Archive · 10 Aug 2026
Dil Chahta Hai: generation-defining film forgot to give women jobs
Dil Chahta Hai is a very famous Hindi movie that came out in 2001.
It is the story of three young men and their friendship.
Many people loved it because it looked and sounded different from older Hindi movies.
The movie also became famous for the way the actors dressed and looked.
A new article points out a problem in the movie.
The women in the movie do not have jobs.
They mostly appear in the story as the girlfriends of the main characters.
One woman in the movie, named Tara, does have a career, but the others do not.
The article asks how the women pay for their lives if they do not work.
It says this was common in Hindi movies and asks us to think about how movies show men and women differently.
Farhan Akhtar's 2001 debut film Dil Chahta Hai starred Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia.
The film is remembered as generation-defining, setting new benchmarks by challenging traditional visual grammar and recording dialogues live on set.
The article criticizes the film for showing its female characters as dependent individuals whose lives revolve around the men, with no jobs of their own.
Preity Zinta's Shalini has no job and depends on Rohit's family, who raised her after her parents' death, while Sonali Kulkarni's Pooja also has no career.
Dimple Kapadia's Tara is the only developed female character in the film with a career, which the article says makes 'one out of three' not a good score.
- Who
- Filmmaker Farhan Akhtar and the cast of the 2001 Hindi film Dil Chahta Hai, including Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia.
- What
- A critical analysis arguing that Dil Chahta Hai, though generation-defining, denied its female characters jobs and careers and limited them to being love interests.
- When
- The film was released in 2001; the critique reflects on rewatching it in adulthood today.
- Where
- Hindi cinema, with the film's story set partly in Mumbai and Sydney, Australia.
- Why
- To highlight how even acclaimed Hindi films left women without financial independence or professional lives.
Admirers of the film
Critics of representation
Female characters' roles
Admirers of the film
Dil Chahta Hai treated friendships and relationships in a non-dramatic way and is one of those rare films that has aged well; women being shown only as love interests was easy to ignore back in the day.
Critics of representation
The female characters are shown as dependent individuals with no jobs, serving no purpose other than being the men's girlfriends, and the film forgot to turn them into wholesome characters.
The film's legacy
Admirers of the film
As Farhan Akhtar's debut, the film challenged traditional visual grammar, bulky sound effects and even fashion, setting a new benchmark for Hindi films.
Critics of representation
Despite its technical achievements, the film scores only 'one out of three' on developed female characters, a flaw that becomes hard to ignore when rewatching it as an adult.
- Film
- Dil Chahta Hai
- Director
- Farhan Akhtar (debut film)
- Release Year
- 2001
- Lead Cast
- Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, Dimple Kapadia
- Female Characters Without Jobs
- Shalini (Preity Zinta) and Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni)
- Female Character With a Career
- Tara (Dimple Kapadia)
- Male Characters With Careers
- Aakash joins his father's business in Sydney; Sid is an artist; Sameer is busy at work
- Other Films Mentioned
- Mr and Mrs Mahi, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani