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SYNOPSIS - DHADKAN
("HEARTBEAT")
- Anjali (SHILPA SHETTY) is mad at her lover,
Dev (SUNIL SHETTY) for hiding from her. In turn, he's mad at her for
being late. She explains that she had a problem. He teases that rich
princesses don't have problems; only gutter rats like him do. She tells
him that her father's arranged her wedding to a very wealthy and eminently
acceptable young man. Dev flips out. Finally she admits she's joking,
but Dev doesn't think the prank was very funny; he tells her he'd die
for her, and that, even if he did, he'd live on in her heartbeat (SONG:
TUM DIL KI DHADAKN MEIN).
- Anjali wants to meet Dev's mom, and she'll no
longer take no for an answer. He finally agrees to let them meet, though
he refuses to accompany her. As Anjali ventures into Dev's house, she
finds his mom listening to a very sad song about a woman whom the world
has betrayed. Turns out that Dev's mom was betrayed by her lover, and
ended up giving birth to Dev as a single mother, a sin which the world
has never let Dev forget. Dev's mom makes Anjali promise to always stand
by Dev and to never leave him alone.
- Anjali, who is a daddy's girl, is thrilled to
find her father has returned from his business trip. He, in turn, is
htrilled to tell her that he's found hte perfect guy for her and has
arranged her wedding. Anjali, panicked, tells him she cannot marry this
man: she has already promised herself to someone else. Her dad wants
to meet this mysterious man.
- Anjali meets with Dev, tells him her father
wants to meet him, and begs him to behave himself during the meeting,
advising him to switch his sandals for something more appropriate..
- At the meeting, Dev behaves abominably. He hasn't
switched his clothes, and when he sees Anjali's dad staring at his shoes,
he makes a point of showing the family the hole in the sole of his sandal.
He declares that he has nothing but Anjali, and he has come to ask fo
rher. Anjali's father, appalled at his disrespectful demeanor, asks
what he would do if Anjali was not given to him. Dev replies coolly
that he would snatch her away. Enraged by his insolence, Anjali's father
throws Dev out. Anjali promises to meet Dev later.
- Anjali takes off with a bag, preparing to elope
with Dev. But her father intercepts her, reminding her that when her
mother had Anjali, and was informed that she would never be able to
have another child, he was the one who reminded her what honor and respect
a daughter could give that a son could not. But now, her father tells
her, he also remembers what shame a daughter can give, that a son could
never do. Anjali is heartbroken. Her father then tells her that if she
wishes to destroy the honor and reputation that he has worked his whole
life to build, she will have to do so over his own dead body. He offers
her the gun he carries, but she cannot do it. She begs his forgiveness,
and says she'll do whatever he wants her to, if only he'll lether meet
with Dev one last time, so she can keep her promise to rendezvous with
him. He reluctantly agrees.
- Anjali tells Dev that she can never see him
again. He doesn't take it well, promising to destroy the man she's going
to marry. She tells him he won't do that if he has any care or consideration
for the friendship they have shared. Later, when Dev tells his mother
what happened, she has a heart attack and dies.
- Anjali is married. (SONG: DULHE KA SEHRA)
- Anjali's new family does not prove all sweetness
and light. Her brother-in-law complains bitterly about their driver's
inclination toward tardiness, though her new husband, Ram (AKSHAYE KUMAR),
gently points out that loyalty is far rarer than promptness. Later,
she receives a cool reception from her sister-in-law, who is actually,
along with the others, Ram's step-relations, though Ram himself declares
to his step-sister and step-mother that he worships them.
- On the wedding night, Ram soothes Anjali's fears
and defiance by assuring her that he won't force any intimacy; he will
give them time to get to know each other. When she declares herself
to be a fearless, utterly modern, twenty-first century woman, he assures
her that they will find some comproimise between her sensibilities and
his own "19th century" way. But since sleeping in different
rooms would only give pain to his own family, she'll have to trust him.
- Ram entices Anjali into the home's prayer room,
saying that no one stands outside the house of God. When she says she
doesn't believe in God, that humans are just puppets for his amusement,
he counsels her that God is like a parent, and cares for humans no matter
how ungrateful they may be for Him. She snaps that he'd best not give
assureances that aren't true. Amazed at how quickly she gets angry,
Ram advises her to take deep breaths and recite God's name whenever
she gets angry.
- Ram's step family is pset that they only own
25% of the family company. They scheme for a way to obtain a larger
percent. Stepmom tries to get Anjali to hand over all her beautiful
jewels. Anjali refuses, and Stepmom replies by reminding her that this
is her house and she makes the rules. Anjali retorts that
she goes by her own rules, thank you very much. When Ram enters, Stepmom
makes it appear as though Anjali's been abusing her. Ram tells her to
hand over the jewels, since she owes respect to her elders; Anjali refuses,
but Ram tells her, before leaving work, that he has faith she'll do
the right thing.
- Enraged, Anjali packs to leave. A maid stops
her by telling her that that's just what the step-family wants her to
do. Leads her to a place where Anjali can hear them plotting against
Ram. Later, when Ram gets home, ANjali throws his foolishness in his
face, telling him that his step-family hates him. He tells her he knows
how much they hate him, but it doesn't matter: hatred is won over only
by love. He then tells her to go give the jewels to his stepmom, advising
her that her honor is no less for showing respect to that woman. Amazed
by his goodness, Anjali does so.
- As Ram falls in love with his wife, Anjali begins
to fall for him, but resists with all her heart. (SONG: DIL NE YEH KAHA).
