Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam
Details
Name: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
English: I Have Given My Heart Away Darling
Type : Bollywood
Genre : Comedy, Drama, Musical
Released : 1999
Length: 3hr 8mins
Language : Hindi, English (Sub)
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Watch it on: Youtube
External Links : IMDB
Characters
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who plays Nandini/Nandu. Born in wealth, she carries herself with pride and throws tantrum when she doesn't get what she wants. She displays her innocence and youth through singing and dancing. She is not afraid to challenge anyone and speak up. Though she tries to challenge the patriarchal society by voicing her opinion, she soon finds out her place.
Vikram Gokhale: Pundit Darbar. A well known Musician/singer, authoritative personality and a man of integrity. He is also the head of the household due to his age. He brings order even if he has to stake what's dear to him. His siblings respect and fears him for his strict rules to uphold tradition. He loves music and has high expectation for his daughter, Nandini.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Nandini/Nandu. Born in wealth, she carries herself with pride. When she finds out that her room is given away to a guest, she throws tantrum. She displays her innocence and youth through singing and dancing. She is not afraid to challenge anyone and speak up. Though she tries to challenge the patriarchal society by voicing her opinion, she soon finds out her place.
Salman Khan: Sameer/"a whiff of air". A talented Indian-Italian musician who wants to learn more about music. He is modernized by the western society. A"Walkman" to listen to music, walks around shirtless, and can't seem to handle traditional Indian cuisine.
Ajay Devgn: Vanraj. A bland, simple guy who doesn't look good or have any talents. His father is a well known lawyer and he carries that name. He a lawyer as well but his life seems to be boring. He dislikes being lied to. Based on his sister, he has a good heart and that's all that matters.
Setting
Location: India and Italy.
India: Old buildings that have withstood time and haven't been touched much by the modern culture.
Italy: Cars, modern buildings, transportation separates that from India. Telephone, cellphone, trams.
Plot
Nandini does not like Sameer for taking her room. Sameer on the other hand displays affection towards her for her beauty and tenacity. Being an outsider, he tries to befriend everyone, even Nandini.
Nandini's father, Pundit, allows Sameer to stay in his household for free without any form of actual payment. He however asks that someday, he might ask him to repay him with his words. Being naive and excited at the same time, he promises his words.
Attraction starts to develop between Sameer and Nandini. A glimpse of foreshadow for the two is seen through Anu (Nandini's cousin). Anu was infatuated with a guy name Baharat. Something had happened and they were separated from each other. Anu is arranged to be married to someone who she never loved.
Sameer teases towards Nandini goes too far that she slaps him. Sameer is shocked by her action and storms off.
During Anu's marriage, Vanraj and his sister comes to the wedding as a guest. Mesmerized by her beauty, personality, singing and dancing; Vanraj instantly falls in love. His sister notices this and encourages him to get married.
With encouraging words and persuasion, she was able to convince Vanraj to get married.
Unaware of what was going Sameer acts casual towards everyone and ignores Nandini. They were both stubborn, however, as their frustration created distance, a strong bond between the two was forming.
Sameer and Nandini makes up, however, she was still upset. She tells him that while they were fighting, her father and mother had arranged her marriage to Vanraj. Some time passes, while they were sweet-talking to each other, her aunt notices what was going on. Since there was a rift between them, she wanted to find evidence to make her life miserable.
Anu runs away from her marriage and comes back home. She doesn't like her husband. She seeks refuge but her father gets outraged by her actions and wants to send her back. Nandini's father steps in and says that she will be sent back after the holiday.
Meanwhile, Sameer and Nandini create an escape plan for Anu and helps her run away. In the process, her aunt sees them. She waits for the morning with her newly found evidence.
LOVE IS TESTED!
Nandini's aunt instigates enough to have Pundit question her daughter's behaviors. When he finds out what Sameer and Nandini have been doing behind his back, he immediately asks Sameer to leave. Sameer agrees to keep word. He freezes Nandini and goes far away. He sends her letters for some time and awaits to hear her response/presence. Not hearing anything back, Sameer sends his final letter to Nandini which she never receives.
A void between the two grew larger. Her inaction, personality, and even life, halted. She tries to figure out what was going on but couldn't come up with anything. Her family continues her wedding ceremony and she gets married.
Nandini lives with Vanraj but doesn't approve of him touching her. She wants to find a closure and move on but she can't. Vanraj's frustration grew on the other hand and tries to figure out what was going on but she doesn't tell him.
Nandini's mother visits her to see how she was doing. She notices that her daughter has not changed at all. She gives her advice that when a women gets married, she receives a wedding chain, that is to represent the bond of a new relationship. Before she leaves, one of Nandini's uncle gives her a stack of letter that Sameer had wrote to her.
Vanraj comes home early and finds one of these letters. After reading it, he decides to find Sameer and settle it once and forever. Since he can't win his wife, at least he will find the cure to his heart by giving her solace. He stakes his love towards her by helping her find her love.
FLIGHT TO ITALY!
Vanraj and Nandini starts to look for Sameer. He notices how gloomy she was and encourage her that he will Sammer for her. As the search continues, they get into a situation where both gets robbed. Vanraj starts to fight the robbers and in the process, Nandini gets shot.
Spending their entire saving, Vanraj still has to figure out how to pay off the rest of the hospital bill. Vanraj however does not leave her side as he figures out what to do. By luck, Vanraj meets Sameer but doesn't recognize him, nor does he gets the chance to hear his name. Sameer teaches Vanraj how to sing Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje.
Vanraj comes back to the hospital to assure that everything will be fine and that they can leave the hospital. While they packed, Vanraj hums the song and Nandini immediately recognizes the song. He figures out that it was Sameer but by the time he goes to find him, he was long gone.
Luck happens to be on their side and Vanraj was able to find Sameer. He decides to bring her to see him, but was painfully hurt that he has to leave her as well. Nandini tells Sameer that she is thankful that she learned how to love, but her husband taught her how to practice and uphold it. She runs back to Vanraj.
Thoughts
Loved that movie. From tradition to the location, the film reminded of my childhood. Though it wasn't exactly like how it was in the movie, I found myself reminded of certain things from the past. The games they played, the food that they ate, even when they talked to the old grandma; it felt authentic.
I love the Nimbooda Nimbooda song, haven't learned so much about unripe lemons. When I heard that song, I immediately thought of myself being a sour lemon to a girl. Not my fault. They need time to cut me in small pieces and then slowly they will figure out what type of person I am.
Even Dholi Tao Dhol Baaje. I thought...hmm, maybe this is what I felt towards someone that I liked. Maybe it was when I felt strongly towards a person, I was like a drum. My heart was a drum that was beating loudly.
I know I will watch this movie in future. At least, listen/watch the music videos multiple times. It's quite catchy.
