2005 film by Romesh Sharma
Dil Jo Bhi Kahey... (transl. 'Whatever the heart says...') is a 2005 Indian romantic drama film directed by Romesh Sharma. Amitabh Bachchan, Revathi Nair, Karan Sharma, Bhumika Chawla, Annabelle Wallis, Malcolm Stoddard and Claire Oberman star in the film. It is the first and only movie starring Karan Sharma, who is also the director's son. The film is adapted from Romesh Sharma's Mauritian serial titled C'est La Vie (Mauritian TV Series), also featuring Karan Sharma and was broadcast on Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation in Mauritius in 2003.[1][2]
Plot
Shekhar Sinha, his wife Sandhaya and their son Jai are one of the many Hindu Indo-Mauritian families living in Mauritius.
Jai ventures out to Stockholm, Sweden to obtain an education in culinary studies and incidentally meets Sophie Besson, a Roman Catholic Franco-Mauritian. They start meeting regularly and soon fall in love. Jai is introduced to Sophie's parents, Norman and Claire Besson. Norman (a large land owner in Mauritius) instantly disapproves of him (because of his ethnicity). Jai feels his father and mother would approve of Sophie. Unfortunately Sandhaya disapproves her (because of her Catholic faith) and tells Jai to end his relationship with her.
The lovers plan to elope but Jai fails to turn up on the stipulated wedding time in Church. Sophie reluctantly returns to her parents to marry the boy of their choice (Gordon). By this time Jai is engaged to Gayatri Pandey, to fulfill his mother's wish (who has asthma). Sophie wants to know why Jai did not turn up. Meanwhile, Gayatri learns of Jai and Sophie's love and comes up with a ruse of Sophie's false pregnancy that forces Sophie and Jai's family to accept them as a couple. The film ends with Gayatri leaving Mauritius.[3]
Reception
Critical response
Namrata Joshi from Outlook wrote "Dil Jo... has been made for the young but not by the young. Though it comes smartly packaged, it's dull, without any spirit or spunk of youth".[4] Anupama Chopra from India Today wrote "At a time when the family values factory, Yashraj Films, makes romantic comedies out of premarital sex, this is old-fashioned".[5] Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama wrote "On the whole, DIL JO BHI KAHEY lacks the power to cast a web on youth or those who prefer mushy love stories. At the box-office, the hype surrounding the film is clearly missing and in view of the fact that the film rests on a routine plot, the chances of survival seem remote".[6]
