Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (HDDCS)

A Bollywood Love Triangle Starring Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgan

Jul 2, 2009

HDDCS is a typical Bollywood extravaganza replete with melodrama, song and dance. It was released in 1999 and went on to become one of the biggest blockbusters that year.

The story revolves around Sameer (Salman Khan), an Italian music student, who travels to India to find a classical Indian music teacher. He offers to pay the teacher, but the latter defers compensation saying that he will demand his dues when the time comes.

According to the ancient Indian tradition of Gurudakshina, a student must repay his teacher by fulfilling the teacher's demands at the end of the course of instruction.

Great Chemistry Between Ashwarya Rai and Salman Khan

The first half of the movie is based on the blossoming romance between Sameer and Nandini (Aishwarya Rai), the teachers beautiful daughter who is also an accomplished dancer. All is well, except for Sameer's reluctance to come out in the open about his relationship with Nandini and ask his master for his daughter's hand in marriage.

Nandini's father is a man who takes tradition very seriously, and it is highly unlikely that he will agree to a love marriage with a young man who is both a complete stranger and a foreigner. He is on the lookout for a good match for his daughter, and he is inclined towards Vanraj (Ajay Devgan), a lawyer's son.

When Nandini and Sameer muster the courage to confess their love, all hell breaks loose. Nandini's father then demands Gurudakshina of his pupil, and asks Sameer to break off all ties with Nandini. Nandini is forcibly married off to Vanraj.

She initially resists her husband's advances. Once Vanraj comes to know of Nandini's past, he decides that it is best that they try to find Sameer . He defies convention to escort his wife to Italy and reunite the lovers.

Although the outcome is obvious to anyone who is familiar with the Indian concept of the sanctity of marriage, HDDCS is remarkable for its depiction of Indian customs and tradition. The deserts of Rajasthan, India's premier tourist state, form the background for the movie, and colorful rituals and festivals are skilfully incorporated into the plot.

Aishwarya Rai looks dazzling in her authentic Rajasthani costumes, and the film is still famous for elaborate traditional dance sequences. She also delivers what is arguably a career best performance, and is quite convincing in her role as a woman bound by tradition, but longing to break free to follow her dreams. Salman Khan is strictly OK as the erratic, eccentric music student. It is Ajay Devgan's performance as the hapless husband that leaves the maximum impact. The bridge scene when husband and wife near the end of their quest for the lost lover, tugs at your heart strings as impending separation looms large.

In summary, HDDCS is a protoype of the age old formula of lost love, complicated by the eternal love triangle. What makes it work in spite of a cliched melodramatic script? The director's Bansali's skillful interplay of characters and conflicts in a society stll bound by orthodox traditions - the student who must honor his master's wishes at all costs, and the husband who tries to secure his wife's happiness also at all costs - to create a moving emotional drama.

The copyright of the article Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (HDDCS) in Asian Films is owned by Biswita Mozumdar. Permission to republish Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (HDDCS) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.