Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is a typical masala movie: a love story, a bit of comedy, a bit of drama. Let's first take a look at the story.
The first half of the movie is about the young Italian Sameer who comes to India to be taught by a famous classical singer. The latter has a beautiful daughter, Nandini, who is not too keen on giving away her room and decides to make life sour for him. Nonetheless, he falls immediately for her charms. During the first one-and-a-half hour, this is basically what happens: first, he wants her, but she doesn't want him; then, she wants him, but he doesn't want her; at last, they both want each other, but don't tell anyone about it. After eight months Nandini's dad thinks it's time to get Nandini married, finds her a husband, is furious once he finds out about Sameer, and sends him away. Exit Sameer, Nandini and Sameer both in tears. Intermission.
In the second half of the movie Nandini is married to Vanraj, an honest and sympathetic lawyer who genuinely loves his wife, and is completely unaware of anything that happened before. Unfortunately for him, Nandini treats him awfully. Vanraj is puzzled and asks her what is wrong, but she does not even talk to him. He finds out about Sameer by accident, and then takes a decision: he won't stand in the way of true love, and so he will take his wife to Italy, so that she can be happy with Sameer. Now, if you have survived the movie so far, you are about to make some interesting discoveries about Italy. First of all, Rome looks suspiciously much like Budapest. Buildings are decorated with Hungarian texts, cars have Hungarian registration plates. The Italians we meet on the road all speak Hungarian, and we are treated with some authentic Italian folk song and dance, that is remarkably similar to those of Hungary. Anyway, Nandini keeps treating Vanraj as a piece of junk, nobody knows why. Vanraj is patient like an angel, constantly looking for Sameer without Nandini even helping him. Yet, at some point she finally starts appreciating him a little, and they sort of become friends. Then, she starts appreciating him even more, and after a while, her heart is in doubt. When Nandini finally meets Sameer, all she does is telling him that she has changed, she is married now and must go back to her husband. Sameer angry and frustrated, Vanraj and Nandini at last happily together. End of the movie.
Now, it would be unfair to criticise the plot for being bad, because plots in Bollywood movies from the 1990s are generally a lot worse. Also, for melodramas like this you need to have a solid stomach, but again, you can't blame the movie, because this is inherent to the genre. This kind of films stand or fall with the characters and the actors who perform them. And alas, this is were the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam fails. Neither Sameer nor Nandini are particularly likable or interesting, which makes the first half of the movie almost unbearably boring. Besides, neither Salman Khan or Aishwarya Ray are up to playing these roles. Aishwarya... well, I should give her this: she looks gorgeous, she cries nicely, and she is a terrific dancer. However, as an actress she is mediocre at best. In HDDCS, her acting is wooden most of the time. And Sallu? I have never understood how this man made such a career in the first place. His entire performance is a poor combination of grave overacting, relying heavily on his perceived masculinity, and showing off his chest. Although I don't particularly like Shahrukh Khan either, I found myself longing for him repeatedly, as he has a way of achieving what Sallu fails to achieve: bringing a character to life. The saving grace of this movie is undoubtedly Ajay Devgan, whose performance of Vanraj is superb. Vikram Gokhale does an excellent job as Nandini's father.
Some criticise this movie for defending arranged marriages. Personally, I didn't take it that way, and so I can't say this particular element disturbed me. What I do find disturbing, however, is the way Hungary is used to serve as Italy. Another movie, Mission Istaanbul, has been criticised for a Turkish character named Rizwan Khan and a Turkish TV station named Al Johara, but then, Mission Istaanbul is a stupid action flick that doesn't pretend to be anything more than that. In a refined and slightly pretentious movie like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (Best Bollywood of 1999!), however, grotesque inaccuracies like this look like a huge spot of pigeon coo on a white wedding dress.
To the defense of the movie the following should be added: it is a truly beautiful movie visually, and the music by Ismail Darbar and Anjan Biswar are absolutely gorgeous. Enough to make this movie worth a watch in spite of its many weak points.
