Dil Se

Dil Se.. (1998)

Written and Directed by: Mani Ratnam
Starring: SRK, Manisha Koirala, Preity Zinta
National Award for Best Cinematography for Santosh Sivan.

The aesthetics of the film is so visually striking, and the imagery of the film is so strong, that it stands out from anything else I've seen. It is epic and intimate at the same time. It is as much as how they capture what they capture, but it is also choosing what to capture and what to avoid. For example, in the railway station scene in the beginning, the way they show the rain in the background, and the wind blowing... those elements in the background add up everything to what's happening in forefront in the scene. I read that the film plays on the seven stages of love that are defined in the ancient Arabic literature. Attraction. Infatuation. Love. Reverence. Worship. Obsession. Death. It said that Sharukh's character goes through all these stages as he falls in love with Meghna. 

I couldn't see find reverence and worship through my viewing of the film, also perhaps because a lot of notions about love have changed now. Reverence and worship now, it's more than being intense, it's about giving someone their own space and respecting their boundaries, and backing off. For me, he was too intense and wanted her so badly, and I'm sure there was reverence and worship on his side. Having said that, the acts that you do when you are madly in love, you lose objectivity and it's only a third person who can tell you what's okay and what's not. So I'm not really sure as to how to look at their relationship. I love how the setting of the film adds more intensity to the love story, it adds stakes, and it's also interesting to see love amidst a land of war and oppression.