Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin [DVD]

Story is spoilt rich girl (Pooja Bhatt) runs away to marry an egotistical movie star who is really after Dad's money. On the way to meet him she meets poor reporter (Aamir Khan) and they have adventures along the way till they fall in love. By this time Dad is Ok with her marrying the movie star but will she want that now...?
Aamir is excellent as always in this film and Pooja is an aptly cast spirited rich girl. However I found the movie a bit dated as films of this era tend to be a bit grainy and the hairstyles very 80s (though for them it was going into the 90s). So instead of looking Indian she had the long permed hair. Aamir is wearing a sailor's cap though there appears to be no nautical reference to this so it must have just been 'cool' (?) It is strange now to see normal bodies on actresses (even weighty ones!) as this was before Hindi movies were infected too by the anorexic supermodel stereotype.
The songs of that period don't do it for me either with the strings and high pitched female voices. So I found none of the songs memorable. Anupam Kher as the girls father has done some terrific stuff since but here he is doing a sort of slapstick rich man as they seemed to like then (and even now often!) However both Aamir and Anupam were nominated for awards for their roles in this movie at the time.
Look the plot is solid, Aamir is a delight to watch and I know not everyone has a problem with this era but can either overlook it more or feel a fondness for it. So ratings elsewhere on the Net for this 1991 movie are often around 7-8 out of 10. I think I'm more modern in what suits me so I found it a little more average. However I have been looking at what stars like Aamir did earlier in their careers and this performance has a lot to recommend it.

This movie was showing on TV a while back and upon the realisation it was an Aamir Khan starer I eagerly sat back getting ready for what I thought would be a classic Aamir Khan movie; Brilliant and original plot and excellent acting. However about fifteen minutes in to the movie I realised it was in fact a scene by scene copy of the 1930's classic It Happened One Night [DVD] [1934]. Now does this make it a bad movie? Yes. I'm not completely against Bollywood remaking Hollywood movies (although I would prefer them to be new and fresh), but this was quite embarassing and I couldn't help but scoff at a lot of it. There are three things that really work against this movie; (1), It's trying to remake a classic and iconic movie, in situations such as these it is very difficult to recreate the magic of the original. It Happened One Night was a very witty, fast talking and charming movie, there was something about it that left you feeling extremely giddy and pure by the end, in contrast Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin is lacking a lot of this charm, it is a very straight and slow paced movie. The fact that they recreate some of the defining scenes of the original (such as the couple attempting to hail a lift)also bogs the movie down because you're mind instantly skips back to where the scene is derived from. (2), The acting leaves a lot to be desired, Pooja Bhatt has never been a particularly great actress and here she is biting off a lot more than she can chew. She comes across as very stiff and rigid, she does posess the naivity and innocence needed for this role, but that's as far as it goes. Aamir Khan, although a brilliant actor, in this is merely adequate. Now maybe I'm biased but his acting does not rival that of Gable's and again I think it's a case of taking on more than he can handle. (3)A lot of the quirk and charm of the movie is lost upon its re-telling. Instead of being a romp of unprecedented events resulting in quirky, funny and sweet situations (like its source material) this movie was empty, you are left desiring a lot more than what is delivered. On a positive not however the music and songs in this film are absoloutley divine, the beats are very meledic and the title song is definatley a classic. For a newcomer to Bollywood or an Aamir Khan fan I definatley wouldn't recommend this movie instead I would point you towards; Like Stars On Earth [DVD] [2007], Dil Chahta Hai [DVD] [NTSC] orRANG DE BASANTI.