Dil Se, filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s debut Hindi film, clocks its 25th anniversary today. Despite its popularity, Ratnam revealed in a recent interview that he has not watched the movie since its release. When asked about the legacy of Dil Se, Ratnam told Scroll, “I haven’t seen the film in 25 years, so I don’t know how it has stood. I have only seen bits and pieces, and that too on mute – or any of my other films, for that matter.” The cast featured Shah Rukh Khan in the role of an All India Radio employee and Manisha Koirala as Moina, a member of a sleeper cell associated with North-East terrorism. Although the film is situated against the backdrop of insurgency in Assam, it deliberately avoids specifying Moina’s precise origin within the North-East region.
When questioned about the film’s unclear portrayal of Manisha’s character, the filmmaker said that they chose not to specify Manisha Koirala’s character’s origin to represent troubled areas without focusing on a single place. “The reason was, there were several troubled border states, and we were looking for a representative story. Otherwise, it would have become a story of a particular place. The film represented several places that were going through turmoil. You do what you think at that point in time. If you accept something that works very well and is appreciated, you also accept something that hasn’t connected or is not well-received. Maybe the way that you’ve told the story hasn’t reached? You learn from it and move on. You can’t be too worried about the appreciation or the criticism that comes your way,” he said.
Dil Se stars Shah Rukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta in key roles, supported by Mita Vasisht, Arundhati Rao, Raghubir Yadav, and Zohra Sehgal. The film’s reviews were mixed, but its music by AR Rahman was a huge hit, despite moderate box office success.
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