دل چاہتا ہے Dil Chahta Hai — The Heart Wants

Javed Akhtar

1945– living

Geet

A group of friends is making a list, and the list is of the things the heart wants: days that never end, friends who are never far, sweet talk all day, nights that sing. It is the song of youth at the moment it is still allowed to want without calculating, written by Javed Akhtar for the film that gave its generation its name, Dil Chahta Hai, in 2001.

Four passages ahead. The second is the road, the third is the mystery of the road, and the refrain keeps the list open the whole time: the heart wants, the heart wants.

01 — dil chahta hai, dil chahta hai

دل چاہتا ہے، دل چاہتا ہے
دل چاہتا ہے، کبھی نہ بیٹے چمکیلے دن
دل چاہتا ہے، ہم نہ رہیں کبھی یاروں کے بن
دن دن بھر ہوں پیاری باتیں
جھومے شامیں، گائیں راتیں
مستی میں رہے ڈوبا ڈوبا ہمیشہ سما
ہمکو راہوں میں یوں ہی ملتی رہے خوشیاں

दिल चाहता है, दिल चाहता है
दिल चाहता है, कभी ना बीते चमकीले दिन
दिल चाहता है, हम ना रहें कभी यारों के बिन
दिन दिन भर हों प्यारी बातें
झूमे शामें, गाएँ रातें
मस्ती में रहे डूबा डूबा हमेशा समा
हमको राहों में यूँ ही मिलती रहे ख़ुशियाँ

dil chahta hai, dil chahta hai
dil chahta hai, kabhi na beete chamkile din
dil chahta hai, hum na rahein kabhi yaaron ke bin
din din bhar hon pyaari baatein
jhoome shaamein, gaayen raatein
masti mein rahe dooba dooba hamesha samaa
humko raahon mein yunhi milti rahe khushiyan

The heart wants, the heart wants: may the bright days never end. The heart wants: may we never be without our friends. Sweet talk all day long, evenings that sway, nights that sing. May the atmosphere stay sunk in joy, and happiness keep meeting us on the roads, just like that.

The refrain is a sentence without an object, dil chahta hai, the heart wants, and the wanting is the whole song. The first items on the list are the two negatives that frame the youth of the film: days that never end, friends never apart. The list that follows is all company, baatein, shaamein, raatein, and the key word is yunhi, just like that: the happiness is asked to arrive without effort, the way it does when you are young.

سماں samaa: the atmosphere of a moment, the scene
مستی masti: high spirits, an intoxication

02 — jagmagaate hain, jhilmilaate hain apne raaste

جگمگاتے ہیں، جھلملاتے ہیں اپنے راستے
یہ خوشی رہے، روشنی رہے اپنے واسطے

जगमगाते हैं, झिलमिलाते हैं अपने रास्ते
ये ख़ुशी रहे, रोशनी रहे अपने वास्ते

jagmagaate hain, jhilmilaate hain apne raaste
ye khushi rahe, roshni rahe apne vaaste

Our roads glitter, they sparkle. May this happiness stay, may this light stay, for our sake.

The passage is the song's prayer, and the prayer is for the road itself. Jagmagana and jhilmilana, glittering and sparkling, are the verbs of festival lights, and the roads are given festival weather. The last line asks for the two things the whole song runs on, khushi and roshni, joy and light, and the vaaste, for our sake, is the same word of dedication the wedding songs use: the light is being asked to stay because of who the friends are to each other.

03 — jahan rukein hum, jahan bhi jaayen

جہاں رکیں ہم، جہاں بھی جائیں
جو ہم چاہیں، وہ ہم پائیں
کیسا عجب یہ سفر ہے، سوچو تو ہر کہیں بے خبر ہے
اسکو جانا کدھر ہے، جو وقت آئے، جانے کیا دکھائے

जहाँ रुकें हम, जहाँ भी जाएँ
जो हम चाहें, वो हम पाएँ
कैसा अजब ये सफ़र है, सोचो तो हर कहीं बेख़बर है
उसको जाना किधर है, जो वक़्त आए, जाने क्या दिखाए

jahan rukein hum, jahan bhi jaayen
jo hum chahein, voh hum paayen
kaisa ajab ye safar hai, socho toh har kahin bekhabar hai
usko jaana kidhar hai, jo waqt aaye, jaane kya dikhaaye

Wherever we stop, wherever we go, may we get what we want. What a strange journey this is: think about it, and everywhere is unaware. Where does it have to go, and when the time comes, who knows what it will show?

The passage is where the song lets the shadow in, and the shadow is the road itself. The first couplet is the wish in its purest form. Then the song turns and looks at the journey honestly: safar is ajab, strange, everyone on it is bekhabar, unaware, nobody knows the destination, and time itself is a question mark. The passage does what the film does: it says the road is unknowable and then goes back to the refrain. The wanting does not require knowing.

عجب ajab: strange, out of the ordinary
بیخبر bekhabar: unaware, oblivious

Reading it whole

The song is a wish list with no prices on it, which is what youth is. Dil chahta hai, the heart wants, is the sentence that never ends, and the song is smart enough to keep it in the present tense: the wanting is not something to be resolved, it is the state of being the song is about. Every passage adds a new item to the list, and none of them is priced.

The first passage sets the terms. Bright days that never end, friends never apart, sweet talk all day, evenings that sway and nights that sing. The list is entirely about company. Nothing in it is owned, nothing is achieved. The song's idea of a good life is a group of people talking, which is also the film's idea, and the song says it plainly.

The second passage is the road, and the road is where the heart's wants get tested. The song asks that the roads sparkle, that joy and light stay on the path. The last item on the list is the one the film runs on: wherever we stop, whatever we want, may we get it. The third passage then looks at the road and admits what roads do: the journey is strange, everyone on it is unaware, and nobody knows where it leads. The admission is made and immediately folded back into the refrain, which is the song's method: the wanting survives the news.

Shankar Mahadevan's voice and the film's opening sequence, three cars heading to Goa, made the song the anthem of the decade's idea of friendship. It is the sound of a generation that had decided to take the heart's list seriously.

Recordings

Shankar Mahadevan

From Dil Chahta Hai (2001), composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

Text and rights

Devanagari text supplied and checked by a reader who knows the language. The Urdu script and the transliteration follow that reading.

The song is the title track of the film Dil Chahta Hai (2001), music Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, lyrics Javed Akhtar. The refrain returns between passages in the recording more often than it is printed here.

Javed Akhtar is alive and the song is recent work. It is quoted here as the subject of Harf's own criticism: the translation, the reading of each passage and the essay around them are original work written for this page. If you hold the rights and would like something changed, tell us on Instagram.