Mani Ratnam reveals he hasn’t watched Dil Se since its release 25 years ago: ‘I have only seen bits and pieces…’

Responding to criticism about the film’s lack of clarity on this important detail about Manisha’s character, Ratnam explained, “The reason was, there were several troubled border states, and we were looking for a representative story. Otherwise, it would have become a story of a particular place. The film represented several places that were going through turmoil. You do what you think at that point in time. If you accept something that works very well and is appreciated, you also accept something that hasn’t connected or is not well-received. Maybe the way that you’ve told the story hasn’t reached? You learn from it and move on. You can’t be too worried about the appreciation or the criticism that comes your way.”

Apart from Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala, Dil Se features Preity Zinta in a lead role, with pivotal performances from Mita Vasisht, Arundhati Rao, Raghubir Yadav and Zohra Sehgal. Although the film garnered mixed reviews and moderate box office success, its soundtrack, composed by AR Rahman, became a gigantic hit.