For 20 years, fans have wondered whether their favorite on-screen characters, Akash, Sid, and Sameer from iconic ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ would reunite again, but director Farhan Akhtar says he has not thought about continuing the film’s storyline which was released on August 10, 2001. The coming-of-age drama starred Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Akshaye Khanna as three friends.
The film also featured Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, and Dimple Kapadia. It is regarded as a benchmark film on friendship.
Superstar Aamir Khan goes nostalgic as his movie ‘Dil Chahta Hai‘ completes 20 years of its release today, August 10. For him, it was one of the most memorable films and a great working experience with Farhan Akhtar and the entire cast.
In an interview with a news agency, he says, “‘Dil Chahta Hai’ is one of my most memorable films. I think the energies of all of us coming together (Farhan, Ritesh, Zoya, Akshaye, Saif, Sonali, Dimple, Preity, me, Javed Sahab, Shankar, Ehsan, Loy, Basin, Avan, Ravi, Suzanna, Nakul, Subaya, everyone… ), brought something very special to the film.”
“I loved the script, and I felt that Farhan was coming in with a completely fresh look at everything. His own vision and voice. As a result, ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ will always be remembered as a film that broke a lot of conventions in Indian cinema. I was working with a first-time director, but never once did it feel like that. Farhan was confident and personified. He was sure-footed and completely in control. What a debut Farhan and Ritesh!” he concludes.
On the other hand, Farhan said, unlike Richard Linklater’s romantic film trilogy ‘Before’, which follows the story after every nine years, he has no plans to chronicle where his characters are today. “There was never a point where I thought, let’s discover where these three characters are 20 years later. I have not thought about that at all, to be honest,” he said.
As the film completes a 20th-anniversary milestone, Farhan said he is filled with “many emotions”. “The one that is at the forefront of it all is honestly just how fortunate I was to get such amazing people to collaborate on my first film. Then the film did what it had to do by itself, there is nothing you can do after you have made it. People make it their own and keep it alive.”
The 47-year-old actor-director said it is remarkable how “Dil Chahta Hai” has continued to remain relevant, reaching out to a newer audience every day. “The fact that subsequent generations keep discovering the film, keep relating to it in their own way is not something you can plan. It fills me with happiness and so much love that people have for something that I did two decades ago. That they remember it so fondly. I feel fortunate,” he added.
With this film, Farhan also launched his production house, Excel Entertainment, co-founded by his close friend and producer Ritesh Sidhwani.
Also Read: Excel Entertainment: Farhan Akhtar celebrates 20 years of his production house
