Mani Ratnam had the inspiration for Dil Se from a Sufi song called 'Thayya Thayya' (the phrase is used as one of the songs) The two lovers are said to share the relation of God and devotee in the song
The film was first titled Ladakh - Ek Prem Kahani, but was later changed to Dil Se, as Mani Ratnam was of the opinion that a shorter title will have a stronger impact.
The lead role of thea terrorist was first offered to Kajol, who couldn't accept the offer because of date clashes. Manisha was subsequently signed.
Simran Bagga was Mani Rathnam's first choice for the role of Preethi Nair, who hails from Kerala.
Rani Mukherjee was then offered the role of Preethi Nair, but she declined it. Preity Zinta later landed the role after a successful audition.
The opening song 'Chaiyya Chaiyya' was shot on top of the Nilgiri Express, en route Ooty, Coonoor and Kotagiri, The train was particularly painted in brown for the song.
Mani, apparently did not have Malaika Arora in mind for the train dance, for which Shilpa Shirodkar was his first choice.
After the team wasn't impressed with Shilpa's audition, they approached model Achala Sachdev, who could not adjust her dates. Malaika finally landed the part.
Shah Rukh, who is usually prone to injuries, shot for the song without using any safety harness. Farah Khan had choreographed the song in straight 4 days. No camera tricks were used in the making.
Chaiyya Chaiyya is also the opening song of the second act of Bombay Dreams, a Bollywood-themed musical, which opened in London in June 2002 and in New York in April 2004.
That Dil Se’s iconic song ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ was used in the Hollywood film Inside Man is common knowledge. But what many aren’t aware is the Backstreet Boys connection to the whole affair
Mani Ratnam had requested HMV, the music compamy which had the rights for the Backstreet Boys track, for using as the opening number in his film, Alaipauthey..
Mani Ratnam decided to drop the Backstreet Boys song and use the original - Endendrum Punnagai, after the parent company quoted a figure of 1 crore.
Years later, the same parent company asked for permission to use ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ for free. HMV also was ready to grant the permission for free of cost.
But Mani Ratnam, who had not forgotten the Backstreet Boys experience, quoted the same figure that was asked from him – Rs. 1 crore – to the said music company. And they agreed.
The travelling scenes and other crucial scenes were shot between Manisha Koirala and Shah Rukh Khan near Alchi Monastery, during the Sindhu Darshan Festival in Leh.
The longest song of the film 'Satrangi Re' with the lead pair was shot at the mystical Basgo Monastery ruins (situated 40 km from Leh) and Pangong lake near Pangong Tso in Ladakh.
The song 'Jiya Jale' was shot between Priety Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan near Athirappilly Falls, Alappuzha backwaters, Periyar sanctuary and lake in Thekkady.
Some of the parade scenes were shot during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of India's independence.
The action sequences in the film choreographed by Allan Amin were shot near Connaught Place, New Delhi, Rajpath and Old Delhi.
Mani, partnering with two other filmmakers – Shekhar Kapoor and RGV, came up with a new production house called India Talkies for Dil Se. Sadly, it was the first and last film produced by the company.
Dil Se was the first film of Mani Ratnam in Hindi.The Hindi dialogue writer Tigmanshu Dhulia was present on the sets throughout the shoot.
Interestingly, the dialogues were first written in Tamil by Sujatha and then they were translated in English. Tigmanshu then translated the dialogues from English to Hindi, while making them sharper.
Since SRK was from Delhi and quite familar with how things work there, the actor contributed a lot to the dialogues on the set.
Tigmanshu Dhulia, who became popular as Ramadhir Singh in the Gangs of Wasseypur series, has a cameo in the film in a scene set in the post office.
'SRK’ll do the most dangerous things for a film. If you tell he needs to be on a hill, he’ll climb up before you can react. You have to keep him in control,' Mani has been quoted as saying.
After Iruvar (1997), Mani was all set to make Alaipayuthey with SRK and Kajol, and registered the title, Mast. But, after completing the recce, he dropped the film, as he was not happy with the script
After finishing Dil Se, he made the script of Alaipayuthey non-linear, and shot it as a Tamil film, which was remade in Hindi as Saathiya. SRK made up to this Hindi remake by appearing in a cameo.
The three protagonists are from the three corners of India, making a sort of a a literal cartographic triangle. While Meghna is from the north-east, Amar hails from Delhi. Preethi is from Kerala.
The role of the young Manisha Koirala was played by actor Priya Parulekar, who also appeared in Khamoshi - The Musical in the same year.
Dil Se is said to be a journey through the 7 shades of love - attraction, infatuation, love, reverence, worship, obsession, and death - which are defined in ancient Arabic literature.
For the song 'Jiya Jale, Jaan Chale' singer Lata Mangeshkar apparently had some problems reaching the higher octaves because of her age, and so ARR kept her voice as low as possible in the final track
Partho Gosh was directing a film titled 'Chaiyan Chaiyan' with Fardeen Khan and Preity Zinta . The film was ultimately shelved after Preity walked out of the film for doing Dil Se.
The film's shoot, which happened in Himachal Pradesh, Leh, Assam, New Delhi, Kerala, and Bhutan, was completed in 55 days as everything was thoroughly pre-planned.
Sameer Chanda (known for films like Guru, Omkara, Rang De Basanti and Raavan) and Wasiq Khan known for his gritty realism in Anurag Kashyap films) were the production and art designers for Dil Se.
Pia Benegal and Manish Malhotra worked as the costume designers for the film
The bass Guitar in Dil Se Re song was played by Guy Pratt, the Bass Guitarist of Pink Flyod post the Roger Waters era.
The film, which is is noted as the final installment of Ratnam's thematic trilogy (Roja, Bombay,Dil Se) was screened at the Era New Horizons Film Festival, Poland, and the Helsinki Film Festival.
Dil Se went on to win the Netpac Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, two National Film Awards (for cinematography and sound design), and six Filmfare Awards.
Dil Se's soundtrack album, composed by AR Rahman, became a huge hit for its era and sold six million units in India alone.