- Ram, upset with Anjali's stubborn attempts to
maintain distance between them, takes off for a few days, leaving Anjali
alone with her step-family. Bobby, Anjali's brother-in-law, comes on
to Anjali and then accuses Anjali of initiating the overture. It is
the straw that breaks the camel's back; Ram tells the step-family that
he can endure anything but the insinuation that Anjali has any flaw.
He throws them out, and Anjali, overwhelmed by his faith in her, falls
in love (SONG: NA NA KARTE PYAAR).
- The third anniversary of Ram and Anjali's wedding.
A guest, Mrs. Malhotra, introduces her own guest from London - Dev.
- Dev is throwing a party at Mrs. Malhotra's,
and she calls to tell Ram and Anjali that he insists they come. Meanwhile,
Dev assures his confidant and business partner, Sheetal Varma (MAHIMA
CHOUDHARY), that this will be the greatest party Delhi's seen, and that
when Sheetal sees Anjali, she'll understand why Dev had the grit and
determination to make himself such a success.
- At the party. (SONG: AKSAR IS DUNIYA MEIN)
- Anjali meets Dev. He tells her that the only
thing that got him through the black times after his mother's death
was hte memory of Anjali's voice, but that all the wealth he's accumulated
since then is meaningless without her. When she protests that she belongs
to someone else, he reminds her that she was forced into the marriage
for the status and wealth it would bring her, and that now Dev has all
those things, shouldn't she be his? Anjali protests that Ram may not
have been her choice, but he is now her lifemate, her very heartbeat,
and begs Dev to forget her. He declares that to forget her is impossible,
and that she will be his in this lifetime as well as the next. She tells
him that she is Ram's not only in this lifetime, but in the next seven,
and leaves.
- Dev conspires with Ram's step-family. Later,
Ram's business partners begin to demand repayment of the loans they
have given him for his new undertaking. When Ram explains that he cannot
repay the money - that it is tied up in his new business interests -
his partners sell the loans to Dev.
- Dev steals the company from Ram and places his
step-brother in a powerful position. In the face of his step-brother's
inciteful taunts, Ram wishes him well and advises him to learn to respect
his position..
- Ram tells Anjali that he cannot understand why
Dev would have such malice for him, but the outcome means that they
will be forced to auction their house: they are bankrupt. Dev buys the
house.
- Ram and Anjali move into their servant's home,
which was originally a gift from Ram.
- Dev obsesses over Anjali. (SONG: DIL NE YEH
KAHA).
- Sheetal is shocked by the disrespect Stepmom's
kids show to her. She assures Stepmom that no child in London behaves
thus. Stepmom waxes nostalgiac as she recounts her other son's respectful
behavior - "He never even raises his eyes when talking to me."
When Sheetal asks what happened between them, Stepmom replies that he
is actually her stepson - an explanation Sheetal ridicules as old-fashioned,
explaining that it is the one who raises the child that counts for everything,
and that the caregiver is solely responsible for the way their children
turn out.
- Anjali's dad is shocked to find Dev in his daughter's
house. He rebuffs Dev's insolent taunts. Dev vows that one day this
man will be his father-in-law. Later, Anjali's dad confronts her about
her change in circumstances, offering to help her and her husband. She
tells him no; this would irrevocably harm Ram's self-esteem. He asks
her if she's told Ram about her history with Dev, and she tells him
that Ram must never know. Ram overhears, however, and is horrified;
he always thought that Anjali was simply scared of the committment of
marriage, never dreaming that she might have been in love with someone
else. She assures him that she loves only him - and passes out.
- Turns out Anjali is pregnant. Ram assures her
that they're in this together. His stepmom shows up to beg forgiveness
and seek rapprochement. She says she'll fix everything and will all
her property to their unborn child. She and Ram take off to the temple
so she can beg God's forgiveness, and Anjali calls Dev to arrange a
meeting.
- Dev misunderstands Anjali's call and thinks
she's finally coming back to him. Since he wants her to find him exactly
as she left him that day so long ago, he puts on his old clothes. He
is not pleased by Sheetal's amusement at his appearance, and waxes rhapsodic
about his love for Anjali (SONG: TUM DIL KI DHADKAN).
- Anjali comes and tells Dev that she's pregnant,
so she can never again be his. She begs him to leave her and her family
to their life together. Dev finally realizes that Anjali is forever
lost to him. "I have lost," he says; "he has won."
But Ram has appeared, and tells Dev that he is wrong to paint human
relationships in only those terms. Ram explains that he cannot hate
Dev, not when Dev's dreams have all been shattered by the vagaries of
chance, not when Dev's only sin was to love someone. He comforts Dec,
saying that while Dev wanted to write his own fate, he could never hope
to do so, because only God writes a man's fate. Dev finally recognizes
the wisdom of this, saying he cannot fight fate - cannot fight something
as vague as the lines on a man's forehead or palm, and that he will
destroy himself if he continues to try. He praises Ram for living as
"Ram" (A Hindu, human incarnation of god) did, humanely among
humans, and castigates himself for trying to live as Dev (the word for
God above), godly among humans.
- Sheetal calls her father in glee to announce
that he should come meet Dev and her at the airport, since Dev is to
be her future husband. Her father seems less than thrilled. Sheetal
chastens Dev, reminding him to be on his best behavior when he meets
her father. Dev, however, doesn't seemed to have learned his lesson
here, vowing, as he did before meeting Anjali's father, to see how powerful
the enemy is.
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