When Mani Ratnam became upset about a bizarre idea to save Dil Se at the box office

Following the mediocre reaction from viewers when Dil Se was released, producers and distributors came up with a strategy that enraged Mani Ratnam.

Mani Ratnam's Dil Se which stars Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala, is regarded as a timeless masterpiece. But its creators were initially concerned that the film's tragic finale may turn off moviegoers.

One of the movie's producers, director Ram Gopal Varma, revealed to Bollywood Hungama recently that Mani Ratnam became enraged by co-producer Bharat Shah's idea that the SRK and Manisha perform Chaiyaa Chaiyaa once again following the two of them die in each other's arms. RGV remembered that the initial response to the movie was extremely unfavourable.

He added, “The exhibitors felt that killing Shah Rukh Khan was a mistake. They told us that due to the tragic ending, the viewers are giving the film a thumbs down. We were all panicking."

Ram Gopal Varma further added, “Bharat Shah told me that ‘Bahut gadbad ho gaya hai (We have made a huge mistake). There’s one way of saving the situation’. According to him, the moment Shah Rukh and Manisha Koirala hug each other, we’ll chop off the part where the bomb goes off. And we’ll add the ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ song. He reasoned that it’s the most liked song of the film and the audience would get happy on seeing it twice.”

He went on to say, back then, before theatres used to have to order physical prints, any editing needed to be handled by regional distributors or theatre owners who were responsible for charge of the movie's local distribution because the movie had already started playing in theatres. Ram Gopal continued, “I don’t know if the theatres went ahead and did it. But in those days, they used to do that a lot.”

Dil Se's biggest attraction after its release was the song Chaiyya Chaiyya. The peppy track was immensely popular and is still regarded as one of the greatest songs in the career of Shah Rukh , Malaika Arora, and music director AR Rahman.

Share