In 2001, three buddies cast a brand new on-screen connection. Juggling throughout glittery nightlife, bantering by way of leisurely afternoons, and casually road-tripping to Goa on a whim, Akash, Siddharth, and Sameer liberated Bollywood friendships from the sacrificial, brotherly depictions of the previous technology, making approach for a breezy coolth that splintered harmoniously into its design. The filmmaking relied much less on aesthetic extra and extra on nurturing likeability in direction of the three by putting them in mindfully created areas and giving them garments that mirrored their interior lives with out making a trend assertion. The impact was disarmingly gleeful. It represented the city aspirations of being younger on the flip of the century by creating a method that was as easygoing because it was vibrant.
A part of that youthful enchantment got here from the instincts of debutant writer-director Farhan Akhtar, who assembled a workforce of younger technicians to understand his refreshing imaginative and prescient of affection and friendship. His minimalistic method was evident in how the characters appeared actual, with out the cinematic facade prevalent on the time. The hair styling was accomplished by Avan Contractor, who was engaged on a film for the primary time. Avan learn the script to grasp the characters and the world they function in. Farhan’s transient to her was clear.
“He wished the characters to look up to date, trendy, and to provide them an city really feel, totally different from the traditional Hindi movie hero. Possibly that’s what individuals discovered relatable,” Avan says. She factors out that the method was much like the work they did on their shoppers within the salon. “We’d seek the advice of the shoppers, know their likes, dislikes and preferences, and the probabilities that their hair supplied. The identical precept was used to work with the actors, to make them look extra like their characters.”
Aamir Khan in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’
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Maybe the look that stirred essentially the most dialog was that of Aamir Khan, who performed Akash with a playful reckoning, and his earlier sweet-boy on-screen reminiscence of starring in romantic dramas was shortly overshadowed with sharper eyebrows, an extended hairline extending to the cheeks and a goatee on the chin that sealed the cope with its added quirk.
Aamir proposed the concept of a goatee when he got here for the haircut, reveals Avan. “He had a beard from his earlier movie, and after his haircut, he went to shave the beard and stored popping out to indicate us totally different sorts of facial hair. He lastly got here out with simply the goatee, and we felt that it regarded tremendous cool.”
The identical intricate thought prevailed within the manufacturing design by Suzanne Caplan Merwanji, who created the indoor areas associated to the characters with an goal to increase their personalities. Like Avan, it was Suzanne’s first massive Hindi business movie after working as a set decorator on worldwide films and as a set designer for commercials. That’s what prompted her to deliver a brand new perspective to design the setting for Dil Chahta Hai. “I had come to grasp that set design is supposed to boost the script and the characters and never distract from them,” Suzanne says.
A nonetheless from ‘Dil Chahta Hai’
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That methodology is seen fairly simply in Dil Chahta Hai because the rooms of Akash, Siddharth and Sameer maintain a particular character, positioned with minimal objects that make the areas look extra lived-in than overstuffed with concepts to beautify the body with a generic impact. Akash’s informal demeanor, transactional outlook, and disbelief in love are mirrored within the smooth, mechanical styling of his room. “Being the wealthiest character, he had essentially the most trendy, spacious, clean-lined and somewhat chilly set design, to assist describe his relationship together with his household, buddies and girlfriends,” Suzanne says. However, Siddharth’s considerate, empathetic worldview and his inventive inclinations got here by way of with how his home was proven.
“I modelled Sid’s home upon a bohemian Colaba home that belonged to a pal, who was an avid collector of Indian arts and crafts. I feel that mirrored the unconventional complexities of his character. Designing his attic studio allowed us to unleash our creativity and we actually had enjoyable with it,” Suzanne explains.
A nonetheless from ‘Dil Chahta Hai’
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Equally, Sameer’s innocence got here by way of with the simplistic design of his room. “Sameer’s home had a somewhat nouveau-rich really feel, though his personal precise room was pretty uncomplicated, to replicate his good-natured temperament,” she says.
The mixed impact of those choices gave Dil Chahta Hai a completely totally different visible aesthetic, rooted extra within the fact of characters than grandiosity. It was a transparent diversion from how units have been designed in common movies. “I feel DCH got here at a specific second in time, when the city center and higher courses began to veer way more in direction of Bollywood, creating a considerable new area of interest available in the market. That is in all probability why the movie resonated a lot for the privileged youth of 2001,” says Suzanne.
The meticulous reasoning behind each visible aspect helps the movie retain its timeless enchantment. The visuals have been employed to deliver out the nuances of the characters’ feelings which proceed to resonate with newer audiences who discover recent meanings and interpretations behind a few of these selections. Dil Chahta Hai continues to fascinate movie lovers and technicians working within the trade even as we speak. Sabina Halder, the costume designer on Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri, Name Me Bae, Madgaon Categorical and Merry Christmas, watched the movie for the primary time as a toddler and loved it for being a “enjoyable, youth film”.
A nonetheless from ‘Dil Chahta Hai’
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“I didn’t perceive the nuances of the movie then, however the type of Preity Zinta’s garments was on my want record,” says Sabina. Now that she works as a fancy dress designer herself, she has revisited the movie a number of occasions to check costume designer Arjun Bhasin’s work. “I’ve noticed each small element within the styling. Each emotion is visually communicated superbly. It wouldn’t be incorrect to say that the garments and styling within the film hold the happiness quotient excessive all through,” she opines.
She describes Arjun’s method as a type of “storytelling through garments”. “When the boys journey to Goa, they appear trendy and will not be caricatured to appear to be hippies. They sport simple linen drawstring trousers, unfastened tunic shirts and color bottoms. That is precisely when traits have been set on what trendy younger males may put on on trip,” Sabina says.
She feels the movie was a starting of what “clear and trendy” costume styling appears to be like like. “Earlier than Dil Chahta Hai,films portrayed trend as one thing non-relatable, excessive and garish. Arjun set an instance of how styling might be used as an clever software in modern-day costume designing. That’s why it feels recent even as we speak,” she says.
Now, over 25 years after its launch, Akash, Siddharth and Sameer evoke the identical heat that made them stand out then. The songs underline its newness, with the ‘chamkile din’ within the title observe creating an enthralling reverberance. Coming proper after the flip of the century, Farhan marked the appearance of a brand new sort of cinematic expertise, shifting from soapy drama to a energetic coming-of-age rigor. As Javed Akhtar put it in ‘Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe’, Ham hai naye, andaz kyun ho purana; clearly, the center nonetheless needs and the type has nonetheless not aged.
Printed – September 05, 2026 09:02 am IST
