Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52129 in VHS
• Released on: 2003-04-07
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, Hindi, Hungarian
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 188 minutes

From the Back Cover
Nandini is the daughter of Pandit Darbar, a renowned exponent of classical music, living in a joint family household in the Rann of Kutch. Into the family comes Sameer, a boy of Indo-Italian parentage, born and brought up abroad, who wishes to grasp the essence of Hindustan music. During his year-long stay in the household, Sameer and Nandini fall in love with each other. When their love is finally discovered, Sameer is banished from the household. Nandini pines for him but her parents arrange to get her married to Vanraj, a well settled lawyer. She is not interested in her husband and when he discovers about her alliance with Sameer, he ignores scorn and ridicule by others and takes her to Italy, in search of Sameer. In Italy, Vanraj devotes himself to uniting the two lovers but Nandini realizes her husband’s true love and adoration for her and after a last meeting with her ex-lover, runs back to her husband in a joyful reunion!

Customer Reviews

A classic!
This has got to be one of the best films of the 90's. It's different, incredibly well made by Sanjay. The songs are wonderful, from easy listening to get-up and dance. The wording in the songs, such as Tardap Tardap, is fantastic.

All in all a must see and must own Bollywood film.

The most powerful love story I've ever seen
My discovery of Indian cinema has been almost a spiritual experience. It's like going from black and white to color for the first time. Compared to a movie like this, American and European films have no heart, no vitality, no color, and no passion. And I've never seen any love story that could compare to the one in this film. I've never seen the true definition of love expressed as deeply as it is here - and it is love in its purest form. I know I'm old-fashioned, but, for me, Hollywood ruins every good love story it manages to produce by making everything about sex. You don't have that in India cinema - you don't even have kissing; what you do have, though, are the depths and power of love expressed in ways Hollywood can't even comprehend.

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.