Dil Chahta Hai turns 25: When Farhan Akhtar said film was not about Goa road trips

Published 10 August 2026 · india

For anyone who's watched Dil Chahta Hai, it is difficult to talk about it without talking about Goa. Twenty-five years after Farhan Akhtar’s directorial debut

For anyone who's watched Dil Chahta Hai, it is difficult to talk about it without talking about Goa. Twenty-five years after Farhan Akhtar’s directorial debut released, the film’s Goa stretch has become almost as iconic as the friendship at its centre. The drive to Goa, the stop at Chapora Fort and the idea of three friends spontaneously taking off together have made Dil Chahta Hai synonymous with road trips for an entire generation. The funny part is that Farhan Akhtar did not really intend to make a road film. In fact, the Goa portion of Dil Chahta Hai is only about 10 minutes long. During the promotions of Madgaon Express, which he produced, Akhtar exclusively told India Today about how that brief portion of the film ended up having a much bigger cultural impact than he had anticipated. Read Full Story “You know, what I find really interesting actually is that the Goa part in Dil Chahta Hai is about 10 minutes long. They just ride down, have 1-2 scenes over there, one very profound, deep scene, which I mean, I think, registered very, very strongly at the fort. And then they sing some songs, and then they come back," he laughed. Those few minutes, however, stayed with people. Goa became an intrinsic part of the Dil Chahta Hai experience, and the film itself began to be remembered as a road movie. Young people often travel to spots where the film was shot and re-enact sequences or pose similarly for photos, like the leads “But, it’s amazing to me how that little event in the film just captured so many people’s imagination and everyone, when they talk about road films, Dil Chahta Hai is not a road film at all.

They just drove down to Goa and came back, and that was it, and there was one song. But they call it a road film. They’re like, this film is about Goa. I don’t know what it is about that," Farhan added. Perhaps what people connected with was not really Goa, but what the trip represented. Dil Chahta Hai arrived at a time when the idea of three friends taking off on an unplanned trip, with no great agenda beyond spending time together, felt aspirational. The Goa sequence captured that particular freedom of being young, having your friends around and deciding to simply go. But Farhan believes the reason that portion of the film stayed with audiences has less to do with the location and Those few minutes, however, stayed with people. Goa became an intrinsic part of the Dil Chahta Hai experience, and the film itself began to be remembered as a road movie. Young people often travel to spots where the film was shot and re-enact sequences or pose similarly for photos, like the leads Aamir Khan Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan “But, it’s amazing to me how that little event in the film just captured so many people’s imagination and everyone, when they talk about road films, Dil Chahta Hai is not a road film at all. They just drove down to Goa and came back, and that was it, and there was one song. But they call it a road film. They’re like, this film is about Goa.