Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam [DVD]

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (Straight From the Heart) has everything you could want in a movie - romance; comedy; fantastic music, singing, and dancing; elaborate set designs and magnificent locations; stellar performances; and, of course, the most beautiful woman in the world, Aishwarya Rai. I'm trying to get my hands on all of her movies as quickly as I can. She's incredible in this 1999 classic, as are the two leading men who form the other two sides of the most poignant of love triangles. Salman Khan plays Sameer, a free spirit who comes to India from Italy to study music under Nandini's father. Nandini (Rai) isn't happy about this at all, but she and Sameer are soon engaged in some serious flirting. A strong love grows up between the two, only to be torn asunder by Nandini's father, who sends Sameer away with a promise to never meet his daughter again. A heartbroken Nandini is compelled to marry a young lawyer named Vanraj (Ajay Devgan). She doesn't love Vanraj, but he is an exceedingly good man who loves her dearly. For all her continued grieving over Sameer, it is Vanraj who eventually shows her what true love really is. The ending is just exquisite, a true emotional climax that brings both pain and joy to your heart at the same time.

The movie runs a little over three hours (which is pretty much the norm in India), but it is in no way too long. If you have a heart, it will be swept away during the second half of the film. The story and the passionate performances by Rai, Khan, and Devgan would be more than enough on their own to make this a stellar film - but Indian cinema gives you so much more than that. Music plays an integral part in the film, and every single musical scene is amazing (and, besides chapters, you can also jump directly to any musical number on the DVD). The one performance that really stands out, for me, is Nimbooda, which features Rai in a beguiling song and dance routine. Subtitles are always an issue with a foreign language film, but the English subtitles here are really rather good and certainly allow you to follow the film closely.

I'm having a hard time trying to convey the sheer magic of this incredible film. The love story puts Hollywood romances to shame, the performances are heart-felt and virtually guaranteed to make you laugh and cry, the cinematography is extraordinarily vivid, and I just can't get over how powerfully the film conveys the essence of true love. And even if you took all of that away, the mere opportunity to watch Aishwarya Rai for over three hours makes the DVD well worth the price. She is as talented as she is gorgeous.