Dil Chahta Hai (Hindī: दिल चाहता है, Urdū: دل چاہتا ہے, English: The Heart Desires, but billed as Do Your Thing) is a 2001 Bollywood film. Directed by Farhan Akhtar, it stars Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, and Sonali Kulkarni.

According to fans, it broke new ground by showing Indian youth as they are today. The characters depicted are upper-class and cosmopolitan. They live in lavish houses, wear designer clothes, attend art exhibitions and performances of Western opera, and travel overseas as a matter of course. Some critics say that this is why the film did not do well in the non-urban areas; the lifestyle depicted was just too city oriented.

The style of the film and its setting was well appreciated. One song sequence recapitulates Bollywood dance history; one song drops the usual dance accompaniment and establishes the character's state of mind through lyrics and a moody photo collage. There is an extended opera sequence and a song-and-dance inside a painting.

The film's style extended to the music, by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Many film fans thought that the music was fresh and different. The film was screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival.

Three young men Akash, Sameer, and Siddharth are close friends, but their tastes and characters are completely incompatible. So when Siddharth falls in love with a much older woman, Tara, a woman who has been unsuccessful in keeping her marriage intact as well as alcohol-dependent, widens the rift between the trio, forcing them to part company. Years later, the trio will be re-united, they will be much mature and understanding, but will they still accept Siddharth love for Tara, especially when they themselves have fallen in love with women around their respective ages? Written by Sonia

'Dil Chahta Hai' is the story of three friends - Akash is fun-loving, non-believer in love. Sameer is always "ready" for love-but does not know its true meaning. Siddharth is the more serious of the trio. He is sensitive, understanding, caring ... in short the perfect man for any girl. He falls in love with a middle-aged, slightly alcoholic divorcée Tara Jaiswal. Akash cannot understand this relationship and when he insults Siddharth's true love, Siddharth slaps him. This causes a rift between both and they go their separate ways. Subsequently Akash too realizes the meaning of true love when the vivacious, bubbly Shalini comes in his life. Same happens with Sameer when he meets Pooja. So finally we get to see how these boys become men. Written by Soumitra

The film is about three distinct characters, Akash (Aamir Khan), Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) and Siddharth (Akshaye Khanna), their individual relationships and the effect that these relationships have on them. Love. One term that can hold different meanings even for close friends like Akash, Sameer and Siddharth. Welcome to a summer of their lives. So you have Akash, who has been sent by his parents to live in Sydney, he does not believe in the concept of love. Two weeks is all that he is willing to give a perfectly healthy relationship. Incidentally, he feels even two weeks is a bit too much! Sameer, like a lot of us, is in love with the idea of being in love. He wants to be in love. But Sameer has not quite understood the concept yet and tends to wear his heart on his sleeve. So this young man is looking for the perfect woman in his life... The most mature, sensitive and understanding of these three is Siddharth. Sid, as he is fondly called, seems to know the true meaning of life. According to his friends, neighbours and even the dogs, Siddharth knows it all. The women who come and change their lives are Shalini (Preity Zinta) and Tara Jaiswal (Dimple Kapadia). Sonali Kulkarni also plays an important role in Dil Chahta Hai. Her character is looking for marriage but not without "love". Written by Anonymous

This movie is entwined with the lives of three friends Akash Malhotra (Aamir Khan), Sameer (Saif Ali Khan), and Siddharth Sinha (Akshaye Khanna). Although their thinking and lifestyle is the same, they prove to be three very different individuals. Akash, who has been sent to live in Sydney, by his parents, does not believe in love and is experiencing romantic upheaval, but an impulsive action lands him a black eye and makes him consider having a life with the beautiful Shalini (Priety Zinta) when he sees her on the flight to Sydney, who is engaged to the charming and handsome Rohit (Ayub Khan). Sameer is a romantic, who will fall in love instantaneously, usually to have his heart broken and his valuables stolen. Sameer's parents want him to marry pretty Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni), but Sameer refuses to marry Pooja, when he learns that Pooja is in love with someone else; at the same time Sameer starts to fall in love with Pooja himself. And Siddharth is an artist, and gets attracted to a much older woman, Tara Jaiswal (Dimple Kapadia), who is also a divorcee, a mother, as well an alcoholic. Tara and Siddharth share the same artistic tendencies. Written by rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)