Chapter 23: Deleted Scenes of Dil Chahta Hai

“It’s interesting.“

In an interview with NDTV, Farhan Akhtar revealed that a few scenes had been cut from the second half of Dil Chahta Hai due to pace issues. Unfortunately, the film DVD does not have the deleted scenes. They were available on YouTube till some time ago but can no longer be watched there as well. In all, three scenes were cut from the theatrical version.

Scene 1: The first deleted scene is between Sameer and Sid. It happens after Tara learns that Sid likes her. It can be deduced as Sid is wearing the same clothes that he had worn when he tells his mother that he loves Tara, who had walked into their house at that moment. In the deleted scene, Sameer and Sid talk about their future. Sid tells Sameer that he is leaving town the next day and might not come back. He says that he has too many memories associated with this city. Sameer reminds him that there are many happy memories of their friendship, too; Sid says those will always remain with him as well. There is gloom and doom on their faces as everything seems to have changed in just a month. They were all happy a month ago. Now, all of it looks like a distant dream from the past.

They both gaze towards the sea with the waves splashing on the rocks with force. The sound of the waves is in complete contrast to the calmness of the sea during that ship scene in Goa. The choppy waters of the waves serve to remind us of the turbulent phase in their friendship. Earlier, all three of them were present, but now Akash is missing in this relationship. Watching a ship sail by, they had talked about how they will always remain friends. However, it seems that, like a ship, their friendship is on the verge of sinking. There is a fear in Sameer whether they will survive this phase, but Sid comforts him that this is the ‘bhaag do‘—part two of their lives, and he should take life in stride as it comes. He has Pooja with him, who loves him dearly, and would be a great companion for him in his life. The scene ends.

Scene 2:  The second deleted scene is a short one between Tara and Sid. It is the continuation of the moment when Sid had confessed his love to Tara, and he says he is sorry that he hurt her, but he is not sorry for falling in love with her. In this scene, Tara asks Sid to leave her alone. He tells her that he is going to Kasauli. He then gives her his contact number in case she needs anything from him. And, then, he leaves. There is no significant dramatic moment in this one.

Scene 3:  The third deleted scene is again between Tara and Sid, and this is my favorite scene of all the three. During this one, Sid comes back from his workshop and visits Tara even before he goes to his house. He tells her that he was impressed by the experiments people are conducting in contemporary art. Tara says that he writes beautiful letters as he sent her some from there. Sid then asked how she was feeling. Tara responded that he had come back after so many days, and therefore, they should only talk about happy things. Sid is somewhat taken aback by her answer and asks her if she was all right. Tara replies that she was fine, and if she weren’t, he would be the person she would reach out to if anything were bothering her. Then, she shows him something she purchased recently—a souvenir of a bird that could only flap its wings but could not fly. She says, “It’s interesting.” The scene reflects Tara’s entrapment (like that bird) and inner turmoil, which gradually leads to the deterioration of her health, resulting in her death. When Sids sends Tara’s stuff back in the film’s last scene, he holds the same bird that she had shown him earlier. The bird is special for Sid as it represents his memory of Tara, and he would like to keep it with him forever.