Dil To Pagal Hai

<p>Rahul and Nisha are members of a dance troupe that perform dance-based musical plays in Mumbai. Nisha is secretly in love with Rahul, but outwardly, they are just friends. Rahul announces his desire to direct a new musical named Maya. The members of the troupe, including Nisha, have their doubts about the title character, “Maya” who Rahul describes as a girl who believes in true love, and who is waiting for her prince charming, who she believes will surely turn up and take her away. Nisha is cast to play the role of Maya. The troupe welcomes a new entrant, Pooja, who is an amazing and classically trained dancer who is passionate about dancing. Having been orphaned at a young age, Pooja was raised by close friends of her parents. Pooja and Rahul have a string of near-misses as they run into each other time and again. Each of these instances is marked by a tune playing in the background, that registers with Pooja. Pooja is soon taken to Germany by her foster parent’s son Ajay, her childhood best friend who has been working in London. Just as Ajay leaves to fly back to London, he proposes to Pooja. In a dilemma, Pooja ends up accepting his marriage proposal. Meanwhile, Nisha injures her leg during rehearsals for the upcoming play, and the doctor advises her to take bed rest and not dance for a few months. In search of a new dancer to replace Nisha in the play, he comes across Pooja dancing one day, and believes she is perfect for the role. He begs her to come to their rehearsals and after much hesitation, she agrees. Eventually, Rahul and Pooja become close friends. Nisha soon returns from the hospital and is upset that she has been replaced, and becomes very jealous upon learning that Rahul likes Pooja. Knowing that Rahul does not reciprocate her love, she decides to leave for London to visit her parents. Throughout rehearsals, Rahul and Pooja find themselves falling for one another. When Rahul drops Pooja home one day, he starts whistling his tune, making Pooja realize that she has fallen for the man with the tune she so often heard. The next day, the two go to meet Pooja’s old dance tutor, who Pooja addresses as Tai, who figures that the two are ardently in love. At the wedding of two members of the dance troupe, Rahul and Pooja share an intimate moment, but are unsure how to express their love for each other. A few days before the premiere of the play, Ajay arrives at the rehearsal hall to surprise Pooja. He tells everyone that he is her fiancé. Rahul is heartbroken, but tries not to show it. Nisha, who has returned from London, notices Rahul’s devastation and explains how she too was devastated when he did not love her in return. Rahul edits the end of the play to reflect his heartbreak, in contrast to his usual style of always giving a happy ending. On the night of the premiere, as Rahul and Pooja’s characters are about to break up on stage, Ajay plays a recorded tape Pooja was going to send him before his proposal, where she described how she felt about Rahul. Ajay is indirectly telling Pooja that she and Rahul are meant to be together. Pooja now realizes she truly loves Rahul and the two confess their love on stage as the audience applauds them, giving the play a happy ending once again. Backstage, Ajay ends up asking Nisha whether she is already married or not, implying his interest in her. was the second of ‘s 4 consecutive films to star as the male lead. It was the third film to feature Khan opposite , after (1994) and (1997). The film was originally titled and before Chopra finally settled on as the title. was initially offered to play the role of Pooja, but she declined as she did not find her role as substantial as that in . The role then went to Dixit. After casting Dixit in the lead role of Pooja, Chopra found it hard to cast the role of the second female lead, Nisha. was first approached for the role, but declined. Koirala later admitted that she regretted turning it down. The role was then offered to , as Chopra wanted two leading actresses of that time to star alongside each other, however Chawla did not want to play second fiddle to Dixit, after playing the leading lady in Chopra’s previous film (1993). and were also offered the role; however Kajol declined as she felt that the role was insubstantial while Tandon was considering quitting her career at the time. After some thought, Chopra decided to extend the role of Nisha a little more. , who worked with Khan in (1992), accepted the role, but opted out after a day of shooting. Chopra finally approached who agreed to take up the role and was signed. She felt that despite the short screen-time, a lot could be achieved with the role. was the initial choice to play the role of Ajay, however Chopra felt that a much younger actor was required, promoting Chopra to sign . Kumar was reportedly not paid for his role. In addition to writing the story, Chopra co-produced the film along with M. Vakil under the banner Yash Raj Films. The script was written by Chopra, his son Aditya and wife Pamela. The film’s costumes were designed by and . was the film’s cinematographer, while the choreography was handled by and . made an uncredited appearance as a dancer in the song ”Le Gayi”. Chopra rejected 54 dresses created by Malhotra for Dixit’s character, choosing a over others. Filming began in June 1996. It was the first film to be shot in and , both popular German tourist attractions. It was made on a budget of 90 million. The soundtrack of includes 10 songs. The songs for the film were composed by . Lyrics were written by . The music was a major hit among the audience, with the album becoming the best-selling of the year and second-most of the 1990s decade, with 12.5 million sales. Chopra earned an advance of for the music rights. In 2008, Chopra launched an unreleased song from the soundtrack, titled “Kitni Hai Bekarar Yeh” sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Kumar Sanu. Approximately 300 of the film were released worldwide, with 250–260 across India, including approximately 60 in the circuit. 60 prints were released overseas. of gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, noting, “It’s great eye-candy, painting a portrait of a newly prosperous India in rainbow colours. Good performances too make this a cut above the Bollywood average.” reported that opened to a “record business with 100 per cent collections in the first week all over India”. The report added that prints were sold as 2 per territory. 100 per cent collections were report also in the second week, and 97 per cent in the third. It grossed (US$16.47 million) in India and $3.3 million ( 12.04 ) in other countries, for a worldwide total of (US$19.79 million), against its (US$2.48 million) budget, which also included print and advertising costs. It had a worldwide opening weekend of (US$1.3 million), and grossed (US$2.47 million) in its first week. It opened on Friday, 31 October 1997, across 245 screens, and earned (US$120,000) nett on its opening day. It became the third highest opener of the year behind ( (US$308,373.44) nett) and ( (US$291,853.43) nett). It grossed (US$757,166.93) nett in its opening weekend, and had a first week of (US$1.44 million) nett. The film earned a total of (US$9.63 million) nett. It is the 2nd-highest-grossing film of 1997 in India after which grossed (US$10.86 million) nett. earned $3.3 million ( 12.04 ) outside India. Overseas, It is the highest-grossing film of 1997. It ranked as the highest-grossing Indian film of 1997 worldwide. , , and have listed as one of the top 10 Yash Chopra films. The film was screened retrospective, during the 2014 in the section. , and starrer Hai is re-releasing in the theatres. The directorial is slated to be back on the big screens on February 28, 2025</p>