolutely will not take no for an answer. He seems to have some trouble even understanding no as a concept; Amar never even considers the idea that Meghna might not feel the same way he does. This is not cuddly romantic comedy Shahrukh; Amar is closer to Rahul Mehra than Rahul Khanna.
Meghna, on the other hand, doesn’t exactly love Amar; at most, a part of her recognizes that he fits into the space where romantic attraction would normally go. She’s so fundamentally damaged that she really can’t love anyone, which doesn’t bode well for a happy relationship.
Dil Se looks amazing, and Khan, Koirala, and Zinta all turn in strong performances. Still, if this is true love, I’m okay with staying single.
Amar (Shahrukh Khan) is a reporter for All India Radio. Late one night in a train station he catches a glimpse of Meghna (Manisha Koirala) and is immediately . . . smitten is probably the wrong word. Entranced? Enchanted? In any case, he falls for her, and hard. Meghna, on the other hand, isn’t at all interested in even speaking to Amar. After a full fledged charm offensive, she finally asks him for a cup of tea, but by the time he fetches it, she’s on a train, speeding out of his life.
Or so he thinks. As he travels throughout northern India, Amar keeps running into Meghna. He does everything he can to attract her attention, including following her home and staring at her, but she is unmoved. When she tells him she’s married, he backs off and plans to apologize. Before he can, though, Amar is brutally beaten by a group of men claiming to be her brothers, and they let slip that she isn’t married after all. Amar is back in the game! But Meghna has vanished again.
The next time Amar and Meghna meet, they are stranded in the desert together thanks to a broken down bus. The pair finally manage to connect, if only for a moment, but in the morning, she’s gone, leaving only a message in the sand. Amar finally gives up, goes home, and agrees to marry Preeti (Preity Zinta, before she was a big enough star to get a separate character name), the cute, bubbly girl his parents picked out for him.
Meghna shows up on Amar’s doorstep during the engagement party and tells him that she needs a job and a place to stay. Amar gives her a room and arranges for a job at the radio station, and before long he’s just as obsessed as ever. Meghna still refuses to answer any of his questions, which makes sense, because (as the audience knows and Amar doesn’t) she’s a terrorist.
Dil Se is a romance between two people who have no business being romantically involved. Amar immediately fixates on Meghna, and he absolutely will not take no for an answer. He seems to have some trouble even understanding no as a concept; Amar never even considers the idea that Meghna might not feel the same way he does. This is not cuddly romantic comedy Shahrukh; Amar is closer to Rahul Mehra than Rahul Khanna.
Meghna, on the other hand, doesn’t exactly love Amar; at most, a part of her recognizes that he fits into the space where romantic attraction would normally go. She’s so fundamentally damaged that she really can’t love anyone, which doesn’t bode well for a happy relationship.
Dil Se looks amazing, and Khan, Koirala, and Zinta all turn in strong performances. Still, if this is true love, I’m okay with staying single.
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