This movie is about a girl Nandini (Ash) who meets an Italian-Indian boy Sameer (salman)... He stays at her home learning music/song from her father..... Initially she doesn't like the foreigner, but in time they fall in love with each other. At the same time a lawyer Vanraj (ajay) saw Nandini in a marriage function and falls in love with her... Sameer and Vanraj both separately asks for Nandini's hand and Nandini's Father rejects Sameer as he is a foreigner and agrees to Vanrajs proposal and let's her daughter to marry him... Although Nandini wasn't ready to marry to him as he was still in love with Sameer.. But without her acceptance the marriage happens and after their wedding she tells her husband about her love life and everything... And then there comes a lot of adventures.... You have to see the movie to know the rest...

Sanjay Leela Bhansali might offer you one of the best cinematography in the Indian cinema, but the same cannot be said about the quality of his movies. When he made this movie, I guess he wanted to add everything that he could to this movie, drama, comedy, emotion, romance, tragedy, sacrifice, etc, etc. The movie looked very similar to a saas-bahu serial with even bigger sets and even more expensive costumes. In some scenes the characters of the movie were having fun on the dinner table, somewhere they were singing, somewhere they were flying kites, etc, etc. Then the love story, then the issues because of the family(which I could not understand very clearly as Sameer seemed to be a decent fellow but still the girl's family had problems with him as if he was an alien). Then entered Ajay Devgan who it seemed acted in the movie as if he had to pay off some old debt of the director. He looked irritated, sad, angry, and cheated for most part of the film. It seemed as if the director had taken inspiration from saas-bahu serials and some fairy tales. After seeing the movie you would be left thinking that this was probably one of the most impractical movies that you would have seen in your entire life. Some scenes of the movie leave you irritated beyond any repair. I would like to mention one particular scene from the movie where Ajay Devgan and Salman Khan are sitting in the Church and Ajay Devgan is about to ask Salman khan his name but he is interrupted by someone. You should actually see the scene to understand what I am trying to say. In the end I would want to say that Mr. Bhansali made a movie for the audience who were tired of seeing serials at their home and wanted to come to the theatre to see the same thing at a grand scale with much bigger sets and a bigger starcast.

This movie is absolutely OK I've even bought the DVD. The acting is fine and the songs are good even though I'm not Indian I love those songs. Ash was also looking gorgeous. But somehow I feel I would have liked the film better if Sameer had gotten Nadini at last. You know even though I really love to I've never been able to bring myself to watch the film the second time. I feel somehow like their love failed and to me love never fails unless of course if all the while what Sameer and Nadini had for each other had just been a crush and Nadini later saw developed real love towards her husband when she realized he could sacrifice anything for her even his own happiness just to make her happy.

I'm a foreign film fan but new to Bollywood movies. However, I have noticed that when they are good, they are really, really good but when they are bad, they stink. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam falls decidedly into the "good" category. What a wonderful movie! Despite the formulaic Bollywood theme, there is so much texture to this movie. The sets and locations visually match the narrative, the music evokes the range of emotions experienced by the characters, and the characters are well developed because they feel and grow just like real people (except for Italian-Indian, Sameer, played as a hulking, buffoon by Salman Khan who overacts as if he's in a cartoon and takes his shirt off way too much.) This movie "had" me with the first glimpse of Nandini ( Aishwarya Rai) walking home in the desert with her festival lantern. What a vision---the desert, the camel, and Nandini. Nobody runs in slow motion like Aishwarya Rai! The accompanying song Mitta Ki Hai is so full of energy and pumps up the fun and excitement of the desert game she plays with her friends. But it also tells you about Nandini who at the beginning of the film is still a girl at heart. She is playful, petulant, competitive and still childish. While the movie has a number of interesting characters, it really is Nandini's story because it tells of her transformation into womanhood in the context of first love and the temptations of an outsider (Sameer), the demands of her family and her culture, and the real love of a real man, Vanraj (played so honestly by Ajay Devgan.) At the start, like teenagers, Nandini and Sameer share a friendly and teasing relationship. Their antics include pranks, farting (yes, really), and 3-Stooges-like shtick. They have fun, flirt and as their interactions become more familiar, they develop a physical attraction to each other (afterall, wouldn't you be attracted to SK running around without a shirt!) and while they both believe it is love, it seems more of a crush than an "abiding" love. They have their first fight and a few opportunities to "make out". And poor naïve Nandini even believes she can become pregnant from kissing. Enter the good lawyer, Vanraj, who is smitten with Nandini when she performs Nimbooda. Aishwarya Rai just eats up the screen looking so heavenly and happy when she dances.Well, the course of true love never runs smoothly in Bollywood and Nandini and Sameer's "affair" is discovered. Poor Sameer is banished and Nandini is "arranged" to be married to Vanraj. Of course, Nandini, responding like any broken-up teenager would, is despondent and rebellious and Ms. Rai sinks her acting chops into these emotions quite competently. Intermission and the second half begins with the sexual tension rising. Nandini denies Vanraj his conjugal rights as well as any morsel of kindness because unbeknownst to Vanraj she is still "in love" with the buffoon. Vanraj doesn't get it but he is patient though frustrated. It is in the second half that the character of Vanraj is brought to the surface. A visit by Nandini's mother brings Sameer's letters via her servant which ultimately reach Vanraj's eyes. He is furious at first as he loves Nandini and feels she has lied to him. Ajay Devgan exudes a fine balance of strength and sensitivity here. There is also a good performance by Smita Jaykar as Nandini's mother who loves her daughter but wisely counsels her to smarten up…. and grow up. As her husband drags her out of the house, frightened Nandini starts to realize her life isn't a high school melodrama anymore but much more complex.Vanraj's character is revealed poignantly in his explanation to his father about why he must bring Nandini to "Italy" to find Sameer. His definition of love and what makes a real man should be plastered on billboards across the world for all to see. Nandini travels along on this quest with Vanraj and , at first, is quite surly and sullen not giving him any slack for this most generous act. As they spend more time together and have a few adventures, Nandini grows to understand his selfless motivations and then comes to respect and love him. This develops gradually as Vanraj earnestly sets out to find Sameer, as he cares for her after they are robbed and later as they clutch together in a long, soulful embrace on the train to avoid the ticket-checker. It finally culminates in their walk along the river as a drunken Vanraj releases all his emotion knowing that soon he will reunite Nandini and Sameer. As reunion time arrives, the scenes leading up to it are filled with such tenderness. Vanraj sits meditating as Nandini, now looking so womanly, so married, prepares to leave. You know she loves him when she helps him on with his jacket. The daydream scene with Sameer running across the bridge expresses Vanraj's resignation to losing her but he doesn't know that Nandini isn't feeling any ambivalence at this point. Sameer has lost. The taxi ride and their last moments together convey the true feelings of Nandini for Vanraj and vice versa as their eyes talk to each other but they don't utter a word. Ms. Rai's face sweetly expresses her interior thoughts and Mr. Devgan shows such understated agony as he watches Nandini climb the stairs to meet Sameer. Nandini's speech to Sameer reveals her maturation and new understanding that love is "giving your heart" ---hum dil de chuke sanam. Her return to Vanraj on the bridge is just beautiful….the power and importance of the mangalsatra (marriage beads) are revealed just as her mother said. Shall I say something? See this movie for the beautiful script/story, romantic music, great characters, lush cinematography, fine acting by all (except SK and the Hungarians) and Bhansali's brilliant direction.