A Spectacular Romantic Extravaganza. Review on Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

Sanjay Leela Bhansali takes the viewers to the world of spectacular extravaganza with colourful ambience and festivals in abundance. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is a lavish and grand spectacle with good story, fantastic performances and soulful music.

The film takes off with Diwali being celebrated in the household of Vikram Gokhale. The arrival of Sameer (Salman Khan) from Italy coincides with the festival. Sameer had come to India to learn music from Vikram Gokhale. His younger daughter Nandini (Aishwarya Rai), who is vibrant, innocent, beautiful and playful, is initially amused by the new arrival in their house. She plays pranks on him enjoys it. Sameer finds Nandini extremely charming Soon both Sameer and Nandini realise that there is more to their relation than just playing pranks.

However, Gokhale is infuriated on learning about the affair and does not approve of it. When it is time for Sameer to give his guru-dakshina, Gokhale asks him to pack off to Italy. The lovers are separated even as Nandini's mother (Smita Jaykar) tries to console her daughter. Nandini's world is shattered with the departure of Sameer. Subsequently her father fixes her marriage with Vanraj (Ajay Devgan), who had desired to marry her when he had seen her for the first time during a wedding ceremony.

Nandini remains aloof and hardly interacts with Vanraj after their marriage. She can't break free from Sameer's love. Vanraj fails to understand her indifferent behaviour towards him. But he learns the truth about Nandini and Sameer when he comes across Sameer's letter. Initially Vanraj is furious and hurt. He feels cheated . However, he soon decides to re-unite the two lovers. Next, both Vanraj and Nandini leave for Italy in search of Sameer. For Nandini it was the long wait which would end when she would meet Sameer while for Vanraj it was the most difficult thing to lose his desire. They try to locate Sameer and during this period certain events gradually make Nandini realise how much Vanraj loves her and she starts understanding him better.

Finally, they manage to locate Sameer who is exited to know that Nandini was coming back. But now Nandini has to take the most important decision of her life. In a grand finale, Nandini explains her dilemma to Sameer and Vanraj's love for her. She voluntarily steps out and decides to stay with Vanraj.

The story has been unfolded in a grand style amidst rich visuals and series of dance and songs. The movie captures viewers interest as soon as the titles are over. The introduction scene of Aishwarya Rai is superb ! She looks stunning and innocent in the orange ghagra outfit with a kandeel in one hand, prancing around with her friends playing lagori (Seven stones) with the song in the background praising her beauty. It is one of the best introduction scenes filmed on a heroine of hindi cinema.

Technically the film is superior in terms of locations, photography, costumes, sets, song picturisation and music. Special mention must be made of the song 'Aankhon ki gusthakiyaan' where the director has woven an entire scene full of nok-jhonk, into a song.

The lavishness, grandeur and richness can be seen in every frame of this 23 reels of spectacle. It is bathed in splendour and leaves an ever-lasting impression. If the rich colours, eye pleasing photography, huge sets etc. would not catch your fancy, then the beauty of Aishwarya will surely catch your attention. She is simply mesmerizing.

Highlights:The major highlight of this movie was the skillful direction of Sanjay Bhansali. He had complete command over the film and was involved with all the technical departments like cinematography, music, sets, acting. He has worked hard and in detail on every department. He also has the knack of blending the songs within the narration skillfully. Each character in the film was well defined . The screenplay flows smoothly in the first half with songs and dances woven into the script skillfully. In the second half the film gets a bit heavy and develops towards a grand finale.

While the first half is shot on the golden sands of Rajasthan with royal, palatial havelis and colourful surroundings and festivals, the focus shifts to Italy (Budapest) in the second half amongst fresh foreign locations and beautiful indoors. The visuals are great and pleasant to eyes.

Another scene that comes to mind is the first meeting between Nandini and Sameer. She is lighting the glass chandelier with candles when Sameer arrives and stares in her eyes. Both stare at each other without blinking, playing the game of flickering eyes. Sameer says ' Tum mujhe yun hi dekhti rahogi to tumhe mujhse pyar ho jayenga'. Both indulge in smooth dialogue without flickering the eyelids. In the end Nandini lets go off the rope she had held and the chandelier comes crashing down. Sameer catches the rope just in time before it can fall and get shattered. As the glass light oscillates in slow motion between them. The scene is brilliantly executed and is a masterpiece.

Another important scene is the final re-union scene on the bridge when Aishwarya rushes towards Ajay who is walking away silently after losing his love. Subsequently the directors shows Salman crying and speaking to his dead father. It was very touching scene. There are many more scenes which were impressive and stood out. Like the scene where Aishwarya teaches Salman the traditional way of touching the feet of elders. The scene where she tries hard to make him confess his love for her.

Performances. Salman Khan was good as the romantic and crazy Sameer. He imparts his own charm to the role.The last scene where he speaks with his father is well enacted. Ajay Devgan?s role had lot of intensity and he came out with a memorable performance. He is brilliant in the scene where he gets drunk and expresses his feelings to Aishwarya.

However, the film belongs to Aishwarya Rai. It is a milestone movie in her career. As Nandini, she oozes oodles of charm . She was the apt choice for the role and showcased her talent in a complex role. Aishwarya's acting and dancing talents have been tapped to the maximum by the director. Cinematographer Anil Mehta ought to be credited for presenting her at her stunning best She looks mesmerizing throughout the film. She is the flavour of the film. In the first half she is shown dressed in traditional colourful attires. In the second half she is shown in rich sarees of various shades. Aishwarya surely deserved all the best actress awards she received. Vikram Gokhale, Smita Jaykar, Helen and others supported them well.

Songs are integral part of the film. Also the use of certain songs as background is very well done. The music had a mix of traditional and romantic numbers as well as sad numbers. Aankhon ki gustakhiyan and Chand chhupa badal mein were melodious romatic numbers. The feet tapping dance numbers Dholi taro dhol vaage and Nimbooda were superbly choregraphed . The folk based Albela sajan aiyo was effectively used in background . The song 'Mitti ki hai murat teri' picturised on Aishwarya during her introduction was good. The soulful numbers 'Tadap tadap ke iss dil se' and ' Jhonka hawa ka' were first rate in terms of quality. The title song is also touching and makes great impact on screen. It was sad that Ismail Darbur did not win award for it.

The entire film appears like a beautiful painting on celluloid. It may not be the ultimate masterpiece, but I'm sure with the passage of time, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam will become a classic.