Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's second film, which builds an unusual triangle. Nandini is the daughter of a traditional family in Gujarat. She and Sameer, who comes to the house to teach music, fall in love. But the family marries her to a lawyer named Vanraj. The idea comes after that. Vanraj learns his wife loves someone else and does the opposite of what is expected: he takes her to look for Sameer. Across the journey the two come to know each other, and the question shifts from who loves whom to who gives what. Bhansali's known visual manner settles here: wide sets, scenes built on colour, and music placed inside the narrative. Part of the film was shot in Hungary; the scenes stand in for Italy. Aishwarya Rai plays Nandini, Salman Khan plays Sameer and Ajay Devgn plays Vanraj. Devgn won that year's best actor award for the part. One of the important films of its moment for anyone who likes Indian musicals and large-scale melodrama. It runs close to three hours at a slow pace, and keeps the feeling openly high.