DIL=1990

Dil ("Heart") is another fun masala film with a youngish Aamir Khan. This time Aamir is Raja, a rich, arrogant college kid. His bitter rivalry and escalating war of practical jokes with his classmate Madhu (the magnificent Madhuri Dixit) first turns violent and then turns to love, in a story arc that is very, very Bollywood. After a dramatic, self-adminstered marriage in the middle of a burning room, in the second half of the film the young couple must weather the storms that buffet them as their fathers plot and scheme to drive them apart.

I didn't find the music particularly memorable. The college number is a staple of a certain kind of film, and this film's offering in that area is nothing special; the romance songs are the typical dancing around trees stuff, and none of the songs make particular use of Madhuri's brilliant dancing skills. But nevertheless the film is a shining exemplar of the masala genre, and is entertaining enough while its happening. If you are a fan of Aamir or Madhuri (and GOAT ranks them both among elite favorites), Dil is definitely worth a look, as it offers a glimpse of the early work of two major, shining, superstars on the upstroke of their careers, and it's great fun to see the two of them together. Forgive them their peculiar sense of fashion - it was 1990, after all.