'From the Heart..') is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller film co-written and directed by Mani Ratnam who produced it with Ram Gopal Varma and Shekhar Kapur.

An example of parallel cinema, it is noted as the final installment in Ratnam's trilogy consisting of Roja (1992) and Bombay (1995).

[7] At the 44th Filmfare Awards, Dil Se.. received 10 nominations, including Best Actress (Koirala) and Best Supporting Actress (Zinta), and won 6 awards, including Best Female Debut (Zinta) and Best Music Director (Rahman).

[6][8] Amarkant Verma is a program executive for All India Radio, dispatched from New Delhi to cover festivities in Assam.

On his way there, during a rainy night, Amar is stranded for hours at Haflong railway station to catch the Barak Valley Express.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blows off the person's shawl, revealing a beautiful woman.

As part of his news reporting assignment, for the occasion of fifty years of Indian Independence, Amar interviews many Assamese citizens, and an extremist chief, who blames the Indian Government for human rights violations and poverty in the region.

The chief states the Liberationists do not wish to enter into any dialogue with the government and justify their resistance in Northeast India.

Amar then goes to the post office and he bribes the PCO owner into giving him her contact details and learns that she is telephoning to Ladakh.

Subsequently, Amar travels to Leh, and while recording the Sindhu Darshan Festival, a suicide bomber is chased and shot dead by the Indian military.

Heartbroken, Amar returns to his home in Delhi, where his family introduces him to Preeti Nair from Kerala as a potential bride for him.

Back at home, Amar agrees to marry Preeti, and wedding preparations promptly begin.

Based on an eyewitness identification of the Connaught Place incident, Amar is now a prime suspect of the CBI.

Amar infers she is planning a suicide attack on the Indian army and the President of India during Republic Day.

The next day Moina is prepared for her role in a suicide attack, as an explosive device is concealed under her dress.

Mani Ratnam selected Manisha Koirala to play the lead role, after he was unable to get through to Kajol.

[2][13] The principal photography took place in Himachal Pradesh, Leh, Assam, New Delhi, Kerala, and Ladakh over a period of 55 days.

[15] Authors Sangita Gopal and Sujata Moorti of Global Bollywood: Travels of Hindi Song and Dance also compared Khan's romance in the film to the trajectory of love in ancient Arabic literature, believing the lyrics in two of the songs to have delivered an "apocalyptic fatalism".

[16] The film is a dramatization of the attraction between a character from the heart of India and another from a peripheral state and a representation of opposites in the eyes of the law and society.

"[19] Elleke Boehmer and Stephen Morton in their book Terror and the Postcolonial (2009) believe that the songs and their exotic locations in the film were very important in masking the impossible reconciliation between a terrorist and an uptight government agent by evoking pure fantasy.

[18] The theme of the movie was reported to be paying homage to the 1981 British film The French Lieutenant's Woman.

Life (given in a romantic context)) which became very popular among Tamil-audience with its songs and in Telugu with the title Prematho (transl.

[24] Though Dil Se received an average box office response in India, it found success overseas.

The intense political agenda of the film with the trials of the Assamese on the India-China border, the love story and the fact that it coincided with the 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations became a major factor for its success overseas, particularly amongst the South Asian diaspora in the west.

[25] Deepa Deosthalee wrote a positive review to the film, calling it "a picture-perfect ode to love" and praising the direction, writing and performances.

[27] Khalid Mohamed found the film disappointing, noting it "fine performances, technique and music" but panning its lack "of that crucial element called a story".

[28] Anupama Chopra of India Today wrote, "Amid the reels of tripe churned out by Bollywood every week, Dil Se... is a noble attempt.

[5] The song "Chaiyya Chaiyya", based on Sufi music (lyrics based on the Sufi folk song, "Thaiyya Thaiyya" by Bulleh Shah) and Urdu poetry,[34] set Mainly in Raag Madhumad Sarang (or Megh Malhar), with tints of Bhairav and other ragas, became especially popular and the song has been featured in the film Inside Man (2006), in the musical Bombay Dreams, and in the television shows Smith and CSI: Miami.