The Most Memorable Mani Movies - 10

Dil Se / Uyire (1998)

Shahrukh Khan is once said to have remarked in an interview, "I will drop anything for Mani, including my pants".

He didn't need to drop anything, except maybe a project or two, while teaming up with the director on the second of his love-weds-terrorism trilogy.

Amarkant "Amar" Varma (Shah Rukh Khan), an All-India Radio journalist living in Delhi, India, is dispatched to the troubled North-Eastern region to report on attitudes relating to the 50th Anniversary of Indian independence. He meets Meghna (Manisha Koirala) at a railway station and chats with her but a brief separation leads to Meghna's departure leaving Amar behind. Some weeks later he spots her in the street and accosts her but she resists and pretends not to recognise him, but Amar is highly attracted by her beauty and mysteriousness and continues to pursue her. After finding out her plans to visit Ladakh, he follows her with the convenient excuse of reporting on the local festivities and she gives him the slip there too, but not before two thugs who appear to know Meghna violently assault him to warn him off. Chastened by the beating, Amar heads home and coincidentally finds her on the same bus and good-humouredly describes his beating. Meghna sympathises with his plight and opens up a little before the bus breaks down and the passengers are forced to walk a two-day journey to their destination.

He finds her again; she has him beaten up; they are thrown together again; they fight the attraction. Amar leaves the troubled region to return to the safety of Delhi and a stable relationship with Preeti (Preity Zinta). Then Meghna shows up in Delhi and catastrophe follows.

The film was shot in Kashmir, Assam, Delhi and other parts of India and Bhutan over a period of 55 days. Its cinematography won a National Film Award for cinematographer Santosh Sivan. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman. A. R. Rahman received a Filmfare Award for the music. The film became the first Indian film to reach the Top 10 in the UK Box Office Charts, when released in 1998.

For the song Chaiyya Chaiyya, Shahrukh Khan, Malaika Arora and a dancing troupe are choreographed dancing on top of a moving train (on the Blue Mountain Train line around Udagamandalam in Southern India). The group did not wear safety harnesses during this scene.

Chaiyya Chaiyya is also the opening song of the second act of the musical Bombay Dreams.

It was recently featured in the opening and closing credits of Spike Lee's Inside Man (2006).

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 5 songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Gulzar.

"Dil Se" (6:54) – A. R. Rahman, Anuradha, Anupama
"Jiya Jale" (4:12) – Lata Mangeshkar, M.G. Sreekumar
"Chaiyya Chaiyya" (6:52) – Sukhwinder Singh, Sapna Awasti
"Aye Ajnabee" (5:32) – Udit Narayan, Mahalakshmi
"Satrangee Re" (7:12) – Sonu Nigam

Award

The film has won the following awards since its release:
1999 Berlin International Film Festival (Germany)
Won - Netpac Award - Special Mention - Mani Ratnam
1999 National Film Awards (India)
Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Cinematography - Santosh Sivan
Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Audiography - H. Sridhar
1999 Filmfare Awards (India)
Won - Best Debut - Preity Zinta
Won - Best Lyricist - Gulzar
Won - Best Male Playback - Sukhwinder Singh for "Chaiyya Chaiyya"
Won - Best Music Director - A. R. Rahman
Won - Best Choreography - Farah Khan
Won - Best Cinematographer - Santosh Sivan
Nomimated-Filmfare Best Actress for Manisha Koirala