One of the most stylish and substantially crafted movies of last century. When some great names in the industry put up their efforts together, we got to see a profligately awesome cine experience. Moreover a movie "Dil Se" is a poem. Pure blend of music and romance which explains seven various phases of Love. Happened to see it again last night for "N"th time yet it had the freshness. Like previous times, I really relished each and every moment of the movie this time too. Everyone in this forum knows the wave created by "Dil Se" among Indian youths when it released in 1998.

Now, Coming to the direction and another technical aspects of the movie. Manirathnam is so known for his technical brilliance and flabbergasting directional suaveness and yeah, he did not disappoint anyone. It was absolutely an enchanting experience for me to go through this wonderfully fabricated movie once again. Like his previous ventures "Roja" and "Bombay" this movie also depicts human relationships against a background of Indian politics and military. Dil Se was shot in Himachal, Kashmir, Assam, Delhi, Kerala, and other parts of India and Bhutan over a period of 55 days and its so much evident that how much strain he would have taken to encapsulate all the obligatory things to make his movie an emphatic one. For many this may not be the best of Manirathnam but it definitely owns an unique style and theme. Music department by Gulzar and ARR I think I don't need to say more. Celestial by all means. What makes Dil Se songs so remarkable is "Chaiyya chaiyya," one of the most exhilarating musical sequences in all of cinema, in which the romantic leads dance on top of an actual moving train that winds precariously along a mountain path. Eventually "Chaiyya chaiyya" unanimously selected as one of the top ten songs of all time in an international poll conducted by BBC. As usual there are few malayalis also sharing the credits in this whimsy stuff. The malayalam parts in the song "Jiya Jale" were written by our very own ever stable Gireesh Puthencherry and sung by MG Sreekumar. All other songs were too good n still holds predominant position in my list of favorites.

Yet another element in which we "Malayalis" can be proud of is Cinematography. Awesome frames by Santosh SIvan furnished the movie more astounding. Each frames could easily convey what really director meant.Without him It would have been an ordinary experience for me. I am pretty impressed with the way he captured the song "CHAIYYA CHAIYYA" and "dil se re". Other technical aspects like audiography and BGM did impressed many critics as well. At times I forgot about the screenplay and totally allied with magical BG score by ARR. I should say he simply stole the show. On a negative note I am not that impressed with the performance of the lead as well as supporting actors. Did not feel the ingenuity in SRK's acting. Lack of versatility definitely effected him in this movie big time. And yeah it was just an okay performance from Manisha as well. Initially Maniratnam planned to cast Simran as Preeti Nair but she apparently stepped back and he opted Preeti Zinta. She was the only relief for me as far as the performance is concerned. In fact I don't expect any débutante to play something exceptional on screen so neither did she, still loved the charm and cuteness of Preeti and that really enraptured the experience. None of the supporting artists had to do anything remarkable and all of them went unnoticed.

It is really sad that movie failed to create an impact in BO even though the movie had its own flavors to tremble every records. Not the first time we are witnessing something like this In fact we are quite used to it. In the current scenario "Dil Se" would have been a mighty hit since now a days some baseless, obnoxious movies collecting billions and trillions. No matter its a hit or bombed "Dil Se" is one of my favorite and it always will be. This might be the only movie I like not because of lead actors but the awesomeness of those who worked behind the camera, is what sticks me to "Dil Se". "Dil Se" always will be in my "Dil Mein