On the 25th anniversary of Dil Chahta Hai, Saif Ali Khan revisits memories of Farhan Akhtar’s innovative set, where live sound and voice acting replaced routine dubbing. Discovering this, alongside disciplined voice acting and the technical craft behind each department, he remembers the innocence on set, strict line-learning, and warm camaraderie that reflected a new attitude to filmmaking and life.
When Saif Ali Khan thinks back to his fondest memories from Dil Chahta Hai — the landmark coming-of-age film that redefined our idea of friendship, love and self-discovery — it becomes quickly clear that it was more than just a personal milestone.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Khan gives Dil Chahta Hai a brand-new identity, one more layered than what has been built of it over the years. He recalls it as a profound, rarely realised glimpse into how filmmaking and Indian cinema used to exist, the fun and simplicity of the process, and the technical side of filming that amused him.
One of his earliest memories of filming the movie was with director Farhan Akhtar. Khan recalls the moment Akhtar told him he would be acting with live sound while filming a scene that probably involved him drinking water.
Akhtar had told him he would record the natural sound of him swallowing it — a moment that, as Khan remembers, taught him, “how to use the voice.”
It was the first time Khan saw voice acting being factored in as a discipline of filmmaking. “We were so used to dubbing. He [Akhtar] made me listen to how Nakul Kamte [sound designer] was treating the sound and how it was traveling on those headphones. It was an incredible experience.”
At a time when filmmaking was more designated, the actor found a way of falling in love with the process, which would be difficult to realise otherwise. “Almost every department of technical filmmaking was new and exciting,” he says.
Khan also spoke about how voice acting forced silence on set — a rare occurrence for films with crowded sets. “There was so much silence for the first time because of this incredible lockup,” he says. “Some of our movie sets have such a crowded environment that pin-drop silence becomes rare. But it was there in this film.”
As Khan explains it, there was a feeling of innocence on sets back then, even when it came to doing your homework as an actor. “There was a discipline to learning your lines. We used to get notes, saying, “No figuring this stuff out on the set. Please arrive knowing all your lines.”
He revisits an incident while shooting a volleyball sequence in Goa, where him and his co-stars found a sign saying 'Please leave the beach slightly cleaner than you found it,’ following which they all made efforts to clean the beach and they actually left the beach cleaner than they found it. "People were really impressed with us,” he recalls, adding that the cast shared a "warm atmosphere."
In many ways, Dil Chahta Hai was a revolution. To the audience, it stands as a testament of simpler friendships, the depths of love and the joy of liberating music.
But to Khan, 25 years after the film, it is all that and more. It is proof of the bygone times in cinema, and the thrills of learning for the first time, even as a seasoned actor. “There was a new attitude to everything. To filmmaking and to life.”
Watch the full interview on The Hollywood Reporter India Youtube channel