20 Years of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam: “Salman Khan is exactly what I would want my characters to be” – Sanjay Leela Bhansali

By Fenil Seta -

June 18, 2019 - 9:00 AM IST

When a list of 50 classic films of Bollywood is made, one can’t help but mention Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. The film was first-rate in all departments, be it performances, music, location, setting, sets, writing, emotions etc. Starring Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Ajay Devgn, it tells the story of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage and how her hubby dutifully helps her to reunite with her lover in Italy. It was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali whose first directorial Khamoshi – The Musical released in 1996. But it flopped despite an interesting premise and memorable music. Undeterred, Sanjay Leela Bhansali bounced back with Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, which released exactly 20 years ago on this day. And the rest is history.

20 Years of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam: “Salman Khan is exactly what I would want my characters to be” – Sanjay Leela Bhansali

On this joyous occasion, Bollywood Hungama brings to you some fascinating trivia regarding the film, the actors and a lot more:In an interview to

1. In an interview to Screen newspaper in December 1997, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had mentioned the name of the film as Dil To Humne De Diya Sanam. Sometime later, the film’s name was changed to Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

On the sets of @SunielVShetty’s shelved movie Hum Panchi Ek daal ke. Plus Aishwarya’s interview where she mentions HDDCS original title was ‘Dil toh Humne de Diya Sanam’ pic.twitter.com/GD1jeyMvfC
— Shiv Shetty (@shiv_shetty1) April 19, 2019

2. Sanjay Leela Bhansali went to Gujarat to research and even took with him art director Nitin Desai and music director Ismail Darbar. He wanted them to get familiarized with the culture in Bhuj and Kutch so that they can depict the same authentically on screen. This was a rare kind of detailed research and homework done for a film set in the present-day era in 90s. Such kind of detailing was otherwise reserved only for period films.

The hard work of SLB and team thankfully paid off. Audiences got to a chance to see some novel visuals and sets, which were drastically different from other films that portrayed palatial mansions or were based in the hinterland, and it became one of the big reasons why Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam became a classic.

3. Sanjay Leela Bhansali in the making video calls the scene where Nandini tries to commit suicide by the pond as one of the most arresting scenes. He was stunned to see Aishwarya’s eyes getting moist without using glycerine. He says, “(I could see that) Aishwarya began to experience (her character) Nandini in totality.” Aishwarya impressed the director in other ways too. He continues, “She listened to the script as nobody till date has heard my script. She was very careful, attentive, sharp and involved.”

4. Sanjay Leela Bhansali worked with Salman Khan in his first directorial debut, Khamoshi – The Musical. He repeated him in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam as well. SLB’s love for Salman is evident in the making video as he says, “Salman Khan and I share a beautiful relationship with him which I cannot explain. We don’t meet every day but we have a terrific actor-director bond. I find in him the face and the personality that my characters in the film would be like. He is exactly what I would want my characters to be! Not just in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, this has happened even earlier and would happen in the future as well.”

5. Sanjay Leela Bhansali made some interesting remarks about Ajay Devgn and correctly predicted that the superstar can make for a fine director. 9 years after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Ajay Devgn made his directorial debut with U Me Aur Hum. SLB says, “Ajay Devgn is very disciplined. He speaks very little and he talks very fast! And I am a slow person. He finishes his conversation in minutes, making me think whether he understood me correctly and vice versa. But soon, he started to open up. He is a wonderful mind and has a director in him somewhere. So he wants to know what the cutting pattern of the scene and how the scene is progressing.”

Ajay meanwhile complimented Bhansali as well, “He’s a brilliant director and we got along very well. I don’t think he was thinking of anything else during the making of this film. He lived every character of the film and that’s what gives him an edge over the other people.”